Emotions are running high on Broadway!
The 2025 Tony Awards nominations were announced on Thursday, May 1, by Tony winners Sarah Paulson and Wendell Pierce. Among the list of talented nominees were a few first-timers, including George Clooney and Mia Farrow, who respectively earned recognition for their roles in Good Luck, and Good Night and The Roommate.
Farrow had an emotional reaction to her nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play. “Honestly, I didn’t expect this! I burst into tears,” she said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. “I wish my mom were here – she would have been so proud of me. I’m so overwhelmed with gratitude to be among these nominees, as this is just the best community in the world. I’m still in the ‘oh my god, oh my god, oh my god’ mode!”
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ia Farrow and Patti LuPone at ‘The Roommate’ Broadway opening night at Booth Theatre on Sept. 12, 2024 in New York City.
Related: George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Sarah Snook and All the Celebrities Leading Broadway’s Starriest Season Yet
Farrow is nominated for the award alongside Laura Donnelly for The Hills of California, LaTanya Richardson Jackson for Purpose, Sadie Sink for John Proctor Is the Villain and Sarah Snook for The Picture of Dorian Gray.
She starred in the comedy play with three-time Tony winner Patti LuPone. The work was written by Jen Silverman and directed by Jack O’Brien. The show played at the Booth Theatre until its closing on Dec. 15.
While this is Farrow’s first Tony Award nomination, she previously starred on Broadway in 2014’s Love Letters, the 1999 revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s short-lived 1996 play Getting Away with Murder, among others.
Related: George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Sarah Snook and All the Celebrities Leading Broadway’s Starriest Season Yet
Clooney, who made his Broadway debut in Good Luck and Good Night, received a nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. “It’s a thrill to have 5 nominations for this play. For everyone involved, this has been an incredible experience. I couldn’t be more proud or feel more lucky,” he said in a statement.
The Oscar winner is up against Cole Escola for Oh, Mary!, Jon Michael Hill for Purpose, Daniel Dae Kim for Yellow Face, Harry Lennix for Purpose, and Louis McCartney for Stranger Things: The First Shadow.
Good Luck and Good Night is based on the 2005 film that Clooney directed, co-wrote and acted in. The show, directed by Tony winner David Cromer, opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on April 3. In addition to starring in the work, Clooney also co-wrote the play with his screenwriting collaborator Grant Heslov.
Bruce Glikas/WireImage
George Clooney during a press event for ‘Good Night, And Good Luck’ at The Winter Garden Theatre on Feb. 6, 2025 in New York City.
Related: The Biggest Snubs of the 2025 Tony Nominations: Denzel Washington, Rachel Zegler, Jake Gyllenhaal and More
Other nominations received for the show include Best Scenic Design of a Play, Best Costume Design of a Play, Best Lighting Design of a Play and Best Sound Design of a Play.
McCartney, who plays the infamous Henry Creel in Stranger Things: The First Shadow, also received a Tony nomination for his Broadway debut.
“So, so thankful. Thank you to the Tony nominators and to everyone who worked on Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” he said of his Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play nod. “Thank you to SFP, Netflix, Kate Trefry and our amazing directors, Steven Daldry and Justin Martin. I feel so blessed to be welcomed into the Broadway community. So lucky and super excited. Thank you.”
The play is based on an original story by Stranger Things creators Duffer Brothers, as well as Harry Potter and the Cursed Child writer Jack Thorne and Stranger Things writer and co-executive producer Kate Trefry. Three-time Tony winner Stephen Daldry directed Trefry’s script with Justin Martin.
The Broadway show opened on April 22 at Marquis Theater, with McCartney reprising his role from the West End production.
Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman
Louis McCartney in ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’
Stranger Things: The First Shadow also received nominations for Best Scenic Design of a Play, Best Costume Design of a Play, Best Lighting Design of a Play and Best Sound Design of a Play.
The 2025 Tony Awards will take place on Sunday, June 8 at Radio City Musical Hall in New York City. Broadway veteran Cynthia Erivo will host the ceremony. She’s a Tony, Emmy and Grammy winner, as well as a three-time Oscar nominee — most recently for her role in the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Wicked.
Viewers can watch the show on CBS and Paramount+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Select awards will also be handed out in a 90-minute pre-show that will stream on Pluto TV starting at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Continue reading for more reactions received by PEOPLE.
Kimberly Belflower, nominated for Best Play for John Proctor is the Villain and another first-time Tony nominee for her Broadway debut: “I grew up in a small town in rural Appalachian Georgia; as a teenager, and for a long time after, I felt like I needed to shed my Southern-ness to be taken seriously as an artist. For John Proctor is the Villain, a play about Southern teenage girls, to be nominated for 7 Tony awards is so special I can hardly believe it. And what a surreal joy to be in the company of these other playwrights whose work I’ve long admired and adored, and to share John Proctor’s nominations with our incomparable director, Danya Taymor, and our brilliant actors and designers. I am humbled, and thrilled, and I can’t feel my face or hands.”
Danya Taymor, nominated for Best Direction of a Play for John Proctor is the Villain: “The brilliant Kimberly Belflower’s play John Proctor is the Villain is raw, primal, hilarious and told from the vantage point of young women. Thank you to the Tony nominating committee for taking these teenage girls seriously and for seeing and honoring that mysterious alchemy that occurs between playwright, actor, designer and director—this was a true collaboration. To be nominated alongside so many incredible talented artists in the theater community of all disciplines is a huge honor and I’m beyond grateful.”
Gabriel Ebert, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for John Proctor is the Villain: “What an incredible honor it is to be nominated in this talent-packed season. I’m so touched that our beautiful play, written by the undeniable Kimberly Belflower, is being recognized for the lightning bolt of truth that it is. The fact that Sadie and Fina are being recognized for their work moves me to no end. It’s no coincidence that the play, the actors and the designers are all doing top-level work when we’re being led by the incredible Danya Taymor. She’s truly singular as an artist and as a leader, and I’m very happy that she’s being recognized for her work. What can I say? I love this play. I love the great group of people that I get to go to work with every day. I love that our play seems to be speaking to our audience, especially our young audience members, on an incredibly deep level. It’s a privilege. I’m so grateful to the nominators. That green light….I want it.”
Brooks Ashmanskas, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for Smash: “WOW! I’m beyond delighted to be on this list alongside such brilliant gentlemen and to represent Smash. What an absolute honor!”
Danny Burstein, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for Gypsy: “I am absolutely thrilled – thrilled for Audra, thrilled for Joy, thrilled for Camille, and the entire company of Gypsy. This whole project has been a labor of love and I’m just so honored to be a part of it.”
Read the original article on People
