On Feb. 11, 2025, eight actors were honored with the Virtuosos Award at the 40th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The actors being honored were; Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), Ariana Grande (Wicked), Selena Gomez (Emilia Pérez), Harris Dickson (Babygirl), Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing), Mikey Madison (Anora), Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here), and John Margo (September 5). The Virtuosos Award honors actors and actresses for some of the most outstanding performances of the year. 

A Complete Unknown is a biopic about musical artists Bob Dylan played by Timothee Chalamet and Joan Baez played by Monica Barbaro in the 1960s who used their instrumental talents to change the era of American music. Barbaro’s character Joan is an activist who uses her voice and music to bring civil rights and peace amongst the people in the music industry and community. Barbaro, carrying on such a motivational role, says in the open discussion, “The best thing that we do when we tackle a skill and get to call it work, to spend all day learning something new is to show it to the world. I’m glad I made this film that can make a change and show it to the world.”

Wicked, the broadway phenomenon put on the big screen with Ariana Grande playing Glinda the good witch, brought a message of friendship and showed the complexity of Grande’s character. Grande shows the goodness that her character has regardless of giving the first impression of being self absorbed. This film influenced many people by her performance after not being on screen for three years since Don’t Look Up in 2021. After walking the carpet and joining the discussion panel, Grande says, Wicked was a dream that came to life for me so for the people, do what makes you happy and stay there. Don’t let people take you from the sunshine.” 

Emilia Perez is a Netflix original and musical thriller about unexpected twists that involves a drug cartel boss who transitions into being a woman. Selena Gomez’s character Jessi showed the amount of training Gomez went for this role. Jessi is a character who struggles to speak Spanish while everyone around her speaks fluently, and tries navigating her world and self worth to know how to succeed in her own life. Gomez related to her character as she too also doesn’t perfectly speak Spanish, yet she sang and spoke in Spanish throughout Emilia Perez and managed to show emotion while doing so. She says, “I continue to be proud of what I’ve done through this film and I’m grateful with no regrets, and I would do this movie over and over again if I could. I’ve gotten to show people that I am capable of more”.

Babygirl is a film with an explicit nature about navigating a life with relationships, family expectations, and the complicity of growing up. Harris Dickinson was honored for his role as Samuel in Babygirl, but unfortunately was not able to attend SBIFF. His work in this film was praised by many.

Sing Sing is a film based on a true story of a black male who was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Clarence Maclin played Divine Eye, a prisoner who was in the same prison as the main character Divine G, played by Colman Domingo. Maclin’s character Divine showed that there was a way to express emotion and heal through the power of art and the intricacy of being imprisoned. With such a heavy message, Maclin managed to make the film feel safe and comedic. Maclin had a similar experience to his character before acting. Maclin says in the SBIFF open panel, “It was weird to put that prison uniform on and film myself ‘reliving my past life,’ but I will say the overall message that this movie represents is for all the people on the other side of the wall trying to make it out, and I get to tell them you can if I did it.”

Anora, a Cinderella prohibited love story starring Mikey Madison playing Ani, was a film about a girl named Ani marrying a son of an oligarchy named Igor and being threatened by her parents to divorce. Madison brought a dynamic into this film that could have fallen off but rather did the opposite. Another Cinderella story after so many could have been difficult to engage the world however now this film has won awards such as Best Picture from the Critics Choice Awards, as well as from the Directors Guild and Producers Guilds. Madison says, “a lot of excitement comes with all these awards. I don’t think we were expecting it, it’s surreal. I was able to be a part of the creative process just by being the first choice to be a part of this film with no audition, which I can’t express enough how honored I was to be thought of in that way, it was new and I enjoyed it.”

I’m Still Here is a politically moving film starring Fernanda Torres playing Eunice who tries to find the reality of what happened to her missing husband. Eunice in the film happens to be an activist and a mother which relates to Torres’s everyday life; this was Torres’s first big film in 15 years making her debut comeback. Throughout this film you can see the political motivations and minor details on how an activist thinks and reacts, making this film so moving for the world to see. Torres says, “right now I would say it is a really weird time for women in cinema over the age of 40 to be nominated for any award so this feels unbelievable. Throughout the years I wasn’t filming I would write, then I got offered this role by Walter Salles. He saved me for the drama once more and I was able to do that and speak actively and indirectly.”

September 5, a drama film starring John Margo who plays Geoffrey Mason, takes place in the 1970s as a group of broadcasters for the Munich Olympics uncover Israeli hostage whereabouts and bring light to their story by broadcasting it. The film was nominated for the Oscars for Best Screenplay. Margo says, “It’s an insane time we’re living in. The resilience of the film industry through the chaos of the last few years has been very inspiring to me and I’ve been very lucky to be able to come out of these peaks and valleys of it and sit here with so many other incredible actors and actresses. Also being honored here tonight alongside them and (continuing) to make work that I’m proud of, like this film for example, and I feel like I haven’t processed it at all yet. It’s all unreal.”

As the panel closed, the actors and actresses were honored as they said goodbye to the people of Santa Barbara who showed their loving support.