Elle Fanning has hit the 2025 Oscars red carpet. While the actress did not secure an individual nomination for her role in A Complete Unknown, the film is nominated for Best Picture tonight. Fanning’s performance in the Bob Dylan biopic has received significant praise though, including a 2025 National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress.
For the big night, Fanning wore a white strapless lace dress with a trailing cape and adorned with a black bow. While speaking to E!, she revealed her look is the first public design from Sarah Burton’s tenure for Givenchy. The former Alexander McQueen creative director will debut her first collection for the French fashion house during Paris Fashion Week this month. For an elegant final touch, Fanning completed the look with a Cartier necklace from 1958.
“It’s my first time here so I’m taking it all in,” Fanning said on the red carpet.
This year’s Best Supporting Actress category includes Fanning’s co-star Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), Ariana Grande (Wicked), Felicity Jones (The Brutalist), and Isabella Rossellini (Conclave). Despite the snub, she has maintained a strong presence this awards season, with standout appearances at the SAG Awards and Golden Globes, where she wore a champagne ball gown by Balmain with a leopard-print detail.
In A Complete Unknown, Fanning plays Sylvie Russo, a character based on Bob Dylan’s former girlfriend Suze Rotolo. The film explores Dylan’s rise in the Greenwich Village folk scene and the personal relationships that shaped his artistry.
Speaking to Teen Vogue in January, Fanning reflected on her role, saying, “I hope I honored Suze’s legacy. Some people will say, ‘Oh, it’s just a fictionalized version.’ But it’s not. Everything that’s in the movie is completely real.” She also emphasized the weight of playing a real person, adding, “There was weight on my shoulders—I wanted to honor that and make it authentic and not have Sylvie just be the girlfriend part in the Bob Dylan movie.”
Fanning already has a busy year ahead, including upcoming projects Predator: Badlands and Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value.
She opened up about her recent personal experiences in a December 2024 interview with The Los Angeles Times. “This year, particularly, has been really special for me. I just feel like there’s some growth happening and I can feel the growth happening,” she said. “It’s odd that you can feel it. It’s in my personal life but also my professional life.”
Reflecting on the themes of A Complete Unknown, she also discussed the fine line between fame and personal identity, telling Harper’s Bazaar U.K., “Such a big question that the movie asks is, ‘Where do you draw the line between making up who you want to be, and the truth?’ Truth is so important—we should fight for it.”
