2025 honored guests

This award will be presented as part of the screening The Residence.

A three-time Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated actor whose work spans television, film, and theater, Uzo Aduba is a formidable talent to be reckoned with. Aduba is best known for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren in Netflix's critically acclaimed Orange is the New Black, a performance that garnered her Emmy Awards in both drama and comedy — joining Ed Asner as the only actors to win Emmys for the same role in both categories. She won her third Emmy Award for portraying Shirley Chisholm in the 2020 FX miniseries Mrs. America and collected an additional Emmy nomination for her role in HBO's In Treatment. Aduba's other film and TV credits include Greedy People, The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat, Painkiller, Solos, Lightyear, National Champions, Miss Virginia, Beats, Candy Jar, My Little Pony, American Pastoral, and Tallulah. On stage, Aduba made her Broadway debut in 2007's Coram Boy. She has also appeared in Godspell, The Maids, and Clyde's, earning Tony Award and Drama League Award nominations for the latter. She will next star in Netflix's Shondaland series The Residence, inspired by Kate Andersen Brower's book of the same name, and Paramount's Roofman, based on the true story of spree-robber Jeffrey Manchester. Through her production company Meynon Media, Aduba is set to star in and produce All Her Little Secrets for Showtime. In September 2024, Aduba released her first book, The Road Is Good, a powerful memoir of Black immigrant identity, the story of an unforgettable matriarch, and a unique coming-of-age story from the perspective of a Nigerian American.

This award will be presented as part of the screening The Recruit.

Noah Centineo continues to expand his talents as an actor and producer. Centineo currently stars in Netflix's The Recruit, for which he also serves as an executive producer. The second season of the dramatic thriller premiered in January 2025. Centineo rose to fame in the wildly popular Netflix trilogy To All the Boys I've Loved Before, an adaptation of Jenny Han's bestselling novel trilogy. Centineo won an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance for the first film and has reprised his role as Peter Kavinsky in the Netflix spinoff series XO, Kitty. He first came to prominence in the ABC Family/Freeform series The Fosters, earning a Teen Choice Award nomination for his work. He also appeared as a guest star in the spinoff Good Trouble. Centineo's other film and TV credits include Dream Scenario, Black Adam, Charlie's Angels, The Perfect Date, and Sierra Burgess is a Loser. He will next appear in Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland's Warfare. In 2019, Centineo made his directorial debut with the music video for Arty's single "Save Me Tonight," starring alongside actor Lily Collins. He launched his own production company, Arkhum Productions, in 2023, focusing on comedy and drama projects that emphasize social commentary. Through Arkhum, Centineo will star and produce the short film Meta for Prime Render Studios. Centineo is also the co-founder of the nonprofit organization Favored Nations.

This award will be presented as part of the screening Clean Slate.

With various firsts in her already impressive career, Laverne Cox is a four-time Emmy Award-nominated actor, Emmy Award-winning producer, and a prominent equal rights advocate and public speaker. Cox's groundbreaking role as Sophia Burset in the critically acclaimed Netflix original series Orange is the New Black brought her to the attention of diverse audiences all over the world. This role led to Cox becoming the first openly transgender actor to be nominated for an acting Primetime Emmy Award and made her the first trans woman of color to have a leading role on a mainstream scripted TV series. Cox's other film and TV roles include Uglies, Inventing Anna, Promising Young Woman, Jolt, and Bad Hair. She has also hosted Live from E! and If We're Being Honest as well as her own podcast, The Laverne Cox Show. In addition to these roles, Cox produced the documentaries Disclosure and Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word, both Emmy Award winners, and Free CeCe. She will next star in the comedy series Clean Slate, which she also executive produces, alongside George Wallace. An artist and an advocate with an empowering message of moving beyond gender expectations to live more authentically, Cox is the first openly transgender person to appear on the covers of Time Magazine, British Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and Essence, among others.

This award will be presented as part of the screening Stranger Things.

Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer (The Duffer Brothers) are the creators of the worldwide phenomenon Stranger Things. They write, direct, and are executive producers on the series, which is Netflix's most popular English-language series of all time. Prior to Stranger Things, the brothers wrote and directed the film Hidden and wrote and produced episodes of the FOX series Wayward Pines. In 2022, the Duffer Brothers announced the launch of their production company, Upside Down Pictures. They currently produce the Olivier Award-winning West End production of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Kate Trefry. The play will premiere on Broadway in March 2025. In addition to the expansion of the Stranger Things franchise via an untitled animated series, the company will produce the upcoming original Netflix series The Boroughs and Something Very Bad is Going to Happen. Upside Down Pictures also has multiple projects in development, including a live-action series adaptation of Death Note.

This award will be presented as part of the screening Shōgun.

Hiroyuki Sanada is an international star and one of Japan's most distinguished and celebrated actors of his generation. A Golden Globe Award winner and two-time Emmy Award winner, he has starred in over 70 films in a film, television, and theater career that has spanned more than half a century, garnering the attention of both American and foreign audiences alike. Sanada most recently starred in and produced the critically acclaimed Shōgun, where he became the first Japanese actor to ever win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama — part of a record 18 Emmy Award wins the show received. Sanada's roles on film include The Twilight Samurai, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, The Last Samurai, The Wolverine, 47 Ronin, Avengers: Endgame, Minions, Mortal Kombat and its upcoming sequel, John Wick: Chapter 4, Bullet Train, Army of the Dead, Minamata, The White Countess, Railway Man, and The City of Your Final Destination. Sanada's career is just as impressive on the small screen, with a credit list of dozens of shows including Lost and Westworld. Sanada is also an established stage actor, working in both Japanese and British theatres. His role as The Fool in Shakespeare's King Lear earned notable theatrical praise and an honorary MBE for contributions to the British and Japanese cultural exchange with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

This award will be presented as part of the screening Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Walker Scobell currently stars as the titular character in the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which has been celebrated as a top series for the platform. His performance earned him a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Male TV Star in 2024. Walker broke out opposite Ryan Reynolds in Shawn Levy's The Adam Project for Netflix, which remains one of Netflix's most watched original films. He can also be seen as the lead in Secret Headquarters opposite Owen Wilson, a Paramount film from producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

This award will be presented as part of the screening Outlander.

Sophie Skelton is a talented and versatile actor who has firmly cemented her place in the British acting landscape across a career spanning more than a decade. Skelton started training in ballet at the Royal Academy before moving to musical theatre and stage productions. Best known for her role on the BAFTA Award-winning, Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award-nominated Outlander, Skelton's film and TV credits include Castlevania: Nocturne, 211, Day of the Dead: Bloodline, Ren, and Another Mother's Sun. Skelton made her screen debut in 2012 in the second series of the British crime drama DCI Banks. She will next star in the upcoming British thriller Row, which also features Bella Dayne and Akshay Khanna.

NBC's new hit series St. Denis Medical is a mockumentary about an underfunded, understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity. Join series stars Allison Tolman (Fargo, Emergence), Kahyun Kim (Cocaine Bear), and Mekki Leeper (The Sex Lives of College Girls, Jury Duty), and executive producers and co-creators Eric Ledgin and Justin Spitzer for an inside look at NBC's newest acclaimed workplace comedy.