Santa Barbara Film Fest: Mikey Madison, Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez Among Eight Tapped for Virtuoso Award

Eight screen actors who gave breakout performances in 2024 films — A Real Pain’s Kieran Culkin, Babygirl’s Harris Dickinson, Emilia Pérez’s Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez’s Selena Gomez, Wicked’s Ariana Grande, Sing Sing’s Clarence Maclin, Anora’s Mikey Madison and September 5’s John Magaro — have been tapped by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival to receive the fest’s Virtuoso Award.

They will each collect the honor following individual interviews and then a group interview, all moderated by TCM host Dave Karger, at Santa Barbara’s historic Arlington Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 9.

“It’s my 15th consecutive year hosting this event,” Karger said in a statement, “and this year’s lineup is as impressive as ever, ranging from megastars like Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande, to veteran actors like Kieran Culkin and John Magaro, to true breakouts like Clarence Maclin, Mikey Madison, Harris Dickinson and Karla Sofía Gascón. I can’t wait to gather them all in front of the wonderful Santa Barbara audience.”

A number of recent Virtuoso Award recipients went on to receive an Academy Award for the same performance, among them The Holdovers’ Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Everything Everywhere All at Once’s Ke Guy Quan, West Side Story’s Ariana DeBose and CODA’s Troy Katsur.

The 40th SBIFF will take place Feb. 4-15, 2025.