Felicity Jones Has Had 'Big Changes' in Decade Between Her First Oscar Nomination andThe Brutalist(Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Felicity Joneswas in a mall in her native England when she learned about her secondOscarnomination.

“I was going up the escalator,” she tells PEOPLE in this week’s 2025 Oscar Portfolio, on newsstands Friday. “I was just doing some last-minute shopping, and I got the call and spoke to my publicist and agents and was kind of cheering as I was going up the escalator.”

Fellow shoppers, she adds, were “probably looking around going, ‘What is she doing?’”

Jones, 41, is a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee this year forThe Brutalist, in which she plays Hungarian-Jewish immigrant Erzsébet Tóth. The Brady Corbet–directed,Adrien Brody–starring epic earned 10nominations, including Best Picture, from the Academy on Jan. 23.

Felicity Jones in ‘The Brutalist’.Courtesy of A24

Courtesy of A24

“It’s just been a fantastic celebration of the film. I mean, we never quite expected the reception that we have had,” says Jones. “You don’t get this many opportunities. So I am trying to enjoy every minute of it.”

For theRogue One: A Star Wars Storystar,The Brutalistmarks a return to the Oscar stage. Her first nomination, in 2015 for Best Actress, was for theStephenandJane HawkingbiopicThe Theory of EverythingoppositeEddie Redmayne.

“I feel as though I’ve been through a lot personally, some big changes,” says Jones, noting that exactly a decade has passed between nominations.

Felicity Jones photographed for PEOPLE on Feb. 6, 2025.Rosaline Shahnavaz

Rosaline Shahnavaz

Among those changes:becoming a motherto two kids with husbandCharles Guard.

“It’s consistent juggling all the time,” says the actress of her work-life balance. “It really makes your time very precious, having a family, and so [working] becomes even more meaningful. And particularly in the films that I’ve been lucky enough to do, they’re projects that I have really loved reading the scripts, and have invested wholeheartedly into because when you work on something, it really has to count.”

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Felicity Jones in ‘The Theory of Everything’.Liam Daniel/Working Title/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock

Liam Daniel/Working Title/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock

At the 97th Academy Awards, to be held March 2 in Los Angeles, Jones is nominated alongsideMonica Barbaro,Ariana Grande,Isabella RosselliniandZoe Saldaña.

As far as her Oscar look goes, she says she has “a very good idea” of how to follow up her gray Alexander McQueen ball gown of 2015.

source: people.com