ELLE has revealed its 2025 Women in Hollywood list of honorees for its star-studded December 2025/January 2026 issue, which is filled with exclusive interviews, photoshoots, and behind-the-scenes footage from its incredible shoot with 11 of Hollywood’s biggest female stars. The 2025 Women in Hollywood lineup includes Jennifer Aniston, Emily Blunt, Jessie Buckley, Rose Byrne, Chase Infiniti, Jayme Lawson, Wunmi Mosaku, Renate Reinsve, Hailee Steinfeld, and Teyana Taylor.
Of course, we had to dive deeper into our favorite ladies of Sinners, Ryan Coogler’s blockbuster vampire horror musical that dominated theaters over the summer. Stars Jayme Lawson, Wunmi Mosaku and Hailee Steinfeld shared what it was like making one of the most talked-about films of the year. From fan theories to on-screen eroticism and what the film can teach the industry, they’re spilling it all. Further inside, Harlem’s very own Teyana Taylor spoke about her incredible rise in Hollywood following her breakout performance in the buzzing Paul Thomas Anderson film, One Battle After Another, and what her character Perfidia taught her in real life.
Jayme Lawson, Wunmi Mosaku & Hailee Steinfeld talk representation, family discoveries, and steamy sex scenes in Sinners.
While portraying Mary, the seductive vampire love interest of Stack, Hailee Steinfeld, 28, revealed she learned something fascinating about her own family history. In the film, Mary’s grandfather was Black, which mirrored Steinfeld’s real life; she discovered that her own grandfather was half Black.
“It helped me make sense of why my grandfather lived the way he did, leaning into certain parts of his roots and not others,” she told Elle. “I wasn’t aware of that [as a child], and it never would have made sense to me then. I can only try to make sense of it now, going through old photos of him with my mom. I learned how prideful I am to carry what I carry with me, however much or how little. We are all a representation of something, someone, somewhere. I felt a great, great responsibility taking on this role of somebody whose journey echoes real people and real pain.”
For Wunmi Mosaku, 39, playing Annie—Smoke’s fierce and fearless wife—was profoundly meaningful, especially for the emotional impact of seeing women like her represented onscreen.
“It felt quite healing. Even though you know you’re not alone. There’s also a tinge of sorrow in that. Like, why does it take this for us to feel seen?” Mosaku reflected. “And also gratitude for who I am. There are moments, especially from childhood, when I knew I had to either love myself or hurt myself. And even though I can’t say it’s always been love, I’ve never chosen to hurt myself because of what the outside noise is telling me. It felt very much in that moment like, Oh, this is why you chose not to hurt yourself, so that all of us could feel loved, seen, and worthy. That’s why little Wunmi had to hurt. So that this moment could heal so many other people. And I felt healed for it. Because really, if it wasn’t for Ryan, if it wasn’t for his mom and the aunts and the people who look like me in his family who raised him to love us as we are, I may not have been picked for this role. It could have been someone else. The same story could have been told again.”
And Jayme Lawson, 28, who played the beautiful singer Pearline, spoke on the steamy sex scene she shared with co-star Miles Caton, who portrayed the ambitious blues singer, Sammie. Lawson said she left the Sinners set feeling “hot” from her scene and all the different kinds of lovemaking showcased throughout the film.
“Let me tell you something. When I left the screening, I was like, Oohwoo! That scene! Wunmi! That was hot. I felt like y’all’s was real lovemaking. Like, grown. Grown. Then Hailee’s and Mike’s was scary. Like, Oh, y’all are freaky! Wait a minute, spit is going where?! The one with me and Miles felt more innocent and playful. Getting to have three different versions of that, to see people fully in love, in ecstasy. No nudity, mind you. You can still have that sense of sexuality, sensuality, eroticism, and we don’t gotta see nothing. And let it be colorful. Let it be different.”
Teyana Taylor reveals her biggest mantra, what her character from One Battle After Another taught her, and why Escape Room is her most vulnerable musical project yet.
Source: Carin Backoff / Photo taken by Jason Nocito
It’s been a whirlwind year for Teyana Taylor, both onscreen and in the music world. In August, she released her visual album, Escape Room, after a five-year hiatus from the music scene, turning heads with the sizzling on-screen chemistry between her and her partner, Aaron Pierre. Since then, Hollywood hasn’t stopped calling.
In September, Taylor, 35, made her debut in One Battle After Another. The Harlem native also appeared in Tyler Perry’s Straw this past June and made her Hulu debut in All’s Fair this month, sharing the screen with Kim Kardashian, Niecy Nash, and a lineup of other heavy hitters. Teyana is happy that this busy season has come at the right time. When Elle asked about the mantra she lives by, the mother of two said:
“Honestly, the wait is not punishment; it’s preparation. A lot of times, when we’re going through something or things are not going our way, or in the timing that we want them to go, we keep asking, ‘But why?’ And it’s just understanding that it’s okay if something is not yours. Yes, it can hurt, but that was not for you. I used to pray for times like this to be in this position. Don’t harp on what’s not for you; no matter what that is, whether it is in the business, in a friendship, or in a relationship, I will be okay.”
Portraying her character Perfidia in One Battle After Another also taught her an important lesson: the power of being unapologetically yourself.
“Perfidia is unapologetically herself, and those are the parts of her that inspire me because I feel, as a Black woman, when we are at that level of confidence, we’re told that we’re too loud,” Taylor told Elle. “When we say nothing at all, we’re told that we need to stand up. We stay, we’re weak. We go, we’re the problem. I can appreciate Perfidia standing on what she believes in.”
That raw honesty of being true to yourself comes with lots of vulnerability, Taylor added, and fans will get to hear that firsthand in her album, Escape Room.
“I recorded this album on my terms. This is the most vulnerable work I’ve ever done; my label gave me a lot of support and freedom to do that,” she added. “Sometimes, you’ve got to just shake the table. Some people believed, and some people didn’t believe in the vision I had, and that made me go harder. Would I have been the same Inez if I didn’t go through that? Would I have been the same Perfidia? Would I be the creative artist that I am today if I hadn’t gone through that break?”
From making blockbuster horror musicals to taking on deeply personal roles, these women prove why they’re some of the most exciting talents in Hollywood today.
Read their full Women In Hollywood spread with Elle here.
