Sundance celebrity spotting: Here are some of the stars scheduled to visit Utah for the 2025 festival

A fun game to play at the Sundance Film Festival is counting how many celebrities you can spot in Park City.

For those playing, some pointers:

• The most likely place to see celebrities is on stage after their movie premieres, taking part in Q&As.

• Another good spot is on Park City’s Main Street, particularly outside the restaurants and sponsor lounges on the north end of the street, the so-called “New Main.” Usually you can tell where they are based on the gaggles of people with their phones and cameras out, trying to snap a shot of the stars.

• Most celebrity sightings happen in the festival’s first four days. After the first Sunday, many head back to Los Angeles or New York to their day jobs making movies or TV shows.

This year, because of the wildfires that have torn through parts of the L.A. area, not as many celebrities may make the trip up to Utah. Fewer than usual have confirmed through their movies’ publicists that they’re attending, though it’s possible they’re waiting until the emergency in Los Angeles County has abated before making a commitment.

What follows is a list of the celebrities who, so far, have been confirmed to attend the 2025 festival — including their Instagram account names and, for a few, their Bluesky handles.

• Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand and subject of the documentary “Prime Minister” (World Cinema Documentary). Instagram: @jacindaardern.

• Alison Brie, known for roles in the TV series “Community” and “Mad Men,” who stars in “Together” (U.S. Dramatic). Instagram: @alisonbrie.

• Rose Byrne, who has starred in such movies as “Bridesmaids” and “Spy,” is scheduled to visit to support “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (Premieres). Instagram: @fullyrosebyrne.

• Olivia Colman, Oscar winner for “The Favourite” and an Emmy winner for “The Crown,” who stars in “Jimpa” (Premieres).

• Tim Daly, who starred in the TV series “Madam Secretary” and “Wings,” is hosting events as president of The Creative Coalition, a nonprofit arts advocacy group. Instagram: @timmydaly.

• Ayo Edebiri, who won an Emmy for FX’s “The Bear” and starred in the movie “Bottoms,” will be attending to support “Opus” (Premieres). Instagram: @ayoedebiri.

• Joel Edgerton, the actor known for “The Great Gatsby” and “The Boys in the Boat,” will attend as a star of “Train Dreams” (Premieres). Instagram: @joeledgerton.

• Cynthia Erivo, now starring as Elphaba in “Wicked” and an Oscar nominee for “Harriet,” who will receive Sundance Institute’s Visionary Award at the organization’s annual gala. Instagram: @cynthiaerivo.

• Sean Evans, the host and co-creator of the YouTube series “Hot Ones” (where he interviews celebrities as they eat painfully spicy hot wings), is scheduled to take part in an event, BrandStorytelling Creator Event, on Jan. 25. Instagram: @seanseaevans.

• Dave Franco, an actor whose films include “The Disaster Artist” and “Love Lies Bleeding,” will co-star in both “Bubble & Squeak” and “Together” (both in the U.S. Dramatic competition).

• Sarah Goldberg, who co-starred in the HBO series “Barry” and the thriller “The Night House,” will co-star in “Bubble & Squeak” (U.S. Dramatic).

• Molly Gordon, the comic actor who co-starred in “Booksmart” and “Shiva Baby,” is attending in support of “Oh, Hi!” (Premieres).

• Rebecca Hall, an actor known for “Iron Man 3″ and “Godzilla v. Kong,” is attending with “Peter Hujar’s Day” (Premieres). Instagram: @rebeccahall.

• Katherine Heigl, a former star of TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and such romantic comedies as “27 Dresses,” has an art exhibition at Park City’s Gallery MAR with her husband, singer-songwriter Josh Kelley. (They both live in Oakley.) Instagram: @katherineheigl.

• Daniel Kaluuya, who had leading roles in Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” and “Nope,” and won an Oscar for “Judas and the Black Messiah,” is on one of the festival juries and will take part in the “Power of Story” panel discussion. Instagram: @danielkaluuya.

• Josh Kelley, the singer-songwriter and Oakley resident, has an art exhibition at Gallery MAR with his wife, actor Katherine Heigl. Instagram: @joshbkelley.

• Juliette Lewis, whose acting career has spanned from “Natural Born Killers” to “Yellowjackets,” will attend to represent two movies, “By Design” (Next) and “Opus” (Premieres). Instagram: @juliettelewis.

• Jennifer Lopez, the acclaimed singer and actor (”Out of Sight,” “Hustlers” and more), will attend in support of “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (Premieres). Instagram: @jlo.

• John Magaro, an actor who stars in “First Cow” and the upcoming “September 5,” is scheduled to attend with the made-in-Utah drama “Omaha” (U.S. Dramatic). Instagram: @j_magaro.

• John Malkovich, the legendary actor who starred in “Con Air” and “Being John Malkovich,” is scheduled to appear in support of “Opus” (Premieres).

• Samantha Mathis, an actor whose credits include the 1994 version of “Little Women” and the Utah-made thriller “Broken Arrow,” will represent “By Design” (Next). Instagram: @samantham01. Bluesky: samanthamathis.bsky.social.

• Marlee Matlin, the actor and deaf-rights advocate who won an Oscar for “Children of a Lesser God” and starred in the Best Picture Oscar winner “CODA.” She is the subject of “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore” (U.S. Documentary). Instagram: @themarleematlin; Bluesky: marleematlin.bsky.social.

• Arian Moayed, who was nominated for an Emmy twice for his work HBO’s “Succession,” is serving on the U.S. Dramatic competition jury. Instagram: @arianmoayed.

• Carey Mulligan, an Oscar-nominated actor for “An Education,” “Promising Young Woman” and “Maestro,” who stars in “The Ballad of Wallis Island” (Premieres).

• Conan O’Brien, the longtime talk-show host and upcoming Oscars host, is scheduled to appear to support “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (Premieres). Instagram: @teamcoco.

• Josh O’Connor, who made a splash last year as one of the tennis players in “Challengers,” is set to attend Sundance to support “Rebuilding” (Premieres).

• Hamish Patel, who starred in the Beatles-themed “Yesterday” and HBO’s behind-the-scenes comedy “The Franchise,” is one of the stars of “Bubble & Squeak” (U.S. Dramatic).

• Chloë Sevigny, whose credits include HBO’s “Big Love” and the zombie comedy “The Dead Don’t Die,” has two movies at Sundance: “Atropia” (U.S. Dramatic) and “Magic Farm” (Premieres). Instagram: @chloessevigny.

• Alia Shawkat, known for roles on TV’s “Arrested Development” and “Search Party,” is scheduled to attend with the movie “Atropia” (U.S. Dramatic).

• Chase Strangio, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union and the first openly transgender lawyer to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, is the subject of the documentary “Heightened Scrutiny” (Premieres). Instagram: @chasestrangio; Bluesky: chasestrangio.bsky.social

• Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the drummer and leader of band The Roots and director of the Oscar-winning documentary “Summer of Soul,” is back with another documentary, “Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)” (Premieres). Instagram: @questlove; Bluesky: questlove.bsky.social.

• Robin Tunney, an actor best known as one of the teen witches in “The Craft” and for the long-running series “The Mentalist,” will appear in “By Design” (Next). Instagram: @robintunney.

• Ben Whishaw, who played Q in the most-recent James Bond movies and is the voice of Paddington Bear, is supporting “Peter Hujar’s Day” (Premieres).

• Finn Wolfhard, one of the stars of “Stranger Things” and the recent “Ghostbusters” movies, will be attending to support “The Legend of Ochi” (Family Matinee). Instagram: @finnwolfhardofficial.

• Elijah Wood, known for playing Frodo Baggins in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, is a producer on the movie “Rabbit Trap” (Midnight) and is the one-person jury for the festival’s Next competition. Instagram: @elijahwood.officially.

• Steven Yeun, an actor who starred in “Nope” and the Netflix series “Beef,” and who earned an Oscar nomination for “Minari,” appears in “Bubble & Squeak” (U.S. Dramatic). Instagram: @steveyeun.

Meet the juries

Some of the people selected for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s juries have recognizable faces — like Elijah Wood and Daniel Kaluuya. Others are less recognizable, though their work is familiar to movie fans.

Here are the jurors, announced Jan. 14, who will decide the award winners for this year’s festival:

U.S. Dramatic competition • Director Reinaldo Marcus Green (“King Richard,” “Bob Marley: One Love”); actor Arian Moayed (“Succession,” “Inventing Anna,” “Ms. Marvel”); writer-director Celine Song (“Past Lives”).

U.S. Documentary competition • Director Steven Bognar (the Oscar-winning documentary “American Factory”); producer Vinnie Malhotra (who runs the film and TV division of the Obamas’ production company Higher Ground); filmmaker Marcia Smith (co-founder and president of the nonprofit Firelight Media).

World Cinema Dramatic competition • Ava Cahen (artistic director of Cannes Critics’ Week); filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu (“Rafiki”); actor Daniel Kaluuya (Oscar winner for “Judas and the Black Messiah”).

World Cinema Documentary competition • Filmmaker Daniella Alatorre (general director of the Mexican Film Institute); publicist Laura Kim (who ran marketing for the recently disbanded Participant Media); and director Kevin Macdonald (“The Mauritanian” and this year’s Sundance entry “One to One: John and Yoko”).

Next • The program of idiosyncratic small-budget movies is traditionally judged by a single juror — who this year is “The Lord of the Rings” actor Elijah Wood, co-founder of the production company SpectreVision.

Short Film program jury • Actress/filmmaker Kaniehtiio Horn (“Reservation Dogs”); longtime festival programmer Maggie Mackay (executive director of Vidiots Foundation); architect-turned-filmmaker Kibwe Tavares.

Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize Jury • This group picks the winner of the Sloan Prize, given to to a film that depicts science or technology. It includes director Michael Almereyda (“Marjorie Prime,” “Tesla”); artist and astrophysicist Nia Imara (author of the upcoming “Painting the Cosmos”); entrepreneur and A.I. developer Dr. Monica Lopez, filmmaker Nicholas Ma (“Mabel,” “Leap of Faith”); and Sam and Andy Zuchero, who directed last year’s Sundance tech-driven romance “Love Me.”

— This list is subject to change. Check back for updates.