The 2026 Actor Awards nominations landed Wednesday with two clear signals for the Oscars: Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another surged to a record seven nominations, and the film actress race tightened around a smaller, sharper group than many awards-watchers expected.
The SAG-AFTRA-backed show, formerly known as the Screen Actors Guild Awards, put One Battle After Another in the cast prize and the stunt ensemble race, then stacked individual notices for Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infiniti, Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners followed with five nominations, including acting slots for Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton and Wunmi Mosaku, plus cast and stunts. The cast category rounded out with Frankenstein, Hamnet and Marty Supreme, a lineup that often overlaps heavily with the eventual Best Picture field.
In leading actress, the nominees were Jessie Buckley (Hamnet), Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You), Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue), Infiniti (One Battle After Another) and Emma Stone (Bugonia). For many campaign teams, that list matters because SAG-AFTRA voters make up a large share of the Academy’s acting branch, and a miss here can harden the “outside looking in” narrative heading into Oscar nominations.
The supporting actress field shifted in a different way. Ariana Grande (Wicked: For Good) broke through, joined by Taylor, Mosaku, Amy Madigan (Weapons) and Odessa A’Zion (Marty Supreme), a younger pick that several observers flagged as a surprise. At the same time, a set of performances tied to international titles that have circulated in awards chatter failed to translate into nominations, reinforcing the long-running view that this group can lean more mainstream than other bodies.
SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin opened the announcement by calling the awards “created exclusively by actors and for actors,” then referenced the anniversary of Los Angeles wildfires and the union’s coming studio talks. Janelle James and Connor Storrie revealed the nominees. Winners will be announced March 1 in a ceremony streamed live on Netflix, with Harrison Ford set to receive the life achievement honor.
