Foreign-language performers snubbed, but Aussies shine in Actor Award nominations

2 months ago 6

Nominations for the 2026 Actor Awards have shut out some of the most critically lauded performances of 2025, including Cynthia Erivo, Wagner Moura and all foreign-language performers.

Australian talent, however, shone, with both Sarah Snook and Jacob Elordi receiving nods following their victories at the Critics’ Choice Awards on Monday. Snook is in the running for best actress in a limited series for her role in the mystery-thriller All Her Fault, and Elordi is gunning for best supporting male actor for his haunting performance in Frankenstein. Rose Byrne was also nominated for her role in A24’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, putting her in the running for best female actor.

Australian talent fared well in the Actor Awards nominations while all foreign-language performances were snubbed.

The entire cast of Sentimental Value, Joachim Trier’s Norwegian film that won the Grand Prix at Cannes last year, was snubbed, including Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning and Stellan Skarsgård – an actor many initially considered a favourite to win.

Wagner Moura, the star of Brazilian film The Secret Agent, also missed out on a nod despite having won best actor honours at Cannes. However, given the film’s success at the Critics’ Choice Awards and New York Film Critics Circle (as well as its Golden Globe nomination), Moura remains a frontrunner for an Academy Award.

Erivo failed to pick up a nomination for her return as Elphaba in Wicked: For Good, marking her second miss following the Critics’ Choice Awards. The British actress was nominated for both an Actor Award and Oscar last year for Wicked: Part One. Her co-star Ariana Grande, meanwhile, has been recognised in the supporting actress category with a nomination.

One Battle After Another dominated the list overall, with Paul Thomas Anderson’s ragtag revolutionary saga landing a record seven nominations in the annual SAG-AFTRA honours.

In the 31 years of the Actor Awards, formerly known as the Screen Actors Guild Awards, no movie has received more than five nominations. Along with a nod for the guild’s top award, best ensemble, the cast of One Battle After Another was showered with nominations for Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infiniti, Teyana Taylor, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro and its stunt performers.

The four other nominees for best ensemble are: Sinners, Hamnet, Marty Supreme and Frankenstein. Usually, to win best picture at the Oscars, a movie needs a SAG ensemble nomination. Only four films in the last three decades have managed the feat without that. Among the films that missed the cut this year were Sentimental Value, Wicked: For Good and Train Dreams.

One Battle After Another earned seven nods, breaking an Actor Awards record.

Sinners had an especially good result. Along with a best male actor nod for Michael B Jordan, supporting actors Miles Caton and Wunmi Mosaku were both nominated. It collected five nominations in total.

In television, Apple’s The Studio, HBO’s White Lotus and Netflix’s Adolescence lead the nominees. The Studio scored nods for its ensemble, Seth Rogen, Kathryn Hahn, Catherine O’Hara and Ike Barinholtz. The top drama was The White Lotus, which collected four nominations including best ensemble and nods for Parker Posey, Walton Goggins and Aimee Lee Wood. The limited series Adolescence also landed four nominations, for Owen Cooper, Stephen Graham, Erin Doherty and Christine Tremarco.

Historically, the Actor Awards have been one of the strongest Oscar indicators. Actors make up the largest branch of the film academy, and, in the past, individual SAG nominees have overlapped with the Oscar field at a rate of roughly four to five. The Actor Awards are presented by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Wagner Moura and The Secret Agent were snubbed in the Actor Award nominations.

That means the current nominees may closely resemble those headed to the Oscars.

With more than 122,000 voting members, the actors’ guild has tended to skew more populist and the guild often shies away from non-English language nominees.

Membership in the academy, meanwhile, has grown increasingly international. Along with Sentimental Value and The Secret Agent, movies like the Iranian revenge drama It Was Just an Accident should have greater success come Oscar nominations on January 23.

There have been some prominent differences between SAG and the Oscars. Last year, Timothée Chalamet won best male actor but lost to Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) at the Oscars. The papal drama Conclave took best ensemble, but Sean Baker’s Anora won best picture at the Academy Awards.

Actor Award nominations:

Best male actor
Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another)
Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)
Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)
Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon)
Jesse Plemons (Bugonia)

Thoughts: The only surprise of that group was Plemons. The favourite remains the 30-year-old Chalamet who won the same award last year for A Complete Unknown and vowed to pursue “greatness” in his acceptance speech.

Best female actor
Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another)
Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)
Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You)
Kate Hudson Song Sung Blue
Emma Stone (Bugonia)

Best supporting male actor
Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another)
Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)
Miles Caton (Sinners)
Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein)
Paul Mescal (Hamnet)

Best supporting female actor
Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)
Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners)
Ariana Grande (Wicked: For Good)
Amy Madigan (Weapons)
Odessa A’zion (Marty Supreme)

Thoughts: The biggest surprise in that category was the 25-year-old A’zion.

The Actor Awards will take place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on March 2 (AEDT). Netflix will stream the ceremony live. Harrison Ford will be presented with the guild’s life achievement award.

With AP

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