Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” is expected to solidify it’s Oscar front-runner status Wednesday by topping the list of nominations being announced for The Actor Awards, formerly known as the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
“One Battle After Another” was named best picture at Sunday’s Critics Choice Awards, and it could potentially tie or break a record Wednesday when Actor Award nominations are unveiled, with some pundits projecting the film to land at least five nominations.
In the history of the SAG Awards, six films have earned five nominations — “Shakespeare in Love,” “Chicago,” “Doubt,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Wicked.”
“One Battle After Another” is virtually guaranteed to be nominated for best ensemble cast, which is The Actor Awards equivalent of the best picture prize at the Oscars. Other likely contenders are “Hamnet,” “Sinners,” “Train Dreams,” “Marty Supreme” and a possible nod for the popular “Wicked: For Good.”
Critics Choice winners Timothée Chalamet and Jessie Buckley are likely nominees for lead actor and actress for their respective work in “Marty Supreme” and “Hamnet.”
Leonardo DiCaprio is virtually assured of a nod for lead actor for his work in “One Battle After Another,” along with Michael B. Jordan for his dual role in “Sinners,” Joel Edgerton for “Train Dreams” and Ethan Hawke for “Blue Moon.”
Potential challengers for Buckley include Rose Byrne for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Emma Stone for “Bugonia,” Chase Infiniti for “One Battle After Another,” Renate Reinsve for “Sentimental Value” and potentially Cynthia Erivo for “Wicked: For Good.”
“One Battle After Another” could also land a series of nods in the supporting actor/actress categories, with nominations possible for Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Teyana Taylor.
On the small screen, last year’s record-setter at the Emmy Awards, “The Studio,” is likely to be among the nominees for best ensemble in a comedy series, along with perennial favorites “The Bear,” “Abbott Elementary,” “Hacks” and “Only Murders in the Building.”
Drama ensemble nominations could include programs such as “Severance,” “The White Lotus,” “The Pitt,” “Stranger Things,” “The Morning Show” and “Andor.”
The nominations announcement will be made at 10 a.m., streaming live on Netflix’s YouTube channel. SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin will make opening remarks, likely beginning around 9:50 a.m. The nominations will be announced by Janelle James of “Abbott Elementary” and Connor Storrie of “Heated Rivalry.”
The 2026 ceremony is set for March 1 at the Shrine Auditorium, streaming live on Netflix.
The awards have often been deemed the most coveted among performers, since they are voted upon solely by other actors.
Harrison Ford, who personified two of cinema’s most iconic characters in Han Solo and Indiana Jones, will receive the 61st SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award during the event to recognize his career and humanitarian work. The award honors a performer who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” according to SAG-AFTRA.
SAG-AFTRA announced in November that the annual awards show’s name was being changed to The Actor Awards presented by SAG-AFTRA.” The guild noted that after SAG merged with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union in 2012, becoming SAG-AFTRA, the awards show maintained the name SAG Awards. With the new name, “we’re finally able to fully recognize that merger and align it with the name of our statuette, The Actor,” according to the guild.