The 2026 Oscars nominations for the 98th Academy Awards were announced Thursday morning, finally giving film fanatics a definitive pool of potential winners for the event, which will be held Sunday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m. ET. The pool for Best Actress is stacked with multiple elite performances, albeit one clear frontrunner. Let’s break down the Best Actress nominees for the 2026 Oscars!
Check out our coverage of other Oscar nominations here:
- Best Picture
- Best Actor
- Best Supporting Actor
- Best Supporting Actress
- Best Director
- Best Original Screenplay
2026 Oscars: Best Actress Nominees
Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)
Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You)
Emma Stone (Bugonia)
Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue)
Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value)
Someone was always going to get snubbed in this category. There were simply too many fantastic performances from women in a leading role this year. Obviously, Jessie Buckley stands out among the pack. She’s already taken home the Golden Globe for Best Actress (Drama) and the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Actress for her emotionally shattering performance in Hamnet. Buckley is the odds-on favorite at -1800 on DraftKings Sportsbook to add an Oscar to her trophy cabinet. That said, it would be foolish to completely count out Rose Byrne, who won the Golden Globe for Best Actress (Musical or Comedy).
While Emma Stone appears unlikely to claim her third Best Actress Oscar, another nomination represents her incredible consistency at the top of her field. Kate Hudson stole the show (along with audiences’ hearts) in Song Sung Blue, and Renate Reinsve’s transformative performance in Sentimental Value put the rest of the film industry on notice. Shoutout to Chase Infiniti, who was an unfortunate snub for this category but put together an masterfully powerful performance in One Battle After Another. Overall, this is an immensely talented field, but it’s Buckley’s award to lose.
