Oscars 2026 – Acting (Lead & Supporting) + Casting

Elysia wraps up the CinemaHounds pre-Oscars prep series with special guest Paulo from the Oscar's Death Race Podcast and a deep dive into the acting categories: Best Actress, Best Actor, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress. Who's nominated, who should have been nominated, and who will win?

And then they conclude with a look at this year's brand new category: Casting. What is it, why is it here, and who will take home the first statue?

Join us on the Lorehounds Discord (see link.tree below) to discuss all this and more in the #awards-season channel – plus a live chat while the ceremony is airing!

And send your hot takes about the ceremony to lorehounds@thelorehounds.com to be included in the wrap-up discussion!

Note: All film discussion in this episode is spoiler-free.

Check out the Oscars Death Race Podcast w/ Paulo!

The nominees:

Best Actress (00:16:37)

• Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare – Hamnet (to rent, our coverage [subscribers])
• Rose Byrne as Linda – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (HBO Max, our coverage [subscribers])
• Kate Hudson as Clare Lavinia – Song Sung Blue (Peacock)
• Renate Reinsve as Nora Borg – Sentimental Value(to rent, our coverage [subscribers])
• Emma Stone as Michelle Fuller – Bugonia (Peacock)

Best Actor (01:05:52)

• Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser – Marty Supreme (to rent)
• Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson – One Battle After Another (HBO Max, our coverage: pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3)
• Ethan Hawke as Lorenz Hart – Blue Moon (Netflix)
• Michael B. Jordan as Elijah "Smoke" Moore / Elias "Stack" Moore – Sinners (HBO Max, our coverage)
• Wagner Moura as Armando Solimões / Marcelo Alves / Fernando Solimões – The Secret Agent (Hulu)

Best Supporting Actor (01:40:53)

• Stellan Skarsgård as Gustav Borg – Sentimental Value (to rent, our coverage [subscribers])
• Benicio del Toro as Sergio St. Carlos – One Battle After Another (HBO Max, our coverage: pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3)
• Sean Penn as Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw – One Battle After Another (HBO Max, our coverage: pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3)
• Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim – Sinners (HBO Max, our coverage)
• Jacob Elordi as the Creature – Frankenstein (Netflix, our coverage)

Best Supporting Actress (01:58:26)

• Teyana Taylor as Perfidia Beverly Hills – One Battle After Another (HBO Max, our coverage: pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3)
• Wunmi Mosaku as Annie – Sinners (HBO Max, our coverage)
• Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as Agnes Borg Pettersen – Sentimental Value (to rent, our coverage [subscribers])
• Elle Fanning as Rachel Kemp – Sentimental Value (to rent, our coverage [subscribers])
• Amy Madigan as Aunt Gladys – Weapons (HBO Max, our coverage)

Best Casting (02:14:46)

• Francine Maisler – Sinners (HBO Max, our coverage)
• Cassandra Kulukundis – One Battle After Another (HBO Max, our coverage: pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3)
• Nina Gold – Hamnet (to rent, our coverage [subscribers])
• Jennifer Venditti – Marty Supreme (to rent)
• Gabriel Domingues – The Secret Agent (Hulu)

Other performances discussed:

• Mikey Madison in Anora (2024, Oscar win, Hulu [US] / Skyshowtime [EU]) & The Social Reckoning (2026, releases Oct 9)
• Jessie Buckley in The Bride! (2026, in theaters), The Lost Daughter (2021, Oscar nom, Netflix), Wicked Little Letters (2024, Hulu / etc.), Men (2022, Prime / etc.), Dolittle (2020, Prime), Fargo S4 (TV, 2020, Hulu [US], Netflix [EU]), & Chernobyl (TV, 2019, HBO)
• Co-writer/editor Ronald Bronstein of Marty Supreme (to rent) – Rose Byrne in Bridesmaids (2011, Starz) & Insidious (2010, HBO Max)
• Kate Hudson in Almost Famous (2000, Oscar nom, HBO Max ) – the true Song Sung Blue story in Song Sung Blue (2008, doc, YouTube)
• Renate Reinsve in The Worst Person in the World (2021, Tubi / etc.); w/ Sebastian Stan in A Different Man (2024, HBO Max) & Fjord (2026, to premiere at Cannes); w/ Lily Rose Depp & Hoyeon in The Governesses (release TBD); & in Backrooms (2026, in theaters May 29)
• Emma Stone in Birdman (2015, Oscar nom, Hulu / Disney+), La La Land (2017, Oscar win, Prime [US] / Netflix [EU]), in Lanthimos films The Favourite (2019, Oscar nom, Disney+ [EU] / HBO [EU] / to rent) & Poor Things (2024, Oscar win, BP Oscar nom, Disney+ [EU] / to rent)
• Chase Infiniti in One Battle After Another (HBO Max, our coverage: pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3) – Amanda Seyfried & Lewis Pullman in The Testament of Ann Lee (to rent) – Cynthia Erivo & Ariane Grande in Wicked: For Good (to rent, our coverage)

• Adrien Brody in The Brutalist (2024, Oscar win, HBO Max [US] / Skyshowtime [EU]) & The Pianist (2002, Oscar win, Prime / etc.)
• Timothée Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name (2018, Oscar nom, HBO Max), A Complete Unknown (2024, Oscar nom & BP nom, Disney+), & Dune: Part Three (2026, in theaters Dec 18) – Tom Cruise in Digger (2026, in theaters Oct 2)
• Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic (1997, Disney+ / etc.), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013, Oscar nom, Paramount+ / etc.), The Aviator (2004, Oscar nom, Tubi / etc.), The Revenant (2015, Oscar win, Hulu / Disney+), Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (2019, Oscar nom, YouTube / etc.), Killers of the Flower Moon (2023, Apple TV), What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993, Oscar nom, Paramount+ / etc.), & Blood Diamond (2006, Oscar nom, Paramount+ [US] / Prime [EU])
• Ethan Hawke in Training Day (2001, Oscar nom, Starz [US], Prime [EU]), Before Sunrise (1995, writing Oscar nom, Prime [EU] / to rent), Before Sunset (2004, writing Oscar nom, to rent), Boyhood (2014, Oscar nom, AMC+ / etc.)
• Michael B. Jordan in Black Panther & Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2018 & 2022, Disney+, our coverage) – Nicholas Cage in Adaptation (2002, Oscar nom, to rent) – Robert Aramayo as John Davidson in I Swear (2026, in theaters Apr 24 [US] / Netflix [UK])
• Fernanda Torres in I’m Still Here (2024, Oscar nom, Netflix [US] / Prime [NL]) – Fernanda Montenegro in Central Station (1998, Oscar nom, to rent) – Brazilian film The Blue Trail (to rent) – Wagner Moura in Narcos S1&2 (TV, 2015-2016, Netflix) & Civil War (2024, Prime, our coverage)
• Joel Edgerton in Train Dreams (Netflix) – Jesse Plemmons in Bugonia (Peacock) – Lee Byung-hun in No Other Choice (to rent) – Dylan O’Brien in Twinless (Hulu / to rent) – Ryo Yoshizawa in Kokuho (in theaters) – Jackson Yee in Resurrection (to rent, Elysia’s review)

• Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain (2024, Oscar win, Disney+)
• Stellan Skarsgård in Andor (TV, 2022 & 2025, Disney+)
• Benicio del Toro in Traffic (2000, Oscar nom, to rent) & 21 Grams (2003, Oscar nom, to rent) – Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking (1995, Oscar nom, Tubi / etc.), Sweet & Lowdown (1999, Oscar nom, Tubi / etc.), I Am Sam (2001, Oscar nom, YouTube), Mystic River (2003, Oscar win, Netflix [EU] / to rent), Milk (2008, Oscar win, to rent)
• Delroy Lindo in Da 5 Bloods (2020, infamous snub, Netflix)
• Oscar Isaac in Frankenstein (Netflix, our coverage) – Jacob Elordi in Wuthering Heights (2026, in theaters)
• Adam Sandler in Jay Kelly (Netflix) – Miles Caton & Jack O’Connell in Sinners (HBO Max, our coverage) – Paul Mescal in Hamnet (to rent, our coverage [subscribers])
• Zoe Saldaña in Emilia Pérez (2024, Oscar win, Netflix, our coverage)
• Amy Madigan in Twice in a Lifetime (1985, Oscar nom, to rent)
• Odessa A’zion in Marty Supreme (to rent)

• Lynn Stalmaster: the only Casting Director to have received an Academy Award to date, for 395 films, from the ‘70s/’80s Superman films through Weekend at Bernie’s and beyond
• Casting category shortlist (misses): Frankenstein, Sentimental Value, Sirāt, Weapons, Wicked: For Good
• Paulo’s favorite nominated film this year: Kokuho

The 98th Academy Awards will air Sunday, March 15, 2025 at 7 pm ET (on ABC/Hulu in the US) – where it's aired around the world

Check how many Oscar nominees you've seen at OscarsDeathRace.com – or with extended stats via DeathRaceTracking.com

Oscars 2026 coverage

Nominations + Best Picture preview

Live-Action, Animated, & Documentary Shorts

Production Design, Costumes, Makeup & Hair

International Features

Documentary Features

Animated Features

Score & Original Song

Cinematography, VFX, Editing, Sound

Adapted & Original Screenplay, Director

Lead & Supporting Actor & Actress, Casting (this episode)

Ceremony reactions + Best Picture rankings

Deep dives into 2026 Oscar nominees

Sinners

One Battle After Another – pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3

Frankenstein

Weapons

Shorts: “Two People Exchanging Saliva,” “Jane Austen’s Period Drama,” “The Singers,” “Retirement Plan,” and “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”

For subscribers:

Hamnet – WhachaWachin (with spoilers)

Leiden IFF – WhachaWachin (Sentimental Value, If I Had Legs I Would Kick You, Arco)

Additional awards coverage

BAFTA shorts

BAFTA features

Independent Spirit Awards

Revisit Oscars 2024 & 2025: links in these show notes

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