2026 Oscar Predictions: BEST ACTOR (November)
Let’s here for the boys (who went to the Governors Ball): Leonardo DiCaprio, Joel Edgerton, Colin Farrell, Brendan Fraser, Oscar Isaac, Hugh Jackman, Michael B. Jordan, Lee Byung-hun, Rami Malek, Wagner Moura, Tonatiuh and Jeremy Allen White.
Who skipped: Will Arnett, Timothée Chalamet, George Clooney, Russell Crowe, Daniel Day-Lewis, Ethan Hawke, Josh O’Connor and Jesse Plemons.
Three Best Actor contenders scored Gotham nominations: Wagner Moura, Ethan Hawke and Lee Byung-hun.
Here are my 2026 Oscar nomination predictions in Best Actor for November.
| 1. Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros) | |
| 2. Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme (A24) | |
| 3. Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent (NEON) | Cannes Best Actor, Gotham |
| 4. Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams (Netflix) ↑ | |
| 5. George Clooney – Jay Kelly (Netflix) ↓ | |
| 6. Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics) ↑ | Gotham |
| 7. Michael B. Jordan – Sinners (Warner Bros) | |
| 8. Jesse Plemons – Bugonia (Focus Features) | |
| 9. Jeremy Allen White – Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (20th Century Studios) ↓ | |
| 10. Will Arnett – Is This Thing On? (Searchlight Pictures) |
| 11. Dwayne Johnson – The Smashing Machine (A24) ↓ | |
| 12. Russell Crowe – Nuremberg (Sony Pictures Classics) | |
| 13. Hugh Jackman – Song Song Blue (Focus Features) | |
| 14. Daniel Day-Lewis – Anemone (Focus Features) | |
| 15. Brendan Fraser – Rental Family (Searchlight Pictures) | |
| 16. Lee Byung-hun – No Other Choice (NEON) ↑ | Gotham |
| 17. Oscar Isaac – Frankenstein (Netflix) ↓ | |
| 18. Josh O’Connor – The Mastermind (MUBI) ↑ | Gotham |
| 19. Denzel Washington – Highest 2 Lowest (Apple Original Films/A24) | |
| 20. Colin Farrell – The Ballad of a Small Player (Netflix) |
Other contenders: Austin Butler – Caught Stealing (A24), Benicio Del Toro – The Phoenician Scheme (Focus Features), Ralph Fiennes – The Choral (Sony Pictures Classics), Rami Malek – Nuremberg (Sony Pictures Classics), Guillaume Marbeck – Nouvelle Vague (Netflix), Matthew McConaughey – The Lost Bus (Apple Original Films) ↓, Harry Melling – Pillion (A24), Paul Mescal – The History of Sound (MUBI), Dylan O’Brien* – Twinless (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions) – Sundance winner, Brad Pitt – F1: The Movie (Apple Original Films/Warner Bros), Toni Servillo – La Grazia (MUBI) – Venice Best Actor, Channing Tatum – Roofman (Paramount Pictures), Tonatiuh – Kiss of the Spider Woman (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions)
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
- Ildikó Enyedi’s ‘Silent Friend’ Among 2026 SFFILM Honorees of the Sloan Science in Cinema Initiative - April 27, 2026
- Olivia Wilde Takes San Francisco by Storm with ‘The Invite’ [Q&A] - April 25, 2026
- ‘The Pitt,’ ‘Heated Rivalry,’ ‘Mr. Nobody Against Putin’ Lead 86th Peabody Awards Winners - April 23, 2026
On the Shelf: ‘Highest 2 Lowest,’ ‘John Singleton’s Hood Trilogy,’ a Nancy Meyers Double Feature and Action-Packed Spectacles Highlight the Physical Media releases for the Week of April 27 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 151 – ‘The Annihilation of Fish’ (Burnett, 1999) 
2026 San Francisco International Film Festival Reviews: ‘Two Pianos,’ ‘If I Go Will They Miss Me,’ ‘Filipiñana,’ ‘Elder Son’ [SFFILM] 
‘Idiots’ Review: Dave Franco and O’Shea Jackson Jr. Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore [B] Atlanta Film Festival