2026 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTOR and SUPPORTING ACTRESS (May)
Ahead of the Cannes Film Festival, here are my 2026 Oscar nomination predictions in Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress for May.
SUPPORTING ACTOR
| 1. Stephen Graham – Deliver Me From Nowhere (20th Century Studios) |
| 2. Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value (NEON) |
| 3. Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly (Netflix) |
| 4. Paul Mescal – Hamnet (Focus Features) |
| 5. Sean Penn – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros) |
| 6. Andrew Garfield – After the Hunt (Amazon MGM) |
| 7. Jeremy Strong – Deliver Me From Nowhere (20th Century Studios) |
| 8. Mark Hamill – The Life of Chuck (NEON) |
| 9. Andrew Scott – Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics) – Berlin winner |
| 10. Miles Caton – Sinners (Warner Bros) |
Next up: Jonathan Bailey – Wicked For Good (Universal Pictures), Bradley Cooper – Is This Thing On? (Searchlight Pictures), Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros), Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein (Netflix), Ben Foster – Untitled Christy Martin biopic (TBD), Stavros Halkias – Bugonia (Focus Features), Takehiro Hira – Rental Family (Searchlight Pictures), Tom Hiddleston – The Life of Chuck (NEON), Delroy Lindo – Sinners (Warner Bros), Conan O’Brien – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (A24), Josh O’Connor – The History of Sound (MUBI), Robert Pattinson – Die, My Love (TBD), Christoph Waltz – Frankenstein (Netflix), Jeffrey Wright – Highest 2 Lowest (Apple Original Films/A24)
Other contenders: Christopher Abbott – Ann Lee (TBD, A$AP Rocky – Highest 2 Lowest (Apple Original Films/A24), Sean Bean – Anemone (Focus Features), Adam Driver – Father, Mother, Sister, Brother (MUBI), Idris Elba – Untitled Kathryn Bigelow (Netflix), Akira Emoto – Rental Family (Searchlight Pictures), Brendan Fraser – Pressure (Focus Features), Woody Harrelson – Ella McKay (20th Century Studios), Jude Law – The Wizard of the Kremlin (TBD), William H. Macy – Train Dreams (Netflix), Lewis Pullman – Ann Lee (TBD), Matt Smith – Caught Stealing (A24), Michael Stuhlbarg – After the Hunt (Amazon MGM)
Lead or supporting? Murray Bartlett – At the Sea (TBD), Tom Hiddleston – The Life of Chuck (NEON)
2026? Colman Domingo – Michael (Lionsgate)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
| 1. Emma Stone* – Bugonia (Focus Features) |
| 2. Gwyneth Paltrow – Marty Supreme (A24) |
| 3. Ayo Edebiri – After the Hunt (Amazon MGM) |
| 4. Laura Dern* – Is This Thing On? (Searchlight Pictures) |
| 5. Sissy Spacek – Die, My Love (TBD) |
| 6. Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros) |
| 7. Ariana Grande – Wicked For Good (Universal Pictures) |
| 8. Emily Blunt* – The Smashing Machine (A24) |
| 9. Emily Watson – Hamnet (Focus Features) |
| 10. Glenn Close – Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix) |
Next up: Glenn Close – The Summer Book (TBD), Michaela Coel – Mother Mary (A24), Laura Dern – Jay Kelly (Netflix), Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value (NEON), America Ferrera – The Lost Bus (Apple Original Films), Alana Haim – The Mastermind (MUBI), Gaby Hoffmann – Deliver Me From Nowhere (20th Century Studios), Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros, Jennifer Lopez – Kiss of the Spider Woman (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions), Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners (Warner Bros), Hailee Steinfeld – Sinners (Warner Bros), Tilda Swinton – The Ballad of a Small Player (Netflix), Mia Threapleton – The Phoenician Scheme (Focus Features)
Other contenders: Amy Adams – Klara and the Sun (Sony Pictures), Kerry Condon – Pressure (Focus Features), Jamie Lee Curtis – Ella McCay (20th Century Studios), Zoey Deutch – Nouvelle Vague (TBD), Virginie Efira – Vie Privée (Sony Pictures Classics), Golshifteh Farahani – Alpha (NEON), Mia Goth – Frankenstein (Netflix), Nina Hoss – Hedda (Amazon MGM), Vicky Krieps – Father, Mother, Sister, Brother (MUBI), Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value (NEON), Thomasin McKenzie – Ann Lee (TBD), Emily Mortimer – Jay Kelly (Netflix), Samantha Morton – Anemone (Focus Features), Katy O’Brien – Untitled Christy Martin biopic (TBD), Margaret Qualley – Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics), Alicia Silverstone – Bugonia (Focus Features), Mari Yamamoto – Rental Family (Searchlight Pictures)
*Lead or supporting? Emily Blunt – The Smashing Machine (A24), Laura Dern – Is This Thing On? (Searchlight Pictures), Zoey Deutch – Nouvelle Vague (TBD), Emma Stone – Bugonia (Focus Features)
2026? Nia Long – Michael (Lionsgate)
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.
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