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Movies for Grownups Awards with AARP Winners: ‘Hamnet’ Takes Best Picture

Erik Anderson January 11, 2026

Last night, AARP recognized the winners of the annual Movies for Grownups Awards, honoring standout films and television projects that celebrate the voices, creativity, and stories of people 50 and older.

Chloé Zhao, Paul Mescal, and Jessie Buckley accepted the award for Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups for Hamnet, and Noah Wyle and R. Scott Gemmill accepted Best TV Series or Limited Series for The Pitt.

“Powerful storytelling has no age limit – and tonight’s honorees show what is possible when talent and experience define the stories we see on screen,” said Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan, CEO of AARP. “Our latest research shows why this work matters: 81% of adults (18-plus) say what they see on screen shapes how society views getting older. When artists and creators tell honest, multidimensional stories about people over 50, audiences across generations connect with them – and that connection is driving change. These honorees are challenging the narrative around aging in Hollywood, pushing back against ageism, and setting a new standard for what storytelling can, and should, look like.”

George Clooney, honored as Best Actor for Jay Kelly, and Noah Wyle, recognized as Best TV Actor for The Pitt, shared a heartfelt moment by presenting awards to one another, a nod to their longtime friendship and collaboration that began on the iconic series ER.

Clooney reflected on his latest role in Jay Kelly, saying, “I couldn’t believe my luck that I got to play the part… This film was made by people who love actors.” Wyle added that The Pitt has given him the chance to thrive at this stage of his life, underscoring how opportunities can emerge and evolve over time.

Adam Sandler received the Movies for Grownups Career Achievement Award and brought down the house with a tongue-in-cheek “top ten” list of signs he’s officially growing up. Henry Winkler, a longtime friend of Sandler since being immortalized in his original Hannukah song, reflected on Sandler’s unwavering loyalty and genuine character, qualities that have defined their decades-long bond.

Jacob Elordi presented the Best Director award to Guillermo del Toro for Frankenstein, saying, “It’s really special to be here tonight to present the AARP Award for Best Director to someone I’ve long admired, Guillermo del Toro.” He continued, “With Frankenstein, Guillermo returns to a story he’s carried with him for decades. This version isn’t about spectacle. It’s about responsibility – about what it means to create something and what happens when you don’t take care of it.”

Delroy Lindo was named Best Supporting Actor for Sinners, presented by his co-star Wunmi Mosaku and director Ryan Coogler, and Regina Hall won Best Supporting Actress for One Battle After Another. Hall was unable to attend but had co-star Chase Infiniti read a humorous and self-aggrandizing speech that was “definitely not written by Regina Hall.”

The event, hosted once again by Alan Cumming, the Tony and Emmy Award-winning host of the widely lauded competition show The Traitors, will be broadcast by Great Performances on Sunday, February 22, 2026, at 7/6c on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/moviesforgrownups and the PBS app.

Here is the complete list of winners of the Movies for GrownupsAwards with AARP.

Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups:

Winner: Hamnet

Nominees: Hamnet, A House of Dynamite, One Battle After Another, Sinners, Train Dreams

Best Actress

Winner: Laura Dern (Is This Thing On?)

Nominees: Laura Dern (Is This Thing On?), Jodie Foster (A Private Life), Lucy Liu (Rosemead), Julia Roberts (After the Hunt), and June Squibb (Eleanor the Great)

Best Actor

Winner: George Clooney (Jay Kelly)

Nominees: George Clooney (Jay Kelly), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Joel Edgerton (Train Dreams), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), and Dwayne Johnson (The Smashing Machine)

Best Supporting Actress

Winner: Regina Hall (One Battle After Another)

Nominees: Regina Hall (One Battle After Another), Amy Madigan (Weapons), Helen Mirren (Goodbye June), Gwyneth Paltrow (Marty Supreme), and Sigourney Weaver (Avatar: Fire and Ash)

Best Supporting Actor

Winner: Delroy Lindo (Sinners)

Nominees: Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another), Delroy Lindo (Sinners), Sean Penn (One Battle After Another), Michael Shannon (Nuremberg), and Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value)

Best Director

Winner: Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein)

Nominees: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another), Kathryn Bigelow (A House of Dynamite), Scott Cooper (Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere), Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein), and Spike Lee (Highest 2 Lowest)

Best Screenwriter

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Nominees: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another), Noah Baumbach and Emily Mortimer (Jay Kelly), Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, and Mark Chappell (Is This Thing On?), Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale), and James Vanderbilt (Nuremberg)

Best Ensemble

Winner: One Battle After Another

Nominees: A House of Dynamite, Jay Kelly, Nuremberg, One Battle After Another, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Best Intergenerational Film

Winner: Sentimental Value

Nominees: Eleanor the Great, The Lost Bus, Rental Family, Rosemead, Sentimental Value

Best Period Film

Winner: Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

Nominees: Dead Man’s Wire, Marty Supreme, Nuremberg, Sinners, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

Best Documentary

Winner: My Mom Jayne

Nominees: Becoming Led Zeppelin, Cover Up, My Mom Jayne, Riefenstahl, Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost

Best Foreign-Language Film

Winner: Sentimental Value

Nominees: It Was Just an Accident, No Other Choice, Nouvelle Vague, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value

Best TV Series or Limited Series

Winner: The Pitt

Nominees: Adolescence, Hacks, The Pitt, The Studio, The White Lotus

Best Actor (TV)

Winner: Noah Wyle (The Pitt)

Nominees: Walton Goggins (The White Lotus), Stephen Graham (Adolescence), Gary Oldman (Slow Horses), Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), Noah Wyle (The Pitt)

Best Actress (TV)

Winner: Kathy Bates (Matlock)

Nominees: Kathy Bates (Matlock), Kathryn Hahn (The Studio), Catherine O’Hara (The Studio), Parker Posey (The White Lotus), Jean Smart (Hacks)

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

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.