Janelle James and Connor Storrie just dropped the 32nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations, and honestly, the vibe in Hollywood is shifting. While the Oscars still have that "gold statue" prestige, most actors will tell you privately that a SAG nod hits different. It’s peers voting for peers. No producers, no cinematographers, just actors looking at another person’s craft and saying, "Yeah, you actually nailed that."
This year, the rebranded "Actor Awards" (it's what they're calling the ceremony now) feels like a total clash between high-brow period pieces and gritty horror blockbusters. We’ve got Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another absolutely cleaning up with seven nods, while Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is right on its tail. It’s a wild list.
The Big Shocker: Who Made the Screen Actors Guild Awards Nominations Cut?
If you were betting on a "standard" awards season, the 2026 list probably threw you for a loop. We need to talk about One Battle After Another. Seven nominations? That’s record-breaking territory. Leonardo DiCaprio is back in the lead actor mix, which, okay, we expected. But seeing Chase Infiniti and Teyana Taylor land spots alongside heavyweights like Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro? That’s the "SAG magic" people talk about. They aren't afraid to reward the newcomers if the performance is undeniable.
Then you have Sinners. Ryan Coogler’s move into the horror-thriller space clearly resonated with the guild. Michael B. Jordan snagged a Lead Actor nomination, but the real story is the supporting cast. Miles Caton and Wunmi Mosaku getting recognized shows that the guild is looking past the "genre" label that usually holds horror back.
The Leading Men and Women
The race for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role is basically a gladiator pit this year.
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- Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme): He won last year for A Complete Unknown, and the guild clearly still loves him.
- Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another): Playing Bob Ferguson, he's the veteran to beat.
- Michael B. Jordan (Sinners): For his dual role as Elijah "Smoke" Moore and Elias "Stack" Moore.
- Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon): A bit of a "critic's darling" pick that actually made it through.
- Jesse Plemons (Bugonia): Probably the biggest surprise of the bunch, but Plemons has been "due" for a long time.
On the women’s side, the Lead Actor (Female) category is just as stacked. Emma Stone is back for Bugonia, which makes you wonder if she’s ever going to stop winning things. Jessie Buckley is in for Hamnet, and Kate Hudson made a massive splash with Song Sung Blue. The real wildcard? Chase Infiniti. Landing a lead nomination in a year this competitive is a career-defining moment.
Television Hits and "The White Lotus" Dominance
TV categories usually feel like a repeat of the Emmys, but the Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations often go their own way. HBO’s The White Lotus—specifically the Thailand-set season—is everywhere. We’re talking Walton Goggins, Parker Posey, and Aimee Lou Wood all landing individual nods.
Apple TV+’s The Studio actually led the TV side with five nominations. It’s a comedy about the industry itself, so it makes sense that actors would find it hilarious and relatable. Seth Rogen, Kathryn Hahn, and the legendary Catherine O’Hara all showed up here.
Drama and Comedy Ensembles
The ensemble award is the one everyone wants. It’s the "best picture" equivalent for the guild.
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- Drama Series: The Diplomat, Landman, The Pitt, Severance, and The White Lotus.
- Comedy Series: Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Hacks, Only Murders in the Building, and The Studio.
Seeing The Pitt and Landman make the cut is interesting. It shows that Taylor Sheridan’s "middle America" appeal is finally cracking the guild’s typically coastal preferences.
The Snubs That Everyone Is Texting About
You can't talk about nominations without talking about who got left in the cold. The biggest "ouch" of the morning was definitely Cynthia Erivo. Despite the massive scale of Wicked: For Good, she was notably absent from the lead list, though Ariana Grande did manage a Supporting nomination.
Also, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value—which critics have been losing their minds over—got completely shut out. No Renate Reinsve, no Stellan Skarsgård. It’s a reminder that SAG voters have a very specific "vibe." They like big, transformative, high-energy performances. If it’s too subtle, it sometimes gets lost in the shuffle.
Why This Matters for the Oscars
Historically, the SAG ensemble winner has a massive correlation with the Best Picture Oscar. It’s not a 1:1 match, but it’s close. Since actors make up the largest branch of the Academy, what happens at the Shrine Auditorium on March 1st usually dictates the rest of the season.
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If One Battle After Another takes the ensemble trophy, the Oscar race is basically over. But if a "smaller" film like Hamnet or a populist hit like Sinners pulls an upset? Then we’ve got a real fight on our hands.
Key Dates to Circle
- Final Voting Opens: Wednesday, January 14, 2026.
- Final Ballots Due: Friday, February 27, 2026 (Noon PT).
- The Ceremony: Sunday, March 1, 2026, streaming live on Netflix.
If you're a member of the guild, you've probably already seen the digital screeners popping up in your inbox. For everyone else, now is the time to catch up. Most of these films are either in theaters now or hitting streaming platforms within the next few weeks.
The best way to prep for the ceremony is to actually watch the "Cast in a Motion Picture" nominees back-to-back. You’ll start to see the chemistry that the nominating committee was looking for. Focus on the ensembles of Frankenstein and Marty Supreme—the way those actors play off each other is exactly why they got the nod over flashier, solo-driven films.
Make sure your Netflix subscription is active by March 1st. Since the ceremony moved away from traditional cable, the flow is much faster, and honestly, the speeches are usually a bit more unhinged—in the best way possible.