Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal have received nominations at the Golden Globes – the first significant predictor of the Oscars – for their performances as Agnes and William Shakespeare in Chloe Zhao’s devastating adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s historical novel Hamnet. Buckley is up for best actress in a drama. Mescal competes in best supporting actor. Both now seem certain to receive Academy Award nominations on January 22nd. Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, shot largely in Dublin, landed a nod for best musical or comedy. That study of lyricist Richard Rodgers, produced in association with Wild Atlantic Pictures, also secured Ethan Hawke a nomination for best actor in a comedy or musical.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s rambunctious One Battle After Another topped the charts with nine nominations, including mentions for best musical or comedy, best director and a full five acting nominations: Leonardo DiCaprio for best actor, Chase Infiniti for best actress, Teyana Taylor for best supporting actress, and Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro for best supporting actor.
There were a few surprises in the film categories. Wicked: For Good failing to land a spot in comedy or musical reflected critical disappointment at the second half of John M Chu’s lavish take on the Broadway musical. Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, an ambitious comedy with George Clooney, also failed to land in best musical or comedy. James Cameron’s imminent Avatar: Fire and Ash missed out in best drama film.
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One could argue that the failure of those American films demonstrates the increasingly international make-up of the Globes voting body. Three non-English language titles made it into best drama film: Jafar Panahi’s It Was just an Accident from Iran, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value from Norway, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent from Brazil. Two made it into best comedy or musical: Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice from South Korea and Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague (an American co-production entirely in French). Sentimental Value, with eight mentions, was just behind One Battle in the nominations race.
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Nothing will, however, stop Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another triumphing in musical or comedy (yes, it does just about count as comedy). Hamnet is favourite in drama film, but it could lose out to Sentimental Value or to Ryan Coogler’s epic horror Sinners.
Other surprises? Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, about MMA fighter Mark Kerr, rallied from a slow box office to secure a lead acting nomination for Dwayne Johnson (not a complete shocker) and a supporting one for Emily Blunt (more of a turn up). Eva Victor, writer and star of the moving, tricky Sorry, Baby, secured a deserved nod as best actress in a drama.
The White Lotus scored top in the TV section with six nominations, followed by the considerably more gritty Adolescence with five nods.
The Golden Globes have a peculiar history. Established in 1944, they were, until 2023, run by a small, eccentric body of journalists called the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Following a series of controversies in 2022, the awards were restructured as a non-profit event that supports the philanthropically inclined Golden Globes Foundation. The voting body was expanded from fewer than 100 to about 400 diversely selected journalists from around the world.
Recent reforms have also included some new categories, at least one of which is a head-scratcher. Best podcast, presented for the first time this year, included such titles as Good Hang with Amy Poehler and Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard. The Globe for cinematic and box office achievement, in its second year, continues to defy all reason. Despite not being released until December 19th, Avatar: Fire and Ash here competes against the likes of Wicked: For Good and likely winner Sinners (apparently, box office projections can be a factor).
Never mind that. What does all this mean for the awards that really matter? In truth, not much has changed. Buckley, Kerry-born all-rounder, remains a strong favourite for the best actress Oscar, but Australian star Rose Byrne, nominated in the comedy section at the Globes, is coming up on her shoulder. The Aussie, who plays a harassed mother in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, has been racking up wins in end-of-year polls from critics bodies.
Mescal may have to settle for just the nomination in a best supporting actor Oscar race that looks like a three-way battle between Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro and – probable favourite – Stellan Skarsgård for Sentimental Value.
One Battle After Another is big favourite for best picture, but Hamnet could still pip it at the post. Zhao’s film, detailing Agnes Shakespeare’s grief at the death of her titular son, has been reducing audiences to blubbing wrecks since its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival late last August.
The Golden Globes ceremony has always had a reputation for greater informality than the Academy Awards. Drinks are swilled. Speeches are often irreverent. In the early part of this century, Ricky Gervais famously used repeated hosting gigs to liberally insult the famous guests. Nikki Glaser, after a notably successful, gently ribbing turn last year, will return to host the 83rd edition on January 11th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
Golden Globes 2026: the full list of nominations
Best motion picture, drama
- Frankenstein
- Hamnet
- It Was Just an Accident
- The Secret Agent
- Sentimental Value
- Sinners
Best motion picture, musical or comedy
- Blue Moon
- Bugonia
- Marty Supreme
- No Other Choice
- Nouvelle Vague
- One Battle After Another
Best director, motion picture
- Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
- Ryan Coogler, Sinners
- Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein
- Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident
- Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
- Chloe Zhao, Hamnet
Best actor, motion picture, drama
- Joel Edgerton, Train Dreams
- Oscar Isaac, Frankenstein
- Dwayne Johnson, The Smashing Machine
- Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
- Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent
- Jeremy Allen White, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Best actress, motion picture, drama
- Jesse Buckley, Hamnet
- Jennifer Lawrence, Die My Love
- Renata Reinsve, Sentimental Value
- Juila Roberts, After the Hunt
- Tessa Thompson, Hedda
- Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby
Best actor, motion picture, comedy
- Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
- George Clooney, Jay Kelly
- Leoardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
- Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
- Lee Byung-Hun, No Other Choice
- Jesse Plemons, Bugonia
Best actress, motion picture, comedy
- Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
- Cynthia Erivo, Wicked: For Good
- Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue
- Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another
- Amanda Seyfried, The Testament of Ann Lee
- Emma Stone, Bugonia
Best supporting actress, motion picture
- Emily Blunt, The Smashing Machine
- Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
- Ariana Grande, Wicked: For Good
- Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
- Amy Madigan, Weapons
- Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another
Best supporting actor, motion picture
- Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another
- Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein
- Paul Mescal, Hamnet
- Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
- Adam Sandler, Jay Kelly
- Stellan Skarsgard, Sentimental Value
Best screenplay
- Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
- Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
- Ryan Coogler, Sinners
- Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident
- Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet
Best motion picture, non-English language
- It Was Just an Accident, France
- No Other Choice, South Korea
- The Secret Agent, Brazil
- Sentimental Value, Norway
- Sirat, Spain
- The Voice of Hind Rajab, Tunisia
Best animated motion picture
- Arco
- Demon Slayer
- Aniplex
- Elio
- K-Pop Demon Hunters
- Little Amelie or The Rain Character
- Zootopia 2
Best original score
- Frankenstein
- Sinners
- One Battle After Another
- Sirat
- Hamnet
- F1
Best original song
- Dream as One, Avatar: Fire and Ash
- Golden, K-Pop Demon Hunters
- I Lied to You, Sinners
- No Place Like Home, Wicked: For Good
- The Girl in the Bubble, Wicked: For Good
- Train Dreams, Train Dreams
Cinematic and box office achievement
- Avatar: Fire and Ash
- F1
- KPop Demon Hunters
- Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
- Sinners
- Weapons
- Wicked: For Good
- Zootopia 2
Best comedy, TV
- Abbott Elementary
- The Bear
- Hacks
- Nobody Wants This
- Only Murders in the Building
- The Studio
Best drama, TV
- The Diplomat
- The Pitt
- Pluribus
- Severance
- Slow Horses
- The White Lotus
Best limited series
- Adolescence
- All Her Fault
- The Beast in Me
- Black Mirror
- Dying for Sex
- The Girlfriend
Best performance by a male actor in a TV drama
- Sterling K Brown, Paradise
- Diego Luna, Andor
- Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
- Mrak Ruffalo, Task
- Adam Scott, Severance
- Noah Wyle, The Pitt
Best actress, TV drama
- Kathy Bates, Matlock
- Brit Lower, Severance
- Helen Mirren, Mobland
- Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
- Keri Russell, The Diplomat
- Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus
Best actress, TV comedy
- Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This
- Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
- Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
- Natasha Lyonne, Pokerface
- Jenna Ortega, Wednesday
- Jean Smart, Hacks
Best actress, limited series
- Claire Danes, The Beast in Me
- Rashida Jones, Black Mirror
- Amanda Seyfried, Long Bright River
- Sarah Snook, All Her Fault
- Michelle Williams, Dying for Sex
- Robin Wright, The Girlfriend
Best actor, TV comedy
- Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This
- Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
- Glen Powell, Chad Powers
- Seth Rogen, The Studio
- Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
- Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Best actor, limited series
- Jacob Elordi, The Narrow Road to the Deep North
- Paul Giamatti, Black Mirror
- Stephen Graham, Adolescence
- Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Ed Gein Story
- Jude Law, Black Rabbit
- Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me
Best supporting actor, TV
- Owen Cooper, Adolescence
- Billie Crudup, The Morning Show
- Walton Goggins, The White Lotus
- Jason Isaacs, The White Lotus
- Tramell Tillman, Severance
- Ashley Walters, Adolescence
Best supporting actress, TV
- Carrie Coon, The White Lotus
- Erin Doherty, Adolescence
- Hanna Einbinder, Hacks
- Catherine O’Hara, The Studio
- Parker Posey, The White Lotus
- Aimee Lou Wood, The White Lotus
Best podcast
- Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
- Call Her Daddy
- Good Hang with Amy Poehler
- The Mel Robbins Podcast
- Smartless
- Up First
Best standup
- Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This?
- Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life
- Kevin Hart: Asking My Age
- Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts
- Ricky Gervais: Mortality
- Sarah Silverman: Postpartum
