As the 2026 Best Actor nominations (formerly known as the SAG Awards) have been announced and the Oscar race continues to take shape, Cynthia Erivo (Wicked: For Good) and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent) are among the most despised. Other targets of surprising scorn include Dwayne Johnson in Smashing Machines, Adam Sandler in Jay Kelly, and the entire cast of Sentimental Value (Renate Reinsv, Stellan Skarsgård, Elle Fanning, Inga Ebsdotter Lilleas). All foreign language films and performances were subject to perhaps the most shocking disdain, being barred from the 2026 race.
Erivo is nominated for Sunday’s Golden Globes (he won’t be attending), but this will be his second big miss after being shut out of the Critics’ Choice Awards for “Wicked: For Good.” Erivo’s acclaimed performance as Elphaba earned her accolades from the Oscars and SAG last year, but after missing out on SAG approval for the sequel, she looks uncertain heading into this month’s Oscar nomination. Erivo’s co-star Ariana Grande is in the supporting actress race for her role in Wicked: For Good.
Wagner Moura, who won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival and is widely seen as a frontrunner for an Oscar nomination for his role in The Secret Agent, was also left out of the acting category. SAG-AFTRA’s voting body is much more national than the international makeup of the Academy’s acting section. With nominations from the Globes and Critics Choice Awards, as well as an award from the New York Film Critics Circle, Moura appears to remain a leading contender for an Oscar nomination.
Also scorned was Adam Sandler in “Jay Kelly,” the actor’s first big flop of the season after winning supporting actor at the Globes and Broadcast Film Critics Circle Awards. The film’s leading man, George Clooney, was also snubbed, as was the star-studded cast of the film’s main ensemble section.
On the television side, “The Last of Us” earned a stunt ensemble nomination, but no actors or cast members were nominated. Sterling K. Brown received an acting nomination for “Paradise,” but no ensemble nominations were received. Adam Brody in “Nobody Wanted This” got the nod, but Kristen Bell and the cast were scorned. “The Bear” was nominated in the comedy ensemble category, but Jeremy Allen White was not nominated.
The acting award is voted on by a 2,000-member committee (one for television nominations and one for film nominations). The overall voting body for this award includes 22,000 SAG-AFTRA members, Hollywood’s largest voting organization. For comparison, the Academy as a whole has only 11,000 members voting for the Oscars.
See the complete list of 2026 nominees here.
