It appears that Sinners has been absolved of any holy transgressions. Today, the film earned a record 16 nominations at the 2026 Academy Awards. That’s a historic number for any film, but for an original horror script with Michael B. Jordan playing both lead roles as twins — a la Lindsay Lohan circa 1998 — it’s downright jaw-dropping. Perhaps we’ll be seeing more original IP in the future? (One can dream!)
In less-celebratory news, the Oscar committee seems to be holding no space for a certain maximalist musical. Despite 2024’s Wicked scoring a solid ten nominations, Wicked: For Good was shut out of this year’s show. Of course, this isn’t entirely unheard of — the “sequel snub” is a well-documented phenomena on r/oscarrace — but we’ll be missing Ariana and Cynthia’s red carpet antics nonetheless.
And, although it’s only been hours since the Academy announced its nominations, the campaign season is already well underway. While they’re not quite politics, Oscar campaigns can be just as cut throat. Last year, Timothée Chalamet was stuck working SNL double duty, taking the stage to perform songs from (and drum up buzz for) 2024’s Oscar-nominated A Complete Unknown. The promotional practice dates back decades; in the 1960s, late actor Nick Adams spent a fortune to advertise his role in Twilight of Honor in Hollywood trade magazines. After Adams earned the Oscar nom, columnist Sidney Skolsky reported: “Nick Adams and wife arrived at 5:30, went into the empty auditorium and practiced walking, skipping, trotting down the aisle to the stage.” (Adams did not win the award.)
This year, the Oscar race has brought a few familiar faces back to the front page. Emma Stone re-enters in the ring with Bugonia while Timothée Chalamet ping-pongs from photoshoot to interview promoting Marty Supreme. After the Academy’s announcement, we thought it was an appropriate time to highlight our own conversations with the nominees. Below, find curated clippings from SHARP’s recent conversations with cinema’s soon-to-be-decorated stars.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Michael B. Jordan on Sinners
“You’re having people show up in droves, not just domestically, but internationally, and I think that’s huge. To do that with a primarily Black cast, and with people of colour, and made by a lot of women — their hands are all over this project — all of that really makes this movie feel special.”
Read the full interview.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Wagner Moura on The Secret Agent
“[Marcelo] represents many people in the world that get in trouble, have their lives in danger, just because they are who they are, just because of the colour of their skin, their sexual orientation, the religion that they chose. The character that I play is just a man who is sticking with his values. I think that that’s a very hard thing when you are under an authoritarian government.”
Read the full interview.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Delroy Lindo on Sinners
“I think [Sinners] is larger than Black cinema. I think it’s pertinent, germane to cinema in general […] the envelopes, plural, have been pushed in terms of how to story-tell and how to have that storytelling resonate for many people all over the world.”
Read the full interview.
BEST PICTURE
Joel Edgerton on Train Dreams
“The film’s message, for Edgerton, is a call to cherish the present: “One day you’ll look back on all these special things and wonder, ‘Did I give this person the time and the importance that I know that they held for me?’ And regretting not holding on to certain things more tightly or [not] paying attention to certain things, and I’m talking mainly about family.”
Read the full interview.
BEST PICTURE
Damson Idris on F1
“Before even getting the part — this has to be the most insane manifestation ever — I downloaded the Formula One game and I created a fake character called Joshua Pearce,” which is his character in the film. “Yes, and I won a championship.”
Read the full interview.
BEST PICTURE
Joseph Kosinski on F1
“It was an adrenaline rush every weekend. We’d get these 10 or 15 minute slots, where we’d have to have Brad [Pitt] and Damson [Idris] ready in the cars, warmed up with hot tires ready to go. As soon as practice ended, they would pull out onto the track. We’d have 24, 30 cameras ready, rolling, and I’d have to shoot these scenes in these very short, intense, high-speed windows. But the crowd you’re seeing was really there in the stands.”
Read the full interview.
