Category fraud is a tale as old as time when it comes to the Oscars. Just last year, the Academy couldn’t decide whether to care about fraudulent category placement.
While rejecting the potential “Supporting” nomination of Chase Infiniti in One Battle After Another and Paul Mescal in Hamnet, three out of the other five actual Supporting Actor nominees (Sean Penn in One Battle After Another, Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein, Stellan Skarsgård in Sentimental Value) were varying levels of fraudulent. Other recent cases of obvious fraud include Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain, Zoe Saldana in Emilia Perez, Ariana Grande in Wicked, and let us never forget the double Supporting Actor nominations for Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya in Judas and the Black Messiah.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the potential 2026 nominees and how fraudulent their nominations would be in their respective categories
Egregious
Sandra Huller, Fatherland
Sam Rockwell, Wild Horse Nine
In certain categories, studios obviously make business decisions without caring about logistical category placements. Not only do Huller and Rockwell have a dominant amount of screen time and focus for each of their films, but their supporting placement makes sense from a campaign perspective. Huller is well in the mix in Best Actress for Rose, so moving her to supporting avoids competing with herself. Similarly, Rockwell moves to Supporting to avoid splitting the vote with John Malkovich for the same film.
I can 100% understand why the studios moved the categories, but it doesn’t make it any less preposterous. Huller is essentially the sole lead of her film, while Rockwell is unequivocally the co-lead with Malkovich. Rockwell has a much better chance at the supporting nod than Huller, but these would top the fraud list if they happened.
Too Famous
Andrew Garfield, Artificial
Paul Giamatti, The Debut
Full disclosure: I have not seen either of these films, so I cannot speak to the true fraudulent nature of these performances. But this does allow me to talk about the nature of the Supporting category.
When the Oscars first introduced Supporting Actor and Actress, they were meant to acknowledge non-stars for their acting ability. Actors like Claude Rains, Walter Brennan, Charles Coburn, and Clifton Webb found themselves often nominated in the early years. As the years progressed, more and more well-established movie stars found their way into this category. This trend culminated in the 80s with wins for Michael Caine and Sean Connery. It hasn’t gotten much better recently, with A-list stars like Brad Pitt and Robert Downey Jr. winning Oscars.
Does this mean these actors don’t deserve recognition? Of course not, but being very famous sometimes means you are the dominant force in the film. Garfield has been the leading face of the Artificial Oscar push, while Giamatti is supposedly the co-lead but actually benefits from his longtime character-actor status.
Not Famous Enough
Tao Okamoto, All of a Sudden
Here’s the flip side to the not-famous argument. Virginia Efira might not be the most recognizable name to Western audiences, but she does get the nod over Okamoto in All of a Sudden. Both women are critical to the film’s success, as their relationship drives the action. In fact, both took home a shared Best Actress trophy at Cannes for their performance. But that doesn’t excuse the Academy’s usual bias. When it comes to Lead vs. Supporting, the white lady with a higher Q-rating will usually be lead.
In the event of two people of the same gender sharing the screen, unfortunately the Academy will usually default to “white person lead, non-white person supporting.” It might sound harsh, but just look at Green Book, Blood Diamond, Collateral, or Secrets & Lies. While it takes a while for Okamoto to show up in the film, that doesn’t discount her active participation or individual storyline. I view her and Efira as co-leads, though the Academy certainly won’t see it that way.
You Could Talk Me Into It
Guitarricadelafuente, La Bola Negra
Anne Hathaway, The Odyssey
It’s a bit ironic these performances are in the Best Picture favorites, but that’s more of a coincidence than correlation. Hathaway might be the most dominant female presence in The Odyssey, but the film focuses far too much on Matt Damon’s title character and even Tom Holland’s Telemachus to give Hathaway’s Penelope a nod in the lead category. Guitarricadelafuente might be the lead of his respective timeline in La Bola Negra, but the film slides back and forth frequently enough for his performance to be relegated to supporting.
That being said, you could make the argument about both performances deserving to be leads, but I’m ambivalent about the placement either way. This is certainly one of those “flip a coin” category placements, and I would be fine with it.
Be Serious Now
Edward Norton, The Invite
Penelope Cruz, The Invite
I have heard arguments for all four actors from The Invite being supporting and all four being leads. Let’s not kid ourselves; it’s a silly argument. Olivia Wilde and Seth Rogen are very clearly the leads, while Norton and Cruz are very clearly supporting. Fraud tends to happen so frequently that it turns our minds into pretzels. If you want to get angry about a placement, this is certainly not the place.
