2026 Golden Globe Awards nominations: ‘Sirât’ receives two nominations, Guillermo del Toro up for best director

It’s a big (and early) day in Hollywood. At 5:15 a.m. on December 8, the Golden Globe nominations were announced. These awards mark the definitive start of the awards season and are popularly considered the prelude to the Oscars.

Voted on by some 450 members of the press from more than 90 countries, the awards will be presented on January 11, 2026. The Globes include 28 awards in total, in both television and film, as well as podcasts, which are a new addition this year. Several Latin American representatives have made the list, such as Guillermo del Toro and his recent version of Frankenstein, which has been nominated for best film and director, and Diego Luna, up for best actor in a drama series for Andor. Also noteworthy are the nominations for the Spanish film Sirât, which is in the running for best foreign film and soundtrack.

There were some surprises in the film category with the classification of some movies, as some were entered in the comedy category, even though they are not particularly laugh-out-loud funny. Among them are One Battle After Another, which starts as the favorite and is in fact the most-nominated, with nine, along with No Other Option, the French film Nouvelle Vague, Bugonia, Blue Moon, and Marty Supreme.

In terms of drama films, Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, which is on track to become the most powerful drama of the season, is nominated alongside Frankenstein, Sinners, Sentimental Value, the Brazilian film The Secret Agent, and the French-Iranian production A Simple Accident, with which Jafar Panahi won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. On December 16, we will find out which of these films will also compete for the Oscar, when the shortlist of nominees for the Academy Awards in this category is announced.

Del Toro also earned a nomination for best director for Frankenstein. He will compete alongside Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another), Ryan Coogler (Sinners), Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value), Chloé Zhao (Hamnet), and Jafar Panahi (A Simple Accident). In the animation category, the hugely popular wave of Korean fighter-singers from KPop Demon Hunters earned a nomination alongside Zootopia 2, Arco, Elio, Little Amelie, and another animation phenomenon, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Infinite Fortress.

In the best foreign language film category is Sirât (Spain), which will compete against the Brazilian film The Secret Agent, directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and starring Wagner Moura, which is the favorite to win as there are a large number of Brazilian voters. Alongside them are the French film A Simple Accident, which sneaks into the drama category; the Tunisian film The Voice of Hind Rajab, the story of a Palestinian girl that caused a sensation at the Venice Film Festival with a 24-minute standing ovation; the madness surrounding a dismissal in No Other Option (South Korea), which also enters the general comedy category; and the very strong Sentimental Value (Norway).

In television, The Pitt and The Studio lead in drama and comedy, respectively, although The White Lotus ultimately has the most nominations with six; however, it has three actresses in one category and two in another. The HBO medical drama, whose first season won an Emmy last September, is once again the favorite in competition against Separation, The Diplomat, Pluribus, Slow Horses, and the third season of The White Lotus. For its part, Apple TV’s Hollywood comedy will face off against contemporary classics such as Hacks and Abbott Elementary, as well as The Bear, Only Murders in the Building, and Nobody Wants This. In terms of limited series, Adolescence is shaping up to be the clear favorite, alongside All Her Fault, Dying for Sex, The Beast in Me, Black Mirror, and The Girlfriend.

Wicked was surprisingly left out of the competition for best comedy or musical film, as was Jay Kelly; Avatar is also not on the list. Director Kathryn Bigelow also fails to make the cut with A House Full of Dynamite, which did not receive any nominations, like the latest Knives Out installment. In television, The Gilded Age and the latest season of Stranger Things also fail to make the cut; The Last of Us is left out of the competition for best drama. On the other hand, one of the biggest surprises of the season, Pluribus, makes the list. As for actors, 28-year-old Australian Jacob Elordi, of Basque descent, scores twice in film and television; Amanda Seyfried, in film and miniseries. Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us) and Emmy winner Katherine LaNasa for The Pitt did not receive nominations, nor did Rachel Sennott and her comedy I Love L.A., or Sydney Sweeney for Christy.

Up to 14 acting categories

One of the strengths of the Golden Globes is the categories that reward actors. There are up to 14 different awards, with drama and comedy films on one hand, drama and comedy series on the other, and miniseries.

In cinema, Jessie Buckley, who tops all the polls for both the Golden Globes and the Oscars for her role as Agnes, William Shakespeare’s wife, in Hamnet, will compete as a drama actress. She is closely followed by Renate Reinsve, the Norwegian star of Sentimental Value (winner of the best actress award at Cannes for The Worst Person in the World in 2021). They are joined by Julia Roberts for After the Hunt, which is her 11th nomination and could be her fourth award; Jennifer Lawrence for Die, My Love; and the newcomers Tessa Thompson for Hedda and Eva Victor, director, screenwriter, and star of Sorry, Baby.

In the drama category, Oscar Isaac earns the fourth nomination of his career for Frankenstein while Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson scores his first Golden Globe nod for his role as an addicted wrestler in The Smashing Machine. They are joined by Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent, Michael B. Jordan for Sinners, Joel Edgerton for his sensitive portrayal of a railroad builder in Train Dreams, and Jeremy Allen White for stepping into the shoes of one of the world’s most famous musicians in Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.

As for comedy actresses, Rose Byrne’s intense role as a desperate, sleepless mother in the indie and largely overlooked If I Had Legs I’d Kick You tops the nominations. It’s a complex category, with Emma Stone as the unhinged executive in Bugonia, Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in Wicked, Amanda Seyfried in The Testament of Ann Lee, Kate Hudson as the down-and-out bar singer in Song Sung Blue, and the young and brilliant Chase Infiniti in One Battle After Another.

The comedy actors are led by Leonardo DiCaprio, playing Infiniti’s father in One Battle After Another, and Timothée Chalamet, playing hustler Marty Supreme in the film of the same name. They are joined by George Clooney practically playing himself in Jay Kelly; the foul-mouthed Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon; the crazy Jesse Plemons in Bugonia; and the devious Lee Byung-hun in the South Korean film No Other Choice.

In the supporting actor and actress categories, there is no distinction between comedy and drama, making them two very competitive categories. The female category is led by two singers with powerful film careers and contrasting roles: Ariana Grande as Glinda in Wicked and Teyana Taylor as Porfidia Beverly Hills in One Battle After Another. There is a tie between Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning for Sentimental Value. They are joined by Amy Madigan (Weapons) while Emily Blunt makes the cut for The Smashing Machine. Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro also compete against each other for One Battle After Another. They are joined by Stellan Skarsgard for Sentimental Value, Paul Mescal for his Shakespeare in Hamnet; Jacob Elordi’s creature in Frankenstein; and Adam Sandler in Jay Kelly.

In television drama performances, the actresses nominated are Kathy Bates for Matlock; Britt Lower for Separation; Keri Russell for The Diplomat; Rhea Seehorn for Pluribus; Bella Ramsey for The Last of Us; and, a surprise in the category, Helen Mirren for MobLand. The British actress will also receive the Golden Globes honorary award in January. The actors nominated are Noah Wyle, who is the favorite as the long-suffering emergency room manager in The Pitt, Sterling K. Brown for Paradise; Diego Luna for Andor; Mark Ruffalo for Task; Adam Scott for Separation; and Gary Oldman for Slow Horses.

In terms of comedy actresses, veteran Jean Smart will have to contend with Kristen Bell for Nobody Wants This; Ayo Edebiri for The Bear; Selena Gomez for Only Murders in the Building; Jenna Ortega for Wednesday; and Natasha Lyonne, who has surprised everyone with her series Poker Face. Among the comedy actors, the histrionic executive played by Seth Rogen in The Studio leads the category, alongside Glen Powell for Chad Powers, Adam Brody for Nobody Wants This, Jeremy Allen White for The Bear, and the duo of Steve Martin and Martin Short for Only Murders in the Building.

Michelle Williams is the favorite to win an award for her role as a woman with cancer willing to explore her sex life in Dying for Sex. She competes in the limited series category against Sarah Snook for All Her Fault; Claire Danes for The Beast in Me; Robin Wright for The Girlfriend; Rashida Jones for Black Mirror; and Amanda Seyfried for Long Bright River. Among the actors, Stephen Graham, the long-suffering father in Adolescence, seems to be the favorite in a list that also includes Jude Law for Black Rabbit, Charlie Hunnam for Monster, Matthew Rhys for The Beast in Me, Paul Giamatti for Black Mirror, and Jacob Elordi, who is nominated in both film and television, here for The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

The television supporting categories are also highly contested here, because they do not divide between drama, comedy, or limited series performers, but rather everyone fits into the same categories. Among the actresses, there is a triple threat thanks to Carrie Coon, Parker Posey, and Aimee Lou Wood, all for The White Lotus, although they face serious competition from Erin Doherty for Adolescence, Hannah Einbinder for Hacks, and Catherine O’Hara for The Studio.

As for supporting actors on television, it would be a big surprise if the award did not go to Owen Cooper, the 15-year-old star of the miniseries Adolescence. Alongside him are his own co-star, Ashley Walters, as well as another double, Walton Goggins and Jason Isaacs, both for The White Lotus. Joining them are Billy Crudup, for The Morning Show, and Tramell Tillman, for Separation.

This year, a new category has been added to the Golden Globes: podcasts. Among the nominees are Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Call Her Daddy, Good Hang with Amy Poehler, Smartless, The Mel Robbins Podcast, and Up First, from the public broadcaster NPR. This is the second new category in just three years, as the award for best box office achievement or film success was created in 2024. The first award went to Barbie and last year Wicked won. This year, the second part of the film about Oz is in the running, alongside other box office hits such as Zootopia 2, F1, Sinners, KPop Demon Hunters, Weapons, and the latest installments of Mission: Impossible and Avatar. This is the only category where there are eight nominees instead of six.

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