Sean Penn beat off stiff competition to win Best Supporting Actor at the 2026 Actor Awards, putting… Battle after battle The villain is in first place to win an Oscar in two weeks — a stunning turn of events after Penn lost out on the Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice Award, and most other precursors.
Ben’s momentum began last weekend at the BAFTA Awards, where he came out of nowhere to pull off a huge upset in the corresponding category, beating out front-runner Stellan Skarsgård (Emotional value). Although he was not widely seen as capable of winning a few weeks ago, Penn will now go to the Oscars having picked up both awards from industry groups with a significant overlap at the Academy. This means it’s safe to consider him the favorite at this point.
However: Ben was not present at tonight’s ceremony nor at the BAFTA Awards last weekend. He avoided the spotlight for him One battle colleagues but was present at other shows during the season such as the Golden Globes (where he was also nominated). Co-star Leonardo DiCaprio was also not present due to filming for Martin Scorsese’s new film.
This 2026 actor awards race has been billed as a free-for-all, with neither Skarsgård (who won a Golden Globe) nor… Sinners“Delroy Lindo, who is seeing late momentum of his own, has been nominated by SAG-AFTRA.” Instead, Penn beat out fellow Oscar nominee Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein), which caused disruption at the Critics’ Choice Awards, and Benicio del Toro One battle A costar who dominated the early critics’ awards circuit but never won any of the televised awards. SAG-AFTRA was also nominated HamnetPaul Mescal and SinnersMiles Caton, overlooked by the academy.
This is Ben’s second Actor Award, after winning Lead Actor MilkWhich led to him receiving his second Academy Award. He won his first Oscar Mystic RiverFor which he lost the actor award Pirates of the CaribbeanJohnny Depp; He has also been nominated by SAG-AFTRA for Dead man walking and I’m Sam. He could pick up his third actor award later tonight for his role in Battle after battle band.
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