The 98th Academy Awards had the whole room on its feet more than once. On March 15, 2026, the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles hosted one of the most talked-about Oscars nights in years, a ceremony where Hollywood’s longest waits finally ended.
Paul Thomas Anderson. Michael B. Jordan. Jessie Buckley. Ryan Coogler. Amy Madigan. Autumn Durald Arkapaw. Cassandra Kulukundis.
These are the first-time Oscar winners of 2026. Some waited decades. Some waited their whole careers. All of them finally heard their names called on the biggest night in film.
Here is everything you need to know about each of them, who they are, what they won, and why their victories matter.
Oscars Winners 2026: Two Films Dominated the Night
Before the first-time Oscar winners, some quick context.
The Oscars 2026 came down to two films: One Battle After Another and Sinners. One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, led with six wins including Best Picture. Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, came in with a record-breaking 16 nominations, the most in Oscar history, and won four awards.
One Battle After Another won the most Oscars in 2026 with six wins: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Casting.
Sinners won four Oscars: Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor, Ryan Coogler won Best Original Screenplay, Autumn Durald Arkapaw won Best Cinematography, and Ludwig Göransson won Best Original Score.
And remarkably, nearly all the major winners took home their very first Oscar.
Paul Thomas Anderson – 14 Nominations, Finally a Winner
The Longest Wait in the Room
Few stories from the Oscars 2026 hit as hard as Paul Thomas Anderson’s.
As a director-writer-producer, Anderson had been nominated for 14 Academy Awards, making him one of the few filmmakers to earn more than ten Oscar nominations without a single win.
That changed on Sunday night.
Anderson took home his first directing Oscar for One Battle After Another following previous nominations for There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread, and Licorice Pizza.
He didn’t just win one Oscar. He won three in a single night, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture as a producer.
Almost 30 years after Boogie Nights launched his career and earned him his first Oscar nomination, Paul Thomas Anderson finally took home the little golden man.
In his acceptance speech for Best Adapted Screenplay, Anderson said: “I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we’re handing off to them. But also, with encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency.”
For Best Director, he said: “You make a guy work hard for one of these. I really appreciate it.” He dedicated the award to his late collaborator Adam Somner, saying, “He’s in a really big bar up in the sky right now. He’s having a gin and tonic, and he is so happy.”
One Battle After Another is based on Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland – Anderson’s second Pynchon adaptation after Inherent Vice. Critics called it one of the best studio films in years.
Why this win matters: Anderson is widely considered one of the greatest directors of his generation. Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, The Master, Phantom Thread, his filmography is stacked. The Oscar was long overdue and the industry knew it.
Michael B. Jordan – First Nomination, First Win
Best Actor for Sinners
Michael B. Jordan took home the Oscar for Best Actor for his powerful performance in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, marking the first Academy Award win of his career and a major milestone for one of Hollywood’s most bankable and beloved leading men.
What makes this even more remarkable, this was also his first-ever Oscar nomination.
Jordan played twins Smoke and Stack in Sinners, a period vampire horror film set in 1932 in the Mississippi Delta. The dual performance required him to physically and emotionally embody two completely different characters in the same film.
Jordan’s dual performance as twins Smoke and Stack marked the first time an actor has ever won an Oscar for playing two roles in the same film.
He beat out Timothée Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ethan Hawke, and Wagner Moura to get there.
In his acceptance speech, Jordan said: “I stand here because of the people who came before me, Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith,” naming the only other Black performers who had won Best Actor or Actress at the show. “To be amongst those giants, amongst those greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my gods.”
Michael B. Jordan became only the sixth Black actor to win an Oscar for a leading role, joining Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, and Will Smith.
Jordan and Coogler have been collaborators since 2013’s Fruitvale Station. Their partnership has produced Creed, Black Panther, and now one of the most decorated films in Oscar history.
Why this win matters: Jordan has been a household name for over a decade. He never had an Oscar nomination before Sunday. The win validates a performance that required extraordinary range, and places him among the all-time greats in the Best Actor category.
Ryan Coogler – First Oscar for Best Original Screenplay
Sinners’ Director Makes History Too
Michael B. Jordan wasn’t the only one from Sinners who took home a first Oscar.
Ryan Coogler won for Original Screenplay, his first Oscar. This is only the second time in Oscar history a Black writer has won the category, after Jordan Peele for his 2017 film Get Out.
Coogler wrote, directed, and produced Sinners, a film that tackled Black history, the Jim Crow South, and the origins of the Blues through a horror lens. The film’s 16 nominations are the most in Oscar history, surpassing the previous record of 14 shared by All About Eve (1950), Titanic (1997), and La La Land (2016).
He thanked his cast, studio, and family for believing in the vision.
Why this win matters: Coogler built a career making meaningful films about Black American life. Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther. Sinners might be his most ambitious yet, and the Academy recognized both him and his collaborators in a single night.
Jessie Buckley – Best Actress for Hamnet
The Frontrunner Who Delivered
Jessie Buckley had been the frontrunner for Best Actress for months. She was still emotional when she won.
This was Jessie Buckley’s first win and second nomination. Her first nomination had come earlier in her career, but Sunday night was her first Oscar win.
Buckley played Agnes Hathaway, known historically as Anne, the wife of William Shakespeare, in Hamnet, directed by Chloé Zhao. The film follows Agnes through the grief of losing her son Hamnet while her husband becomes a celebrated playwright largely absent from their lives.
Buckley dedicated her prize to “the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart” in an emotional speech.
The Irish actress has been one of the most praised performers in Hollywood and on stage for several years. She earned a Tony Award nomination for The Effect on Broadway. Sunday night made official what critics had been saying throughout the awards season.
Why this win matters: Buckley’s performance in Hamnet was described by reviewers as devastating and profound. Her win represents a broader recognition of the film’s exploration of grief, womanhood, and the erasure of women from history.
Amy Madigan – Best Supporting Actress for Weapons
A Career Milestone Decades in the Making
Amy Madigan’s win for Best Supporting Actress for Weapons was her first win and her second nomination.
Amy Madigan won the first award of the night for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Weapons. Acknowledging that many winners reel off a long list of names in their acceptance speeches, she said, “They’re people that mean something to you, that you couldn’t be there without them.”
Madigan has been a respected presence in Hollywood since the 1980s, beloved for films like Field of Dreams, Places in the Heart, and Twice in a Lifetime, but had rarely been in the awards conversation in recent decades. Her win in Weapons, a horror film that earned surprising recognition at the Oscars, was one of the most genuinely unexpected and moving moments of the night.
Why this win matters: Madigan’s win is a reminder of how many talented actors spend careers without formal recognition. At the 98th Oscars, the Academy corrected that.
Autumn Durald Arkapaw – First Woman to Win Best Cinematography
A Historic Barrier Broken
Autumn Durald Arkapaw made history as the first woman and first Black person to win the award for Best Cinematography for Sinners.
She was only the second female nominee in the category’s history.
During her speech, she asked every woman in the Dolby Theatre to stand, explaining that “moments like this don’t happen without women standing up for you and advocating for you.” She said, “This isn’t about me anymore. It’s about so much more, and I wanted it for all of the ladies in the room, and for all the girls at home.”
She shouted out Rachel Morrison, the first woman ever nominated in the category for Mudbound, and Spike Lee’s frequent collaborator Ellen Kuras.
Why this win matters: Cinematography has been an almost entirely male category throughout Oscar history. Arkapaw’s win is both a personal first and a landmark moment for the entire industry.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners + Cassandra Kulukundis – Best Casting, a Brand New Category
The First-Ever Oscar for Casting
The 98th Academy Awards introduced a new competitive category: Best Achievement in Casting. For the first time in the ceremony’s history, casting directors received formal Oscar recognition.
Cassandra Kulukundis won the very first Oscar for Best Casting for One Battle After Another.
Kulukundis pulled together a cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall, and newcomer Chase Infiniti in One Battle After Another.
During the awards season build-up, casting directors spoke openly about what the new category meant. Francine Maisler, nominated for Sinners, said, “Casting directors are amazing people who lift other people up. That we’re being lifted up at this moment means a lot to us and all of those casting directors that came before us.”
Why this win matters: Casting directors have shaped the face of cinema for decades without formal recognition. The new category changes that permanently, and Kulukundis is the first name in that chapter of Oscars history.
Ludwig Göransson – First Oscar for Best Original Score
Ludwig Göransson won Best Original Score for Sinners, his first win in the category. Göransson has composed scores for Black Panther, Tenet, Oppenheimer, and several other major films. The Sinners score, deeply rooted in Blues music and the world the film inhabits, was widely praised throughout awards season.
Other Notable First-Time Winners at the Oscars 2026
The first-time winner streak extended well beyond the headline categories.
K-Pop Demon Hunters won Best Animated Feature, directed by Maggie Kang, the first animated film to win both a Grammy and an Oscar for its original song, “Golden.” Songwriter EJAE, a Korean American artist, said on the Oscars stage: “This was not on my bucket list because I didn’t think it was possible.”
For Best Achievement in Sound, Juan Peralta took home his first win and first nomination for F1, alongside Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, also a first-time winner in her fourth nomination.
The Best Live Action Short Film category ended in a rare historic tie, only the seventh in Oscars history, with both The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva winning.
Why the Oscars 2026 Felt Different
The 2026 ceremony was notable for what it rewarded and who it recognized.
Sinners’ 16 nominations broke the record for most Black individuals nominated for a single film at 10. The Academy’s embrace of Ryan Coogler’s horror film was described by critics as a genuinely historic shift.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s wins ended one of the longest waiting games in modern Oscar history. Anderson had been nominated 14 times throughout his career before One Battle After Another.
Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s cinematography win broke a barrier that had stood for the entire 98-year history of the Oscars. Amy Madigan’s win reminded Hollywood that talent doesn’t age out. Michael B. Jordan’s win on his very first nomination joined a list of only six Black actors who have ever won Best Actor.
These were not just individual victories. They were signals about what the Academy is now willing to recognize, and what kinds of films and filmmakers Hollywood is betting on.
Full List: First-Time Oscar Winners 2026 Academy Awards
| Winner | Category | Film |
| Paul Thomas Anderson | Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Picture (producer) | One Battle After Another |
| Michael B. Jordan | Best Actor | Sinners |
| Ryan Coogler | Best Original Screenplay | Sinners |
| Jessie Buckley | Best Actress | Hamnet |
| Amy Madigan | Best Supporting Actress | Weapons |
| Autumn Durald Arkapaw | Best Cinematography | Sinners |
| Ludwig Göransson | Best Original Score | Sinners |
| Cassandra Kulukundis | Best Casting (inaugural) | One Battle After Another |
| Juan Peralta | Best Sound | F1 |
| Gwendolyn Yates Whittle | Best Sound | F1 |
FAQ: Oscars Winners 2026
Who won Best Actor at the Oscars 2026?
Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor for his dual role as twins Smoke and Stack in Sinners. It was both his first nomination and first win.
Who won Best Actress at the Oscars 2026?
Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for her performance as Agnes Hathaway in Hamnet. She dedicated her win to “the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart.”
Who won Best Director at the Oscars 2026?
Paul Thomas Anderson won Best Director for One Battle After Another, his first Oscar win after 14 lifetime nominations.
Did Sinners win any Oscars?
Yes. Sinners won four Oscars: Best Actor (Michael B. Jordan), Best Original Screenplay (Ryan Coogler), Best Cinematography (Autumn Durald Arkapaw), and Best Original Score (Ludwig Göransson).
What film won Best Picture at the Oscars 2026?
One Battle After Another directed by Paul Thomas Anderson won Best Picture at the 98th Academy Awards.
How many Oscars did One Battle After Another win?
One Battle After Another won six Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Sean Penn), Best Film Editing, and Best Casting.
Who won Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars 2026?
Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for Weapons. It was her first Oscar win.
Who won Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars 2026?
Ryan Coogler won Best Original Screenplay for Sinners, only the second Black writer to win the category in Oscar history, after Jordan Peele for Get Out.
Was there a tie at the Oscars 2026?
Yes. The Best Live Action Short Film category ended in a historic tie, only the seventh in Oscars history, with both The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva winning.
Where was the Oscars 2026 held?
The 98th Academy Awards were held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles on March 15, 2026. The ceremony was hosted by Conan O’Brien for the second consecutive year and broadcast on ABC and Hulu.
