- Michael B Jordan won Best Actor at the 98th Academy Awards for Sinners
- Jordan is the sixth Black actor to win the Best Actor Oscar
- Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for her role in Hamnet
Michael B Jordan and Jessie Buckley emerged as the top acting winners at the 98th Academy Awards, taking home the Best Actor and Best Actress honours, respectively, at the ceremony held on Sunday night.
Best Actor And Best Actress At Oscars 2026
Jordan won the Best Actor award, marking a major milestone in a career spanning more than two decades. He received the Oscar for his performance in Sinners, a blues-infused supernatural horror film set in 1930s Mississippi. In the film, Jordan plays identical twins, Smoke and Stack. Sinners was among the most recognised films of the year, earning a record 16 Academy Award nominations.
With this win, Jordan becomes the sixth Black actor to receive the Best Actor Oscar. He joins Sidney Poitier, who was the first to win in 1963 for Lilies of the Field, followed by Denzel Washington (Training Day, 2001), Jamie Foxx (Ray, 2004), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland, 2006), and Will Smith (King Richard, 2020).
The other nominees in the category were Timothee Chalamet for Marty Supreme, Leonardo DiCaprio for One Battle After Another, Ethan Hawke for Blue Moon, and Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent.
Sinners marked another collaboration between Jordan and filmmaker Ryan Coogler, continuing a partnership that began in 2013 with Fruitvale Station. That film, Coogler's directorial debut, earned Jordan widespread acclaim for his portrayal of a real-life man killed by police. The duo later reunited for Creed, Black Panther, and now Sinners.
Jordan first rose to prominence on television, appearing in The Wire in 2002, followed by roles in All My Children and Friday Night Lights. On All My Children, he replaced Chadwick Boseman, with whom he later co-starred in Black Panther.
Meanwhile, Jessie Buckley won the Best Actress award, securing her first Oscar. She triumphed in a competitive category that included Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You), Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue), and Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value).
With the win, Buckley becomes the first Irish actor to receive the Best Actress Oscar. Previous Irish nominees in the category have included Saoirse Ronan, nominated for Brooklyn, Lady Bird and Little Women, and Ruth Negga for Loving.
In Hamnet, Buckley, 36, plays Agnes Shakespeare, the wife of playwright William Shakespeare, portrayed by Paul Mescal. The film is directed by Chloé Zhao and is adapted from Maggie O'Farrell's novel of the same name.
"Thank you to the incredible women that I stand beside. I am inspired by your art and your heart, and I want to work with every single one of you," said Buckley, paying tribute to her fellow nominees.
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