SAG Actor Awards 2026 SNUBS see Sydney Sweeney, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Cynthia Erivo shockingly left off nominations list

Sweeney, 28, had hoped her transformative role as a boxer in Christy (directed by David Michôd) would lead her to award season glory but she failed to receive a nomination in the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role category.

Erivo, 38, was also overlooked for her role in Wicked: For Good (directed by Jon M. Chu) as the nominees included: Jessie Buckley – Hamnet, Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue, Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another, and Emma Stone – Bugonia. 

Sweeney portrayed real-life champion boxer Christy Martin in the biopic that highlighted the life and incredible career of the athlete who is touted as the most successful female boxer of the 1990s.

Erivo returned to her role as Elphaba in the smash-hit musical film as her character is a reimagining of the Wicked Witch of the West from L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as she starred in the sequel alongside Ariana Grande.

The entire cast of Wicked: For Good – which is centered around the relationship between Elphaba and Grande’s character Glinda – was also snubbed in the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture category

Meanwhile, 53-year-old Paltrow failed to be recognized in the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for Marty Supreme (directed by Josh Safdie). 

Those nominees included: Odessa A’zion, Marty Supreme, Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good, Amy Madigan – Weapons, Wunmi Mosaku -Sinners, and Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another.

In Marty Supreme, Paltrow portrayed Kay Stone who is a wealthy, retired actress and socialite who forms a sexual relationship with table tennis star Marty Mauser portrayed by Timothee Chalamet.

Another major star who was left off of the nomination list was Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson who would have been up for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.

The 53-year-old former WWE Superstar transformed himself into former mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Mark Kerr in autobiographical film The Smashing Machine (directed by Benny Safdie). 

Those in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role category included: Timothee Chalamet – Marty Supreme, Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another, Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon, Michael B. Jordan – Sinners, Jesse Plemons – Bugonia.

Also snubbed in that category was Wagner Moura for his work in Brazilian film The Secret Agent (directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho) as he plays a technology expert  who flees from a mysterious past and returns to his hometown of Recife in search of peace. He soon realizes that the city is far from being the refuge he seeks.

Adam Sandler was another massive snub as he was not nominated in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role category for his work in Jay Kelly (directed by Noah Baumbach).

 The 59-year-old actor portrayed Ron Sukenick who is the manager of the titular character played by George Clooney who is a famous actor.

The field of the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role category included: Miles Caton – Sinners, Benicio Del Toro – One Battle After Another, Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein, Paul Mescal – Hamnet, and Sean Penn – One Battle After Another.

Also completely snubbed by SAG-AFTRA was the entire cast of Norwegian film Sentimental Value (directed by Joachim Trier) including: Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard, Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas.

The Screen Actors Guild changed the name to the Actor Awards with the transition beginning with the 32nd annual event on March 1.

Leaders of the professional actors union wanted the title of the gala event make more sense to users.

Jon Brockett  – showrunner and executive producer of the award show – and JoBeth Williams – chair of SAG-AFTRA’s Awards Committee – shared a joint announcement on November 14 with an explanation for the shift.

They said: ‘We wanted to provide clearer recognition in terms of what the show is about for our domestic and global audiences.

‘We honor actors in film and television. Laser-focusing the name on those two things became the clearest and most straightforward path for this new chapter of the show.’

The Actors Awards are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). 

Nominations for the awards come from two committees, one for film and one for television, each numbering 2,100 members of the union, randomly selected anew each year, with the full membership (165,000 as of 2012) available to vote for the winners. 

It is considered an indicator of success at the Academy Awards in acting categories. 

The 32nd annual Actor Awards are set to stream on Netflix on Sunday, March 1.