As the 98th Academy Awards ceremony draws near, the predictions are coming in for the talented artists who will go home with the Oscars this year. In the Best Actress category, we have five brilliant performers nominated: Jessie Buckley for her Actor Award-winning role as Agnes Shakespeare in Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet; Rose Byrne for her performance in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You; Kate Hudson for her performance as real-life entertainer Claire Sardina in the biopic Song Sung Blue; Renate Reinsve for her marvelous work in the drama Sentimental Value; and Emma Stone for her role in the surreal comedy thriller Bugonia.
Each of the actresses nominated for the Oscar this year has shown incredible talent and skill, both in the films they’ve been nominated for and in their past projects. So, even though all their nominated performances are worthy of admiration, they’re not necessarily their best films so far when compared to some of the absolute masterpieces they’ve starred in in the past. Here’s our handpicked selections for the best movie in each 2026 Best Actress Oscar nominee’s filmography, including some previous Oscar wins and unfortunate snubs.
1
Jessie Buckley for ‘Hamnet’
Best Movie: ‘The Lost Daughter’ (2021)
Written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal in her feature directorial debut, The Lost Daughter is an adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s novel, following Leda, a middle-aged professor and noted translator who is holidaying in Greece. When she meets a young mother and her daughter, it triggers memories of her unpleasant past, and she grows increasingly obsessed with the family. Olivia Colman stars as Leda, and Jessie Buckley plays the younger version of the character, with Dakota Johnson, Paul Mescal, Dagmara Domińczyk, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Peter Sarsgaard, and Ed Harris in supporting roles.
The Lost Daughter is a layered psychological drama that thoughtfully explores the complexities of motherhood and how the emotional struggles involved affect a mother’s relationship with her children. The chaotic and exhausting life of the younger Leda reveals a great deal about the behavior of her older self, which is equally distressing and moving. Portraying the young mother of two girls, Buckley delivers a candid and intense performance full of conflicted, suffocating emotions, earning her an Academy Award nomination for the role.
2
Rose Byrne for ‘If Had Legs I’d Kick You’
Best Movie: ‘If Had Legs, I’d Kick You’ (2025)
The film that earned Rose Byrne her first Oscar nomination is also easily her best. Written and directed by Mary Bronstein in her second feature directorial, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You follows the harrowing story of Linda, a mother and a psychotherapist struggling with her young daughter’s eating disorder, an absent husband, and difficult patients. When her apartment collapses, Linda moves into a shabby motel, where she finds herself having a mental breakdown while dealing with her child’s illness, a missing person case, and her increasingly hostile therapist. Byrne portrays Linda, with A$AP Rocky, Conan O’Brien, Danielle Macdonald, Christian Slater, and Ivy Wolk in supporting roles.
An intense, surreal arthouse drama, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You takes a raw look at the realities of motherhood. Byrne delivers her career-best performance in the unfiltered, unnervingly realistic portrayal of Linda, which largely drives the film’s narrative. Seeing Byrne play the stressed and isolated mother, let down by everyone she relies on and on the verge of a breakdown, is not only unsettling to watch but unarguably the actress’s best film so far, earning her a Golden Globe Award.
3
Kate Hudson for ‘Song Sung Blue’
Best Movie: ‘Almost Famous’ (2000)
A coming-of-age comedy drama written and directed by Cameron Crowe, based on his personal experiences, Almost Famous follows William Miller, an aspiring teenage journalist who gets an opportunity to write for Rolling Stone magazine in the early 1970s. As William sets out to do a cover story on the fictional rock band Stillwater, he experiences life on the road through the eyes of his rock idols, discovering himself in the process. The film stars Patrick Fugit, Hudson, Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, and Philip Seymour Hoffman in lead roles.
Hudson has starred in several comedy dramas and romantic comedies over the course of her career, but her performance as Penny Lane in Almost Famous is the role that catapulted her to true stardom, earning her a Golden Globe and her first Academy Award nomination before Song Sung Blue. A classic comedy of the 2000s, the film sees Hudson play a band-aide for Stillwater, who captivates William and takes him under her wing, delivering some of the most poignant and heartbreaking moments of the film. Hudon’s Penny subverts the classic “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” trope, depicting the groupie-like character as a passionate, complex woman who balances carefree, rock-and-roll glamour with depth, warmth, and vulnerability.
4
Renate Reinsve for ‘Sentimental Value’
Best Movie: ‘The Worst Person in the World’ (2021)
Before Sentimental Value, Norwegian star Renate Reinsve collaborated with Joachim Trier on The Worst Person in the World, a romantic comedy drama that marks the third and final film in his Oslo trilogy, after Reprise and Oslo, August 31. Presented in 12 chapters, the film follows Julie, a woman in her late twenties struggling with her identity, career, and personal relationships, as she embarks on a turbulent journey of self-discovery after leaving her boyfriend for another man. Reinsve stars as the story’s heroine, Julie, with Anders Danielsen Lie and Herbert Nordrum as her romantic partners.
The Worst Person in the World is a neatly written drama by way of a romantic comedy that navigates themes of adulthood, fear of commitment, and personal freedom, as seen through some very emotional moments in Julie’s life. Reinsve convincingly captures the anxieties of a young millennial in her fiercely authentic and profound depiction of Julie’s inner conflicts and contemplation. Humorous and poignant, Reinsve brings pathos to Julie’s restless and spontaneous central character, which became a transformative breakout role for her, winning her the Best Actress Award at Cannes.
5
Emma Stone for ‘Bugonia’
Best Movie: ‘Poor Things’ (2023)
A black comedy fantasy movie directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and adapted from Alasdair Gray’s eponymous novel, Poor Things chronicles the fantastical journey of Bella Baxter, a young woman who is brought to life by a mad genius scientist in a retro-futurist alternative late-Victorian London. From an infant trapped in an adult body, Bella quickly evolves into a knowledge-hungry, adventurous woman, running off on a globe-trotting escapade with a depraved, corrupt lawyer. Besides Emma Stone as Bella, the movie also stars Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, and Suzy Bemba in key roles.
Emma Stone’s second film with Lanthimos, after The Favourite, Poor Things is the actress at her fearless, authentic, and explicit best. Echoing elements of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in its avant-garde storytelling, Bella’s journey serves as an unusual perspective on discovering freedom, equality, and sexual liberation, with Stone beautifully and poetically depicting this evolution from the childlike antics of newborn self to the fierce independence of her adulthood. The performance and the film were both widely lauded, and earned her an Academy Award, her second after La La Land.
