Dwayne Johnson & Daniel Day-Lewis Enter The Fray

The Oscars 2026 are rapidly approaching, and after the big fall festivals kick-started conversations with most major categories, today is the real start of the Best Actor race. That’s not to say that there haven’t already been a number of films with incredible male lead performances that deserve to get nominated.

Michael B. Jordan (Sinners), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), and Denzel Washington (Highest 2 Lowest) stand out as some of the best male performances in movies that have already been released. Any of them could possibly find their names listed among the nominees when the Academy unveils them on January 22, 2026.

But, there are plenty of other performances in movies that have still yet to get a wide release that are expected to factor heavily into the Best Actor Oscar nominations. Two of the biggest contenders have now officially entered the race on the same day.

Dwayne Johnson & Daniel Day-Lewis’ New Movies Put Them Squarely In The Best Actor Mix

With four months to go until nominations are announced, Dwayne Johnson and Daniel Day-Lewis figure to factor heavily into the race. That’s thanks to their respective dramatic performances in The Smashing Machine and Anemone.

Johnson is viewed as having the stronger chance to earn an Oscar nomination at this stage thanks to his transformative role as fighter Mark Kerr. The blockbuster action movie star has left his familiar roles behind to begin a new era of his career, and his performance in The Smashing Machine has been widely praised.

Day-Lewis is in a camp all his own with the Academy. He’s a three-time Oscar winner and holds the record for wins in Best Actor thanks to this track record. Anemone ends an eight-year retirement for him, and the ability to nominate one of the greatest living performers may be too difficult to pass up for voters.

The Smashing Machine is out in wide release this weekend through A24, while Anemone is only a limited release right now before Focus Features expands it wide on October 10. Both movies debuted at fall festivals — Venice for Smashing Machine and New York Film Festival for Anemone. Now, they’re open to the public, allowing the discourse and Oscars chatter to take the next step.

It will be fascinating to see how each film’s performance and reception impact their star’s Oscar position. Neither movie has received stellar reviews. The Smashing Machine has a 76% Rotten Tomatoes score, with Anemone sitting at 59% right now.

The general public might not have any say in Academy Award nominations, but the way people and critics engage with a movie or performance can shape the state of the race. Johnson’s swing for a dramatic role could be more widely recognized as he steps out of his comfort zone.

There’s no doubt The Rock will campaign hard for an Oscar too, shaking all the hands, going to all the parties, and so on. These things can often make or break someone’s chances, and the star’s larger-than-life charisma could really help here. This can give him a leg up on the competition, especially with A24’s support behind him.

But it’d be foolish to completely write off Day-Lewis’ odds. He is a six-time Oscar nominee after all. The strength of his work alone is hard for the Academy voters to overlook. Anemone might be more of a mixed bag on the whole, but his performance will stand out. Whether that’s enough to get a spot in Best Actor will be a major question as the season progresses.

The Best Actor Race Will Heat Up After Daniel Day-Lewis & Dwayne Johnson’s Movies Debut

Day-Lewis and Johnson may both benefit from having performances that come out before the competition. Similarly to how One Battle After Another and Sinners have established themselves as major awards contenders, the actors can make an early impression on voters that could stick with them for months.

They won’t get lost in the onslaught of Oscar-hopeful movies that release later in the year. But those upcoming titles also pose the biggest threat to their candidacies.

Generally speaking, performances by Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), George Clooney (Jay Kelly), Jeremy Allen White (Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere), Jesse Plemons (Bugonia), Oscar Isaac (Frankenstein), Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme), and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent) are positioned to enter the race strongly in the months ahead. DiCaprio and Jordan also remain major threats for nominations.

Any of these performances could come and steal Johnson and Day-Lewis’ thunder if they don’t cement a spot as a frontrunner or strong contender right now. It’s also worth noting that individual studio campaign strategies will likely factor into whether either gets nominated, much less if either can win.

Having A24’s support is huge for Johnson and The Smashing Machine. The studio has been behind brilliant campaigns for two of the last three Best Actor Oscar winners: Brendan Fraser (The Whale) and Adrien Brody (The Brutalist). However, The Rock isn’t the studio’s only Best Actor contender.

Chalamet’s next performance in Marty Supreme also comes from A24. He’s fresh off an Oscar nomination in the category and could be bolstered by the movie’s late December release. A24 can support two Best Actor nominees (they did it as recently as 2023), but there may come a time when the studio needs to pick Chalamet or Johnson as their best chance for another Oscar win.

Similarly, Day-Lewis’ chances could be impacted by Focus Features’ other Oscar contenders. Plemons and Hugh Jackman (Song Sung Blue) are both among early contenders for the category. They could strengthen their positions later this year as the movies hit theaters and push Day-Lewis and Anemone to the side.

Between studio strategies, the addition of new contenders, and the general ebbs and flows of awards season, the Best Actor race is still very much taking shape. With Johnson and Day-Lewis hoping to be key contenders, it’s safe to say the Best Actor race for the Oscars 2026 is officially underway.

8/10

Location

Los Angeles, CA

Dates

March 15, 2026

Website

https://www.oscars.org/