Jessie Buckley lead British and Irish hopes at the Oscars as nominations are announced but there are shock snubs for Paul Mescal and Cynthia Erivo

By JOANNA CRAWLEY, DEPUTY SHOWBIZ EDITOR (NEWS) Jessie Buckley leads hopes for the Brits and Irish at the 2026 Academy Awards as the nominations were announced on Thursday. The Irish actress has earned an Actress in a Leading Role nomination for her role in Hamnet. After bagging a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice award this month, Jessie will go into the March 15 ceremony in Los Angeles as a nominee, four years after she earned a nod for The Lost Daughter. Actress in a Leading Role will be a highly competitive field as Jessie goes up against Rose Byrne - If I Had Legs I would Kick You, Kate Hudson - Song Sung Blue, Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value, and Emma Stone - Bugonia. Jessie said she is 'so proud and honoured' to have been nominated for her portrayal of Agatha Shakespeare. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, she said: 'My baby's screaming in the background, but I am thrilled. 'I'm so proud and honoured to be beside all those extraordinary women and to be there with Hamnet. I'm delighted.' Jessie Buckley leads hopes for the Brits and Irish at the 2026 Academy Awards as the nominations were announced on Thursday Hamnet is nominated for a total of eight awards, including the coveted Best Picture accolade and Best Director for Chloe Zhao, but Paul Mescal was a surprise snub in the Best Supporting Actor category. However, Jessie believes her own recognition 'belongs' to her co-star just as much as it does to herself because of how much she needed him for her own performance. Asked her reaction to his omission, she said: 'Yeah, look, I think he's extraordinary in this film. I know I've met a partner for life in doing this with him. I don't know what to say apart from he is, to me, my absolute. 'His artistry is something that will continue to grow and be a theme in so many different ways. I know what we created together is something that's so special to us, and I hold that so dearly in my heart, and there's no part of Agnes that exists without Paul. 'There's no part of what I created or what we created in this story which exists without Paul and what he poured into this story. So what is recognised belongs to him as much as him being recognised in his own category would.' Jessie's Hamnet co-star Paul was amongst the biggest snubs during Thursday's nominations, failing to receive a nod in the Actor in a Supporting Role field. Irish actor Paul received nods in that category at the Golden Globes and SAGs but the Academy Awards instead features Brit actor Delroy Lindo, for his role in Sinners. Delroy is up against Benicio Del Toro - One Battle After Another, Jacob Elordi - Frankenstein, Sean Penn - One Battle After Another, and Stellan Skarsgard - Sentimental Value. After bagging a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice award this month, Jessie will go into the March 15 ceremony as a nominee, four years after she earned a nod for The Lost Daughter (seen at the Critics' Choice Awards) In another notable snub Wicked For Good star Cynthia Erivo missed out on an acting nomination, shocking fans who expected her to be up for it after her nod a year ago for the first Wicked movie. In fact the Wicked sequel, including its other leading lady Ariana Grande, was completely shut out of the 2026 Oscar race a year after its predecessor collected 10 nominations, including Best Picture. British-Nigerian actress Wunmi Mosaku has also earned a nomination, earning a nod in the Best Supporting Actress field for her role as Hoodoo priestess Annie in Sinners. It is Mosaku's first Academy Award nod, but she also has nominations at the Critics' Choice Awards and Actors Awards. It was a record-breaking morning as Ryan Coogler's Sinners made history as it earned most Academy Awards nominations ever with 16 including biggest prize of the night Best Picture. It had broken the record previously shared by 1950's All About Eve, 1997's Titanic and 2016's La La Land of 14 nominations. The horror flick is one of the ten films up for the honour as the field is rounded out by: Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, and Train Dreams. The main battle come March 15 will be Timothee Chalamet vs Leonardo DiCaprio who face off in coveted Best Actor category. Timothee, 30, received a nod for Marty Supreme while Leo, 51, earned it for One Battle After Another as the A-listers will face off against Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon, Michael B. Jordan, and Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent. Jessie's Hamnet co-star Paul Mescal was amongst the biggest snubs during Thursday's nominations, failing to receive a nod in the Actor in a Supporting Role field Brit Delroy Lindo is up against Benicio Del Toro - One Battle After Another, Jacob Elordi - Frankenstein, Sean Penn - One Battle After Another, and Stellan Skarsgard - Sentimental Value British-Nigerian actress Wunmi Mosaku has also earned a nomination, earning a nod in the Best Supporting Actress field for her role as Hoodoo priestess Annie in Sinners The 98th annual Academy Awards will take place just under two months from now at its home, The Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, on March 15. Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman announced the nominees in all 24 categories, including the new casting award, as it could be viewed in a livestream from the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. There are just over 11,000 members of the Academy with individuals split into 19 branches. Those branches are split between directors, writers, costume designers, hair and make-up teams, publicists, and the biggest one of all: actors. Of those 11,000 members, just under 10,000 end up voting for the Academy Awards as members who don't vote have emeritus status. The Academy has massively increased its membership over the past 14 years as a Los Angeles Times report published in 2012 revealed the Academy had about 5,800 members at that time. Nominees were chosen through a ranked-choice ballot, AKA a preferential ballot, as each voter listed their nominees in order of preference. Then when the ballots are counted, nominees were selected based on the number of votes over a particular threshold as well as the number of overall nominees in that category. In another notable snub Wicked For Good star Cynthia Erivo missed out on an acting nomination. In fact the Wicked sequel, including its other leading lady Ariana Grande, was completely shut out of the 2026 Oscar race Timothee Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio will face off in coveted Best Actor category as the full list of nominations for the 2026 Oscars were announced on Thursday (they are seen at the Golden Globe Awards last week) It was a record-breaking morning as Ryan Coogler's Sinners made history as it earned the most Academy Awards nominations ever with 16, including the biggest prize of the night – Best Picture However, for those contenders that didn't hit the required threshold, the ranked-choice balloting takes effect. At the biggest night in film, 24 categories will be awarded as each category features five nominees, except for Best Picture, which has ten. Best Picture nominations are determined by eligible members from all 19 Academy branches. All rounds of Oscars voting are conducted by secret online ballot, tabulated by the independent accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Oscar viewers will be seeing a familiar face as Conan O'Brien will be returning to host a year after he helped last year's ceremony draw the biggest audience in five years. The 98th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide. Sinners earned most Oscar nominations ever with 16 including Best Picture Timothee Chalamet - Marty Supreme Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle After Another Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent Timothee Chalamet was recognized for his work in Marty Supreme Rose Byrne - If I Had Legs I’d Kick You Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value Benicio del Toro - One Battle After Another Sean Penn - One Battle After Another Stellan Skarsgard - Sentimental Value Elle Fanning - Sentimental Value Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas - Sentimental Value Teyana Taylor - One Battle After Another Amy Madigan was put forward in the Best Supporting Actress category for Weapons Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another Joachim Trier - Sentimental Value Jafar Panahi - It Was Just an Accident Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie - Marty Supreme Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier - Sentimental Value Ryan Coogler was nominated in the Best Original Screenplay field for Sinners Guillermo Del Toro - Frankenstein Chloe Zhao and Maggie O'Farrell - Hamnet Paul Thomas Anderson  - One Battle After Another Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar - Train Dreams Little Amelie or the Character of Rain Best International Feature Film It Was Just an Accident (France) The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia) Brazilian film The Secret Agent starring Wagner Moura is nominated for Best International Feature Film Jennifer Venditti - Marty Supreme Cassandra Kulukundis - One Battle After Another Gabriel Domingues - The Secret Agent Michael Bauman - One Battle After Another Autumn Durald Arkapaw - Sinners One Battle After Another is up for Best Cinematography Dear Me - Diane Warren: Relentless Sweet Dreams of Joy - Viva Verdi! Global hit KPop Demon Hunters received a Best Original Song nod for Golden Avatar: Fire and Ash earned a Best Visual Effects nomination Frankenstein earned a Best Costume Design nod Mr Nobody Against Putin is up for best Documentary Feature Film Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud Children No More: Were and Are Gone The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. 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