Michael B Jordan upends Oscars race as Sinners wins big at Actor Awards

Riley Calderon

Published: March 2, 2026 10:18 AM ET

Michael B Jordan upends Oscars race as Sinners wins big at Actor Awards

Michael B Jordan's surprise victory at the Actor Awards has injected new momentum into the oscars race, with Sinners taking the night's top prizes and reshaping the closing weeks before the Oscars on 15 March. The ceremony, rebranded from the SAG Awards, produced a string of unexpected wins and emotional speeches.

Oscars race now too close

Jordan's win as best actor for his role in the vampire horror Sinners leaves the best actor competition too close to call ahead of the oscars on 15 March, the coverage of the ceremony. The result gives Jordan a surge of momentum in the final weeks before the Academy voting deadline.

Sinners wins big at Actor Awards

US actor Michael B Jordan was named best actor for his role in Sinners, which also won the night's top prize of best ensemble cast. In his acceptance speech Jordan said: "I don't even know where to begin, I wasn't expecting this at all, " and added that he felt "so honoured and privileged" to have been nominated.

Jordan paid tribute to his mother Donna, who he has been bringing to events as his guest throughout awards season, thanking her for supporting his acting career from a young age: "Mom, thank you for driving me back and forth to New York when we didn't have enough money to go through the Harlem tunnel, when we were looking for gas money, parking spaces, " he said.

He also thanked Sinners director Ryan Coogler and his co-stars, commenting: "Everybody that had something to do with this movie, you gave us your time and your talents and vulnerability and allowed me to do my best work. " The film stars Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan.

Accepting the best ensemble prize, Delroy Lindo described making Sinners as an "incredible journey, " adding: "Every single day we brought ourselves, our hearts, our souls, to this endeavour. " Lindo continued: "To be recognised by you all, 'thank you' does not come anywhere near to encompassing what we feel, the gratitude. "

Full winners and nominees list

The ceremony handed leading acting trophies to Michael B. Jordan and Jessie Buckley, among others. Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role WINNER: Michael B. Jordan / Smoke/Stack - Sinners. Other nominees listed: Timothée Chalamet / Marty Mauser - Marty Supreme; Leonardo DiCaprio / Bob - One Battle After Another; Ethan Hawke / Lorenz Hart - Blue Moon; Jesse Plemons / Teddy - Bugonia.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role WINNER: Jessie Buckley / Agnes - Hamnet. Other nominees included Rose Byrne / Linda - If I Had Legs I’d Kick You; Kate Hudson / Claire - Song Sung Blue; Chase Infiniti / Willa - One Battle After Another; Emma Stone / Michelle - Bugonia.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role WINNER: Sean Penn / Col. Steven J. Lockjaw - One Battle After Another. Other nominees were Miles Caton / Sammie Moore - Sinners; Benicio Del Toro / Sensei Sergio St. Carlos - One Battle After Another; Jacob Elordi / The Creature - Frankenstein; Paul Mescal / Will - Hamnet.

Outstanding Performance By a Female Actor in a Supporting Role WINNER: Amy Madigan / Gladys - Weapons. Other nominees were Odessa A’zion / Rachel Mizler - Marty Supreme; Ariana Grande / Glinda - Wicked: For Good; Wunmi Mosaku / Annie - Sinners; Teyana Taylor / Perfidia - One Battle After Another.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture WINNER: Sinners. The lists of performers across nominated ensembles included Miles Caton / Sammie Moore; Buddy Guy / Old Sammie; Michael B. Jordan / Smoke/Stack; Jayme Lawson / Pearline; Delroy Lindo / Delta Slim; Omar Miller / Cornbread; Wunmi Mosaku / Annie; Jack O’Connell / Remmick; Hailee Steinfeld / Mary.

Frankenstein ensemble names included David Bradley / Blind Man; Christian Convery / Young Victor Frankenstein; Charles Dance / Leopold Frankenstein; Jacob Elordi / The Creature; Mia Goth / Elizabeth/Claire Frankenstein; Oscar Isaac / Victor Frankenstein; Felix Kammerer / William Frankenstein; Lars Mikkelsen / Capt. Anderson; Christoph Waltz / Harlander.

Hamnet ensemble names included Joe Alwyn / Bartholomew; Jessie Buckley / Agnes; Noah Jupe / Hamlet; Paul Mescal / Will; Emily Watson / Mary. Marty Supreme ensemble names included Odessa A’zion / Rachel Mizler; Sandra Bernhard / Judy; Timothée Chalamet / Marty Mauser; Emory Cohen / Ira Mizler; Fran Drescher / Rebecca Mauser; Abel Ferrara / Ezra Mishkin; Penn Jillette / Hoff; Koto Kawaguchi / Koto Endo; Luke Manley / Dion Galanis; Tyler Okonma / Wally; Kevin O’Leary / Milton Rockwell; Gwyneth Paltrow / Kay Stone; Géza Röhrig / Béla Kletzki; Larry Ratso Sloman / Murray Norkin.

One Battle After Another ensemble names included Benicio Del Toro / Sensei Sergio St. Carlos; Leonardo Dicaprio / Bob; Regina Hall / Deandra; Chase Infiniti / Willa; Sean Penn / Col. Steven J. Lockjaw; Teyana Taylor / Perfidia.

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture WINNER: Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. Other listed films included F1, Frankenstein, One Battle After Another and Sinners.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series WINNER: Owen Cooper / Jamie Miller – Adolescence, with Jason Bateman / Vince Friedkin also named in the list.

ELLE's coverage also noted ensembles of Sinners, The Pitt, and The Studio took home top awards in the motion picture, TV drama, and TV comedy categories respectively.

Red carpet and dress code

The 2026 ceremony took place in Los Angeles on Sunday night at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall. The rebranded event, now called the Actor Awards and organized by the actors' union SAG-AFTRA, was hosted for the third time by Kristen Bell. For the first time the event came with a dress code: "Reimagining Hollywood Glamour from the ’20s and ’30s. " Vogue's coverage named nominees such as Chase Infiniti, Teyana Taylor and Emma Stone, while male attendees included Timothée Chalamet, Michael B Jordan, Adam Brody and Paul Mescal. The coverage noted Michael B Jordan wearing Tom Ford by Haider Ackermann on the red carpet.

Bafta incident and reactions

The Actor Awards' Sinners wins came a week after the Bafta Film Awards, where Jordan and Lindo were praised for their composure after Tourette's campaigner John Davidson involuntarily shouted a racial slur while the pair were on stage. Voting for this year's Actor Awards ceremony closed on Friday, five days after the Baftas ceremony where the N-word was shouted while Lindo and Jordan were on stage.

Lindo acknowledged the incident at another awards event on Saturday, telling the audience: "We appreciate the support and love we have been shown in the aftermath of what happened last weekend. " From the stage at the NAACP Image Awards he added: "It's a classic case of something that could've been very negative becoming very positive. Thank you so much for the support. "

The ceremony also included a posthumous win: Catherine O'Hara won for The Studio, and Seth Rogen accepted an award on behalf of his co-star Catherine O'Hara, who died in January.

Closing: The Actor Awards delivered a night of surprises — Michael B Jordan's best actor victory and Sinners' best ensemble win among them — shifting momentum in the lead-up to the Oscars on 15 March and leaving several races unresolved as final voting approaches.