Adam Sandler Is On The Verge Of Another Oscar Snub

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As the 2026 Oscars approach, several actors are considered strong contenders for nominations. Timothée Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jessie Buckley, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Ariana Grande, and Teyana Taylor have all delivered performances expected to earn them recognition when the nominations are revealed on January 22nd.

Just a few months or weeks ago, Adam Sandler would have been a strong contender for that kind of praise. Many considered his performance in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly to be a career high, and despite George Clooney being the lead, Sandler consistently received recognition – even winning the Matlin Modern Master Award – for his supporting role.

As a critic, I’ve been watching Adam Sandler’s awards season journey closely. He’d racked up nominations from pretty much everyone – the Golden Globes, Astras, various critics’ circles, even the Gotham and Critics’ Choice Awards. Sadly, he lost at both of those latter shows – Wunmi Mosaku beat him out at the Gothams with her work in Sinners, and Jacob Elordi took the Critics’ Choice Award for Frankenstein. While that didn’t entirely rule him out for an Oscar, I have to say, his chances now seem pretty much gone.

Adam Sandler’s Missed Nomination At The Actor Awards Hurts His Oscars Standing

The Actor Awards, previously called the Screen Actors Guild Awards, announced their nominations yesterday. Many predicted Adam Sandler would be nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but he didn’t make the final list of five nominees, despite his performance in Jay Kelly.

The acting nominees include Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn for One Battle After Another, Miles Caton (Sinners), Paul Mescal (Hamnet), and Jacob Elordi, who recently won a Critics’ Choice Award. The list was unexpected, particularly because Stellan Skarsgård wasn’t nominated, and the group overlooked all foreign language films. The fact that Adam Sandler also didn’t receive a nomination was a notable omission.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG Awards) are a major indicator of Oscar success. This is because SAG-AFTRA members represent the largest group of voters for the Academy Awards. It’s quite common for the winners at the SAG Awards to also take home Oscars, and you’ll often see the same actors nominated for both.

When it comes to the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, the Academy Awards and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) usually agree on four out of the five nominees. This has happened in 19 out of 31 years. They’ve only nominated the exact same five actors three times, most recently in 2014. Sometimes they agree on just three or even two nominees, but that’s less common.

Look, it’s still possible Sandler could sneak into an Oscar nomination, but it’s going to be tough. Del Toro, Penn, and Mescal have been consistently recognized all season, and Elordi is really gaining momentum. I think Jacob Elordi is the one nomination that could really shake up the Oscars, because Caton’s win at the Actor Awards feels like an outlier – a different choice from what we’ve seen so far.

It looks like Skarsgård is in a better position to gain recognition than Sandler. It would be very surprising if Sandler were nominated over Skarsgård. This puts Sandler in a difficult position, as he’d need to outperform Penn, Mescal, or Elordi, all of whom are connected to films with stronger chances of winning Best Picture.

Adam Sandler might once again be overlooked at the 2026 Oscars, despite a potentially strong dramatic performance. Many were surprised when he wasn’t nominated for Uncut Gems in 2020, and given his past performances in films like Punch-Drunk Love also went unrecognized, it’s becoming unclear what he needs to do to earn an Oscar nomination.

If Adam Sandler doesn’t receive an Oscar nomination for Jay Kelly – which looks likely based on current predictions – he’ll need to give an even more impressive performance in a future movie if he wants to finally earn a nomination.

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2026-01-08 19:48