Oscars winners and losers

The glorious beards of the academy awards

Written by Alexys Hadaway

With the 98^th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 15, 2026, beards dominated the nominations. Over 10 of the categories featured nominees that predominately had beards, and 9 of these were actually won by a person with a beard.

Photo Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Best Actor– Michael B. Jordan

The race for best actor at the Oscars was led by Michael B. Jordan, who famously flaunts a full facial hair look. He leads the film “Sinners,” as twins Smoke and Stack. He had recently overtaken the top spot from Timothee Chalamet, someone who is new to the facial hair game.

After his film “Marty Supreme,” Chalamet has had a goatee, accompanied by his newly shaved head. Timothee’s facial hair doesn’t compare to Michael’s, but his acting can. Both men gave outstanding performances in their films, even with the major differences between their films. The category is stacked with other nominees including Leonardo DiCaprio (“One Battle After Another”), and Wagner Moura (“The Secret Agent”).

It was also an extremely tight race, with predictions changing only a week ago. However, Michael B. Jordan came out on top to win the award.

Photo Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Best Director– Paul Thomas Anderson

Won by Paul Thomas Anderson, the best director at the Academy awards is another win for the beards. The race for best director was led by Paul Thomas Anderson and Ryan Coogler. Both men sport a casual, yet full bearded look, and both films are revolutionary.

“One Battle After Another” tells a story about a retired revolutionist who has to go on the run from a corrupt police officer, while “Sinners” is a thrilling tale of southern vampires and powerful music.

This category also featured  directors Josh Safdie (“Marty Supreme”) and Joachim Trier (“Sentimental Value”), both men with beards. Josh Safdie rocks a full beard and facial hair, while Joachim has more of a subtle five o’clock shadow look. Joachim ended up winning for best international film.  There is only one woman in this category, Chloe Zhao (“Hamnet”), who was also a major contender. Her film was a lead in best actress with Jessie Buckley leading the pack, but ultimately winning was Paul Thomas Anderson. This was his first time winning an Oscar after receiving 14 nominations throughout his career. PTA also won best adapted screenplay.

Photo Credit: Warner Bros.

Best Supporting Actor– Sean Penn

The Best supporting actor award was a toss-up for the beards. Actors Sean Penn and Delroy Lindo were the most talked about names, both men with more lowkey beards. However, both Jacob Elordi (“Frankenstein”) and Stellan Skarsgard (“Sentimental Value”), were contenders with past wins at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards. With every actor winning an award at a previous award ceremony in the 2026 award season, it was Sean Penn who was victorious. Sean did not attend the awards, leading presenter Kiernan Culkin to make a joke about Penn not wanting to attend, rather than being unable.

Photo Credit: Patrick T Fallon

Best Picture – One Battle After Another

While best picture includes a wide variety of actors, the films in the lead were beard heavy. “Sinners,” “One Battle After Another,” even “Hamnet,” where lead actor Paul Mescal sports a beard as William Shakespear. One producer that sticks out in this category is Ryan Coogler, who wrote, produced, and directed “Sinners.” He was nominated for an outstanding 16 awards, the most for a single film ever. However, coming out on top was “One Battle Another,” marking Anderson’s third win of the night. The entire cast and crew that were present joined him on stage, making for an emotional moment.

Overall, beards win. Almost every category with a man nominated, was won by someone with a beard.

“Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” led most nominations, with “One Battle After Another” ending up with the most awards from the ceremony, a total of 6. Additional beard dominated wins included best international film and film editing. The ceremony made history with the first woman to win for cinematography, first kpop song to win best original song, and a tie in best live action short film. 

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