Grownups Seize the Spotlight in the 2026 Oscar Nominations

Find out which of your favorite actors over 50 are headed to the red carpet in March

Tracey Minkin,

AARP

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Published January 22, 2026

a collage with photos of stellan skarsgard, leonardo di caprio, sean penn, delroy lindo, ethan hawke, amy madigan and benicio del toro, alongside an oscar trophy

From left: Stellan Skarsgard, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Delroy Lindo, Oscar, Ethan Hawke, Amy Madigan, Benicio del Toro

AARP (From left: JC Olivera/WWD via Getty Images, Frazer Harrison/WireImage/Getty Images, Dominique Charriau/WireImage/Getty Images, Unique Nicole/WireImage/Getty Images, Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images, Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images, Frazer Harrison/WireImage/Getty Images, Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

The 2026 Oscar nominations once again proved the clout of grownup talents, and the grownup audience, in the art and business of film.

Seven out of 20 nominations in the acting categories (compared to nine last year) went to actors over 50, and Amy Madigan, 75, Delroy Lindo, 73, Benicio del Toro, 58, Sean Penn, 65, Stellan Skarsård, 74, Leonardo DiCaprio, 51, and Ethan Hawke, 55, show it’s never too late to be at the top of your career. That clout is increasingly important. According to new AARP research, a majority of Americans believe that the movies and TV we watch influence how society views getting older, and 93% say they're likely to watch movies or shows featuring older leads. And AARP's Movies for Grownups continues to grow as a predictor of Oscar wins as Hollywood listens more to its adult moviegoers.

Here's a look at the grownup stars who are headed to the red carpet in March.

Best Actor: Ethan Hawke and Leonardo DiCaprio Vie for Top Honors

Ethan Hawke, 55, who commands the bar at Sardi's restaurant in New York City as famed but fading lyricist Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon, has been twice nominated for an Academy Award — both for supporting actor — so he’s in the hunt for the top prize in 2026. Hawke shared with AARP the benefits of aging as an actor: “There’s this huge opportunity for playing richer and stronger, more multidimensional characters,” he said.

Fresh into his 50s (but no stranger to the red carpet), Leonardo DiCaprio, 51, last won a best actor Oscar for The Revenant in 2016. This time, he stars as an aging radical seeking to protect his daughter in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another.

Best Supporting Actor: Grownup Talent Dominates

What a year for this category: Four of the five nominations went to actors over 50.

Veteran Hollywood star Delroy Lindo, 73, has already been honored by AARP’s Movies for Grownups for bringing depth and grit to juke-joint pianist Delta Slim in Ryan Coogler’s horror-thriller Sinners. “We have to resist with all our power society’s desire to diminish who we are and what we have to offer,” he told AARP after receiving his award . “I still have stuff to offer, so does everybody else.”

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Two-time Golden Globe winner Stellan Skarsgård, 74, joined his younger stars on stage to accept best intergenerational and foreign film awards for the Norwegian film Sentimental Value at this year’s Movies for Grownups ceremony. His Oscar and Golden Globes nominations are for his performance as an aging film director seeking reconciliation with his somewhat estranged daughters.

Alongside their cast-mate, best actor nominee Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio del Toro, 58, and Sean Penn, 65, will be vying for supporting actor honors for their roles in One Battle After Another.

Best Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan Steals the Show

Already a Critics’ Choice winner for playing reclusive, eccentric and mysterious Aunt Gladys in the horror mystery Weapons, Amy Madigan’s last supporting actress Oscar nomination was in 1986 for the drama Twice in a Lifetime. At 75, Madigan is proof that great things can happen at least twice. (This year, the best actress nominations did not feature any stars over 50.)

Best Picture: Movies That Are Really for and Inspired by Grownups

The 2026 Oscar nominations also proved the clout of grownup talents in the industry’s most prestigious competition, with nominees that featured 50+ talent and dared to tackle subject matter worthy of adults. Every one of the 10 contenders for best picture was substantially driven by older audiences and their good taste: Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners and Train Dreams.

Hamnet — director Chloé Zhao's drama about the death of the son of Agnes Hathaway and William Shakespeare — was named AARP’s Movies for Grownups best picture earlier this month. Receiving her award, Zhao spoke to the universality of the film’s themes, including grief (which in the movie inspires Shakespeare to write Hamlet). “Making Hamnet reminded us that grief is inevitable, a part of life,” Zhao said. “And yet the more we can allow ourselves to feel the depth of our grief, the greater our capacity to love and to have compassion grows.”

That’s about as grown-up as it gets.

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