12 things we spotted in the Oscars class photo
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, unless you’re a Hollywood A-lister who’s nominated for an Oscar.
Timothée Chalamet, Emma Stone and Michael B Jordan were just a few of the stars who gathered at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles on Tuesday for the Academy Award nominees’ luncheon and “class photo”.
The annual event is a chance for the stars to mingle with their fellow nominees in a relaxed setting, without the pressure of Oscars night on 15 March.
Unlike some years, the 2026 group picture is a little short on big poses, funny faces and other quirks. Perhaps Hollywood’s publicists have told their stars to play it straight to avoid any viral mishaps in the social media age.
But there are still plenty of things to pick out. And, on the plus side, the Academy has returned the nominees to the standing-up position after last year’s sitting-down debacle.
Here are a few things we spotted in this year’s class photo.
1. Timothée and Jessie were slightly upstaged
As the frontrunner for best actor, Marty Supreme star Timothée Chalamet is one of the biggest names in this year’s Oscar race – and is duly standing right at the front wearing a sharp blue tux.
It’s the 30-year-old’s second consecutive year in the class photo, after his nomination in 2025 for playing Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown.
Other big names nearby include Hamnet star and best actress frontrunner Jessie Buckley, Sinners director Ryan Coogler and producer Zinzi Coogler, and One Battle After Another director Paul Thomas Anderson.
But they’re all somewhat upstaged by the always delightful Guillermo del Toro. The Frankenstein director is one of the only stars pulling a fun pose this year, with his outstretched arms making him the highlight of the front row.
2. Tallest at the back, please
Jacob Elordi might currently be starring in a sexually charged adaptation of Wuthering Heights, but, at the Oscars, he’s nominated for his role as Frankenstein’s monster in Netflix’s recent adaptation.
The Australian actor is 6ft 5in (1.96m) tall, which means he tends to tower over his co-stars on red carpets.
Fortunately, the class photo organisers knew what they were doing, and placed him in the back row next to the similarly tall Stellan Skarsgård (6ft 2in/1.88m), the Sentimental Value star who is nominated for best supporting actor alongside Elordi.
3. Teyana Taylor wins best jacket
This year’s unofficial fashion prize goes to Teyana Taylor and her shimmering black overcoat.
The 35-year-old is a strong contender in the supporting actress category for her performance in One Battle After Another.
Taylor is one of the few stars that all the film awards events seem to agree on – she’s the only actress in her category to have been nominated at the Oscars, Baftas, Golden Globes, Critics Choice and Actor Awards.
4. We are in the presence of pop royalty
Poor Diane Warren (centre, standing behind Sentimental Value’s Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) has been nominated in the best original song category a whopping 17 times, but never won.
This year, her nomination is for Dear Me from the film Relentless – a documentary that is actually about Warren and her long and successful songwriting career.
You’d think that might be enough to finally win her the statuette in 2026 – but she is almost certain to lose to the KPop Demon Hunters banger Golden.
Don’t feel too sorry for her, though. We’re confident Warren lives a comfortable life thanks to the royalties from the countless pop classics she has written.
Warren is responsible for Unbreak My Heart (Toni Braxton), I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing (Aerosmith), How Do I Live (LeAnn Rimes), If I Could Turn Back Time (Cher) and Because You Loved Me (Celine Dion).
5. Michael B Smilin’
Sinners star Michael B Jordan lights up this year’s class photo thanks to his million-dollar smile.
The star, who shot to fame as a child actor on The Wire in the early 2000s, has plenty to be cheerful about.
Vampire horror Sinners has 16 nominations – the highest number for any film in Oscars history – including a nod for Jordan in the best actor category.
(Standing to the left of him is Ejae, the songwriter and voice of Rumi from KPop Demon Hunters.)
6. Wunmi and Delroy represented the UK
Two other nominees from Sinners are actors Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku, nominated for best supporting actor and actress respectively.
The pair also happen to be the only two British nominees in the acting categories this year.
Wunmi was born in Nigeria but her family moved to Manchester when she was one. She now lives in LA but maintains her wonderfully distinctive northern accent.
Lindo, meanwhile, grew up in Lewisham, south London, although the 73-year-old has lived in the US so long that he says he doesn’t really consider himself British any more.
Which is fine, obviously, but frankly we need all the help we can get over here so we’re chalking his nomination up as at least a partial win for the UK.
7. Oscar regulars rub shoulders with first-time nominees
Chalamet isn’t the only recurring A-list face in the class photo – actress Emma Stone (left) is back too, nominated for best actress thanks to her role in the excellent Bugonia.
She might not be the frontrunner to win this year, but probably isn’t sweating it given that she has won the category twice in the last decade, for La La Land and Poor Things.
Aged 37, Stone is the youngest woman ever to earn seven Oscar nominations, overtaking Meryl Streep, who was 38.
Other actresses in the photo include first-time nominees Rose Byrne (right), for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, and Elle Fanning (second right) for Sentimental Value.
Weapons star Amy Madigan (second left) is also back in contention exactly 40 years after her first (and only other) Oscar nomination, for the appropriately named Twice in a Lifetime.
8. H is for Hawke
Standing at the end of one row, looking somewhat lonely, is best actor nominee Ethan Hawke.
He stars in Blue Moon – a character study of Lorenz Hart, a formerly successful songwriter struggling with the huge hit his former partner Richard Rodgers is having with the musical Oklahoma!
Hawke’s nomination is one of only two nods for the biopic – alongside Robert Kaplow’s nod for best original screenplay.
9. Kate Hudson adds a splash of colour
In a world of black, blue, grey and burgundy suits, we’re always happy when someone adds a refreshing splash of colour to the class photo.
Perhaps the most high-profile example this year is Kate Hudson, who clearly never forgets to pop in the colour catcher when she does a wash.
Despite appearing in a movie called Song Sung Blue, a terrific film about a Neil Diamond tribute act, Hudson opted for an eye-catching red dress.
Hudson was originally placed in the back row but swapped places with Sirât director Oliver Laxe after organisers realised he was towering over everyone else.
10. Leo and Benicio go into battle
This year’s class photo was very well attended – only two of the 20 nominated actors couldn’t be there – Renate Reinsve and Sean Penn.
Luckily, Penn’s co-stars in One Battle After Another, Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio del Toro, represented the film along with Teyana Taylor.
Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor took the opportunity to give all the actors in attendance some important advice if they win at next month’s ceremony.
Pointers include getting to the stage quickly, completing your thank-yous in 45 seconds, and preparing your speech in advance (“Don’t say you didn’t expect it, you have a one in five chance of winning,” she said).
The most important advice? “Don’t read your speech from a phone – paper looks better on TV.”
11. Hamnet’s team stuck together
A few people were surprised when Hamnet won best drama film at the Golden Globes last month and Steven Spielberg went up to accept the trophy.
That’s because he was a producer on the screen adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, and means he will be one of the winners if Hamnet takes best picture at the Oscars.
In the class photo, Spielberg (far right), is standing two along from the film’s director Chloé Zhao, a previous Oscar winner for 2020’s Nomadland.
(That’s Zootopia 2 producer Yvette Marino standing between them, in case you’re wondering.)
12. Mind your head, Wagner
Last year, I’m Still Here sprung a surprise best picture nomination, thanks in no small part to the many dedicated fans in the film’s native Brazil.
This year, the country is represented by political thriller The Secret Agent, which has four nominations including best picture.
Its star Wagner Moura, well known for appearing in Netflix’s drug drama Narcos, is also up for best actor.
But we can’t help feeling he should have joined Elordi, Skarsgård, Lindo, Laxe and Kosinski in the back row, as Moura is almost blocking out poor Ashley Schlaifer, the producer of best picture nominee Train Dreams.
As Variety pointed out, there is one thing we’ve all clearly learned from this year’s class photo: “This may be one of the tallest groups of Oscar nominees in recent memory.”
Look back on previous class photos:
2025: Ariana and Cynthia hold space in the front row
2024: 10 things we spotted from Margot Robbie to Billie Eilish
2023: Brendan Fraser has a ‘whale of a time
2020: From Quentin Tarantino to a Frozen couple
2019: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper among stars
2018: Cardboard cutouts and splashes of colour
2017: Pharrell Williams dresses down
Note: there were no class photos taken during Covid
