Showbiz
Timothée Chalament secures Oscar nomination for Marty Supreme
Adam Sandler and Odessa A’zion narrowly missed out
January 22, 2026 13:51
Adam Sandler and Odessa A’zion narrowly missed out
January 22, 2026 13:51Timothee Chalamet has earned an Oscar nomination for his performance as a Jewish table tennis champion in Josh Safdie’s comedy-drama Marty Supreme.
The Jewish actor’s highly anticipated nod for Best Actor in the 2026 Oscars was confirmed on Thursday as presenters announced the nominees for the 98th Academy Awards, with the ceremony set to be presented by returning host Conan O’Brien on March 15.
The recognition for Chalamet's performance as Marty Mauser, based on the real-life ping pong champion Marty Reisman, will come as no surprise to those who have been keeping up with Oscar buzz, nor to Chalamet himself, who dubbed his own work in the film “top-level s***” during his extensive promotional campaign in the run-up to its release.
But the stakes are high for the 30-year-old to turn his nomination into a win, something he has twice been unable to achieve.
Chalamet’s previous nominations – first for his breakout role as a gay teenager in the 2017 drama Call Me by Your Name, and then for his performance as Bob Dylan in the 2024 biopic A Complete Unknown – were both for his portrayal of Jewish characters.
Sean Penn, whose father was Jewish, was nominated for his supporting role in offbeat comedy One Battle After Another.
Marty Supreme also claimed a Best Picture nomination, with Safdie earning a nod for Best Director. Along with fellow Jewish co-writer/producer Ronald Bronstein, Safdie also earned a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
There were rumblings that up-and-coming Jewish actress Odessa A’zion, who played Mauser’s Jewish paramour Rachel Mizler, was in the running to receive a nomination for Best Supporting Actress, but her name did not appear among the contenders for the award. Comedian Adam Sandler was also reportedly a contender for what critics have called a “heartbreaking” performance in the 2025 film Jay Kelly, but neither Sandler nor the film received any nominations.
Safdie’s 1950s-set film about Mauser’s dogged efforts to become the best table tennis player in the world is the most prominent of the few Jewish-focused films to gain recognition in this year’s Oscar nominations, marking a sharp contrast to last year.
Elsewhere, The Butcher’s Stain, an Israeli short film by Meyer Levinson-Blount, is nominated for Best Live Action Short Film. Following a Palestinian butcher in Tel Aviv who is wrongly accused of tearing down hostage posters, the film reportedly draws inspiration from Levinson-Blount's own experiences after the October 7 attacks.
For the first time since 1937, both the Best Actor and Best Actress awards were won by Jewish talent in the 2024 awards, with Adrien Brody and Mikey Madison taking home the statuettes.
Post-Holocaust drama The Brutalist, for which Brody won his award, was one of several Jewish films nominated for Oscars last year, alongside Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain and Chalamet’s A Complete Unknown.
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