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10 Actors I Think About Every Awards Season Because They’ve Basically Defined It

By Arsheen Kaur Sahni

January 13, 2026

10 Actors I Think About Every Awards Season Because They’ve Basically Defined It

10 Iconic Actors Who Define Awards Season

Every awards season, I find myself falling into the same loop. I watch the nominations roll in, skim the predictions, and realize that there are certain actors whose names feel almost automatic at this point. Not because of hype or campaigns, but because their work has trained us to expect excellence. These are the performers who turn up in a film and instantly shift the awards conversation, the ones where a “snub” feels like a glitch and a win feels like a formality. This list is about those performers. The ones who’ve clearly reached a point where awards season doesn’t feel random anymore—just inevitable.

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