Oscars 2026: Michael B Jordan Wins Best Actor for Ryan Coogler’s Sinners

Actor Michael B Jordan won the Best Actor award at the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday for filmmaker Ryan Coogler’s film Sinners.

Jordan beat awards season favourite Leonardo DiCaprio, who was nominated for One Battle After Another directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and Timothee Chalamet, nominated for Marty Supreme.

The odds swung in favour of Jordan late in the awards season. He had recorded key wins at the BAFTA Awards and the Actor Awards in the months leading to the Oscars. This was Jordan’s first nomination in the Best Actor category and his first win.

Coogler’s period horror film features Jordan in a double role as identical twins Smoke and Stack. The story follows the siblings who return to their home in Mississippi to set up a juke joint. The twins confront overt racism and later face a more complex threat from rampaging vampires.

Jordan delivers two distinct performances as the twin brothers. The characters navigate moral questions related to justice and redemption that form the core of Coogler’s screenplay.

Sinners also won three additional awards at the ceremony, including for original screenplay.

Jordan first gained major attention through Coogler’s 2013 film Fruitvale Station. The film told the story of a young Black man killed by a white police officer and gave the actor wider recognition after earlier roles in film and television.

Jordan later received praise for playing boxer Donnie Creed in Creed and for his role in Marvel’s Black Panther.