Jessie Buckley officially took home the Best Actress trophy for her role in “Hamnet” at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday night, making history as the first Irish woman to win the category. Her victory capped a dominant 2026 awards season sweep, turning the Dolby Theater’s ground-floor bar into a stress-free haven for her fellow nominees who treated the widely predicted outcome as a foregone conclusion.
The backstage atmosphere stood in stark contrast to the usual tension of Hollywood’s biggest night. With Buckley universally expected to win after securing the SAG, BAFTA, Critics Choice, and Golden Globe awards earlier this year, rival nominees spent the evening socializing rather than agonizing over the envelope reveal. Despite heightened Oscars 2026 security protocols outside the venue, the lobby transformed into a free-flowing hub for industry gossip.
Two-time Oscar winner Emma Stone, nominated this year for playing a kidnapped pharmaceutical CEO in Yorgos Lanthimos’s conspiracy thriller “Bugonia,” spent much of the ceremony happily chatting with friends in the exclusive bar area. Stone famously told AFP during the telecast, “The bar is the place!”
Stone’s nomination marked her seventh career Oscar nod. At 37 years old, she made history as the youngest woman to ever accumulate seven nominations, breaking a long-standing record previously held by Meryl Streep.
The 2026 Best Actress field was rounded out by Rose Byrne for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Kate Hudson for “Song Sung Blue,” and Renate Reinsve for “Sentimental Value.” With the race effectively locked for months, the pressure was noticeably absent from the group as the telecast continued in the adjoining theater.
When her name was inevitably called, Buckley delivered an emotional acceptance speech on the Dolby stage. She dedicated the award to the “beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart,” noting that the Sunday ceremony coincided with Mother’s Day in the UK. Buckley also referenced her eight-month-old daughter, whom she became pregnant with shortly after wrapping production on “Hamnet.”