See the complete Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners list. Timothée Chalamet, Jessie Buckley, Jacob Elordi & top film and TV performances honored.
If you caught the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards 2026 on January 4, you saw that the atmosphere at the Barker Hangar was not just about bright lights and glamour. For the fourth year in a row, the night was hosted by Chelsea Handler and it seemed less like a celebratory back slap and more like a nod to hard work.
Whether it was 12-hour makeup sessions or five-minute television episodes, the winners this year didn’t only act, they suffered. The message from the Critics Choice Association (CCA) was loud and clear: in 2026, the line between technical risk and extraordinary physical commitment is where the industry’s attention lies.
(Best Actor Winner)
The weepy Timothée Chalamet as Brooding Heartthrob, Desert Messiah in Dune is not who Marty Supreme is at all, he’s fully reimagined himself. Chalamet Won Best Actor for portraying a 1950s ping-pong wunderkind based on the real life Marty Reisman.
But this was about more than whacking a ball back and forth. He was described as having a “singularly enervating intensity”. Marty was not a sportsman, but a hustler—a guy who could talk some unbeatable nonsense, who could pair swagger with geeky glasses, and who was so engulfed in his need to win that he was willing to try anything. It was a kinetic, fizzy, electrified turn, the kind that reassures you he can fill a film with their souls alone, and in pure physical comedy.
(Best Actress Winner)
If Chalamet delivered the energy, Jessie Buckley delivered the tears. Taking home Best Actress for her portrayal of Agnes (Shakespeare’s wife) in Hamnet, Buckley gave what could be the most gut-wrenching performance of the year.
The storyline deals with the loss of her child, Hamnet, and the sorrows that led to Hamlet. Buckley’s performance was said to be “a privilege to watch.” She never merely portrayed a historical figure; she captured the raw, earth-shattering agony of a mother fighting to keep her life intact. It was a quiet, powerful turn that stood out against flashier roles, proving that sometimes the loudest emotions are the ones spoken in whispers.
(Best Supporting Actor Winner)
Jacob Elordi is now officially more than just a teen heartthrob. Awarded Best Supporting Actor for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Elordi achieved the impossible: he brought us to tears over a monster.1 His role wasn’t about scary make-up or snarling. He reputedly studied Butoh (a Japanese “dance of darkness”) in order to capture the creature’s motions, make such a physicality that was at once a terrifying and sincerely moving figure.
He portrayed the Monster not as a villain, but as an acting soul imprisoned in a grotesque body, one who was turned away from by his maker. It was a “physical” act- ing, in the widest sense — using his back, his shoulders and his eyes as well as his voice.
(Best Supporting Actress Winner)
The lack of appreciation for horror at awards shows makes Amy Madigan’s victory for Best Supporting Actress all the more gratifying. In the surprise hit Weapons as Aunt Gladys, a figure who immediately became a horror icon.
Madigan, a 75-year-old seasoned actress, said she was astonished by the win, she thought people would just “dig” the movie – not fall in love with “terrifying” her character. She teetered between a kooky, eccentric senior citizen and a predatory natural force. To be the most frightening person at the party and be so hypnotically watchable is a rare achievement, and the reviews strongly confirmed that.
We may as well not speak of winners without mentioning the night’s biggest—err, biggest champion? Paul Thomas Anderson won both Best Picture and Best Director for One Battle After Another.
The film is densely plotted, an “exquisitely detailed fantasy” about former revolutionaries meeting to rescue a daughter. It’s political and personal and very, very complex – and well, that’s just what the critics called the masterpiece of resistance and hope. I mean it’s not just the one actor here, it’s a conductor (Anderson) behind the wheel of an orchestra of stellar performers (including Leonardo DiCaprio and Teyana Taylor) who create the best film of the year.
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| Category | Winner | Show | Key Context |
| Best Drama | The Pitt | HBO Max | Medical realism meets pandemic trauma. |
| Best Actor | Noah Wyle | The Pitt | A return to form with “urgent” authenticity. |
| Best Actress | Rhea Seehorn | Pluribus | Sci-Fi nuance; playing a resistor in a hive-mind. |
| Best Limited Series | Adolescence | Netflix | A technical feat of one-shot storytelling. |
Perhaps the most heartening bit from the 31st Critics Choice Awards is that “Genre isn’t a slur anymore.”Horror and Sci-Fi, two genres long neglected at awards time, dominated the discussion.
The 2026 ceremony wasn’t about the speeches (though Noah Wyle’s tribute to healthcare workers was a tear-jerker), it was about the work. The Critics Choice Association took risks in its rewards. They watched Chalamet playing ping-pong half-blind, Elordi starving in a makeup chair, Stephen Graham doing a one-hour monologue in a single take and thought: This is the bar now.
As we head toward the Oscars, one thing is clear: The industry is turning its back on polished perfection and embracing a gritty, sweaty, technically dazzling brand of realism.
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Catch all the drama from Floyd Mayweather vs John Gotti! Explosive rematch updates, fight results, and controversies you won’t believe—read now!
The rematch of Floyd Mayweather vs John Gotti III went without trash talk and aggressive violence like the first match. “We had to put on a show for the people. I want to thank Gotti for being a man of his word”, quoted by Mayweather at the DAZN. There is no comparison between Mayweather, 47 and newly entered Gotti III but still with a 16 minute exhibition create the hell of a show for their fans.
The controversy occurred when Mayweather refused the referee’s warning of “unfair punches” when he said “move”! It led to the fight changing into controversy. If you focus on round 2 in the rematch, the referee has been replaced because Mayweather did not listen to him.
The rematch is continued with the second referee and Mayweather still punching Gotti III hard, but there is no shame for Gotti for defending himself. In the sixth and seven rounds Gotti III adds some shots and hooks to Mayweather but he still throws a smile to his fans.
Floyd Mayweather has a brilliant complex personality who has a diverse personality. But he also flaunts his legacy and wealth, he quotes “I’m not a fighter. I’m a business man.” is critical which triggers most of the controversies with other companions.
The recent controversy of Floyd Mayweather vs John Gotti also happened because of trash talks from both sides.
The social behaviour of Floyd Mayweather is selective. If we saw this as a fan of Floyd, his aggressive personality in the ring is helping him to beat and win. Sharp in business and private in personal matters is also a sign of mixed personality.
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John Gotti III belongs to the criminal family as his grandfather was the biggest mafia. Most people see him as a hero but he has some fearless and bold behaviour towards others. He is ruthless and unpredictable for his rivals, which led to an anti-hero type personality.
As he has criminal background but also shadowing on the medial lights is a sign of both personalities which makes one think that his ring fight goes violent.
The retired Floyd Mayweather has professional experience in boxing meanwhile John Goti III is from the Mixed Martial Arts background and now he has become a professional boxer. The first exhibition fight in June 2023 was held but stopped in the sixth round.
In the sixth round, the referee stopped the fight due to continued use of trash talk and aggressive violence from both sides after the several warnings. Later on, John Gotti III charged at Mayweather because he might feel that fight was unfair.
The first match clips go viral on social media, the buzz about the exhibition is more than a movie trailer. So, the rematch took place between Mayweather and Gotti III. This one goes for the entire eight rounds but there were still moments where the referee has warned them about a dominated fight.
Gotti gave Mayweather a space during the fight and made the 22,000 people at the match unhappy. Gotti takes self defence in the first round and does not put more effort to fight back. Well, it was just an exhibition fight not a scored one but still Mayweather dominated the whole match. In the second round, Referee Hector Afu got out of the ring because Mayweather was consistently hitting Gotti, 31 which might seem as an unfair fight to their fans.
Gotti started to fight back, punching really hard on Mayweather‘s body but that didn’t affect much. Fans got more annoyed when Mayweather started to beat Gotti really hard many times in the sixth & seven rounds.
Gotti got cornered by Mayweather in the last round and still Gotti’s have not put much effort into fighting back. He has just defended himself most of the time during this match.
There were no winners in the Floyd Mayweather vs John Gotti fight because this was an exhibition fight.
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When the first fight went high with chaos in the ring, it looked more like a street fight. Videos of the brawl went viral on the internet, with millions of views in just a few hours. Some fans get annoyed because of this trash talk and extra violence but Mayweather hasn’t confirmed anything. Fans of boxing give their take that the fight is scripted, not real. Is this fight even real or just an attention grabbing plan? These theories added more buzz to this night than it already has.
The first fight of Mayweather vs Gotti was a big buzz all over social media. Creating such hype on tiktok, youtube, and facebook and grabbed a lot of attention for entertainment purposes. All the hype is taking the fight to the next level so the big question is – Is boxing still a sport or become an entertainment? Most of the old fans still like that sport but for the new generation fans, it is just fireworks.
The Floyd Mayweather vs John Gotti III exhibition fight will go down as the most chaotic fight in recent history. They both lifted their ego, emotions, and spectacles above their ranking or title. This fight isn’t about winning in the ring, it’s more likely to show who has more power outside the ring. The rematch went totally biased, an annoying fan reaction said it aloud. There is no winner in this match, only the entertainment.
AI star Tilly Norwood, created by Eline Van der Velden’s Xicoia studio, is drawing major Hollywood talent agencies—reshaping the future of acting.
Meet Tilly Norwood – Hollywood’s First “Fake Real” Star introduced by Dutch comedian-producer Eline van der Velden through her AI studio Xicoia. According to Variety, Norwood “has drawn the interest of several talent agents” after being debuted at industry-targeted Zurich Film Festival summit. Van der Velden informed the Zurich Summit panel that studios – early doubters of AI actors in early 2025 – are now “moving quietly ahead with AI projects,” and that she anticipates an imminent announcement of which agency will have Norwood as their client. And lo and behold, some talent agents are already swooping around her.
Her debut? An all-AI comedy sketch called AI Commissioner — from script to performance, it was all generated. Eline even went on to state that she wishes Tilly to become “the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman.” Daring, isn’t it?
News of Norwood’s agency buzz triggered swift backlash from working actors. Hollywood stars publicly criticised on social media, asking how a computer-generated “actress” would fill the role of actual actors. The Wrap covers –
Actress Melissa Barrera (In the Heights) took to Instagram: “Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$. How gross, read the room.”
Others sarcastically predicted that contracting an AI “actress” would be a PR debacle at best, a catastrophe at worst. The Independent’s report included similar zingers by stars such as White Lotus’s Lukas Gage: “She was a nightmare to work with!!!!”.
Van der Velden compares AI to previous technologies such as animation or CGI – “a new brush, a new paintbrush” – that enhance storytelling without doing away with live performance. She underlines that “nothing – certainly not an AI character – can take away the craft or joy of human performance”.
Overall, some people think that it can jeopardize the real talent of real performance and their careers too but some believe that this is an experimental creative tool of Norwood.
Tilly Norwood’s appearance has fueled controversy for the classic acting roles in the future. Critics caution that if studios or agencies start dealing with AI characters as commodities, human actors may see fewer opportunities, stated by Deadline. The 2023 SAG-AFTRA agreements already contain firm safeguards (negotiated under union pressure) to avoid unapproved AI use of actors’ likenesses. Union officials have maintained that any application of a performer’s digital double needs to be affirmatively approved and paid for. On the agency front, some reps may consider an AI actor to be a publicity stunt worthy of consideration — industry speculation about an agency inking Tilly to garner press attention has been out there – but most agents are cautious.
According to Hollywood Reporter, agencies that try to sign Norwood could destroy confidence: “If your agent does this, drop their a$.” Practically speaking, even if Norwood or other AI talent land the occasional job (commercials, voiceovers, background), big stars will continue to be required for bankable leads, and productions will need to work with union rules.
In the short term, Norwood’s case has placed agencies on notice that AI is a “hot” issue – agents can softly scout for AI talent or ignore the trend, but they risk blowback either way.
The Hollywood studios seem cautiously interested in generative AI. At the Zurich panel, Van der Velden saw a change in studio mindset from skepticism (“this is nothing”) early in 2025 to interest (“we need to do something”) mid-year. Industry analysts point out that studios might view AI tools as means to reduce costs and speed content production (e.g., automating background extras, pre-visualization, or editing). Experts have indicated that AI may allow even smaller studios to “make high-end content at a fraction of the expense,” possibly expanding competition.
The Deadline reports that the web’s leading “digital influencer,” Lu do Magalhães, boasts more than 8 million fans despite being a complete computer simulation. This pairing demonstrates that although mainstream cinema audiences first refuse to accept blatant deepfakes, younger or more computer-literate audiences occasionally accept or indeed prefer artificial celebrities on the web.
As van der Velden contends, if Norwood can provide compelling performances, audiences may be more concerned about story than she is machine. But at least for now, many industry observers believe AI actresses like Tilly will remain curiosities rather than genuine replacements for popular live performers.
Tilly Norwood is only one example of AI’s growing footprint in entertainment. Industry analysts are forecasting that AI tools will become widespread in production pipelines (storyboarding, visual effects, language dubbing, etc.), though leadership in creativity will still be human-driven in the near term. Some believe AI will unleash a deluge of cheap content (offering regulation or curation), while others envision it as fueling indie innovation. What is certain is that Hollywood will incorporate AI increasingly – though cautiously.
As the case of Tilly Norwood shows, studios and tech companies might chase “AI actors” as an experiment, but mass acceptance will depend on how audiences respond and union negotiations. If Norwood is successful at finding employment and garnering eyeballs, it will inspire more AI productions; if she crashes or incites consumer hostility, the market will tap the brakes.
As Variety and others point out, the controversy surrounding Tilly Norwood illustrates broader issues of whether AI is merely “another tool” for directors or a force that might disrupt conventional acting work. The long-term direction will depend on the degree to which Hollywood harmonizes progress with art and labor considerations – and a chapter that continues to be written.
