Academy Awards Best Actress Latest Odds and Betting Preview

With One Battle After Another and Bugonia already out in cinemas, Wicked: For Good hitting the big screen later this month, and Christmas just around the corner, the 2026 awards season is well and truly underway.

All of these movies will be vying to take home Oscars at the 98th Academy Awards in March 2026, and one of the most hotly contested will be Best Actress.

In this Best Actress 2026 odds and betting guide, we take a look at how top UK bookmakers think this year’s race is likely to play out and offer our own thoughts and tips.

Current Best Actress 2026 odds

Let’s take a closer look at the current frontrunners for Best Actress 2026 with the latest odds from Betfred.

• Jessie Buckley  (Hamnet) - 7/2
• Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value) - 3/1
• Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You) - 3/1
• Cynthia Erivo (Wicked: For Good) 8/1
• Emma Stone (Bugonia) 10/1
• Amanda Seyfried (The Testament of Ann Lee) 10/1
• Jennifer Lawrence (Die, My Love) 10/1

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Who are the favourites to win Best Actress at the 2026 Academy Awards?

While the Best Actor race looks set to be a tense showdown between Timothee Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio, the Best Actress race looks slightly more clear-cut at the moment. Irish star Jessie Buckley currently tops the odds with Betfred at 2/7 for her performance in Hamnet.

Jessie Buckley

Buckley has been one of Hollywood’s fastest-rising stars in recent years, earning a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her performance in The Lost Daughter and receiving plaudits for her roles in Men, Women Talking, and I’m Thinking of Ending Things.

Hamnet is going to be a serious contender during this year’s awards season. Buckley looks like the most likely to score a big win for the film on the night, but there is a chance it upsets One Battle After Another for Best Picture.

Renate Reinsve

Renate Reinsve has slowly climbed up the odds for her performance in Sentimental Value. The Norwegian actress missed out on a nomination for her role in The Worst Person in the World in 2021, and the Academy are likely to make amends for that here. Whether she can topple Buckley, though, remains to be seen. She is at 3/1.

Rose Byrne

A name that has emerged out of the blue is Rose Byrne. Her lead performance in Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You has built momentum in the last month, and she could be well-positioned to gatecrash the party. At 4/1 with Betfred, she is worth monitoring.

Cynthia Erivo & Emma Stone

The rest of the Best Actress line-up is likely to be filled by Cynthia Erivo and Emma Stone. Erivo’s Wicked: For Good is still one of the big unknowns of the awards season, but if the first movie is anything to go by, you can expect it to be a big name on the night.

Stone will look to secure a second win for a collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos after her 2023 win for Poor Things. However, Bugonia has not quite captured the imagination of audiences and critics in the same way, and she is likely to have to settle for a nomination on the night. She is available at 10/1, with Erivo at 8/1.

When are the Academy Awards 2026?

The 98th annual Academy Awards are set to take place on March 15th. The show will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, with Conan O’Brien to host the show for the first time.

The nominations for the ceremony will be announced on January 22nd. The Best Actress field allows up to five nominees.