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With just days to go before the 98th Academy Awards, we’re looking at a historic Latino harvest. More than an isolated moment, it’s the confirmation of a shift that has been building for years.
For decades, the Oscars meant a handful of Latino names scattered across the nominations—and 2026 changed that narrative. Latino talent left the margins and moved to the center, competing for the biggest prizes and driving some of the year’s most ambitious productions.
In the Race for the Major Awards
Wagner Moura (Brazil) — Best Actor | The Secret Agent
Picture Wagner Moura on the rooftop of Variety’s Los Angeles offices, looking toward the horizon and saying with genuine amazement, “I can see my house from here.” That mix of humility and full presence says everything about the man.
Moura is a journalist by training but claimed by acting. He started in theater before moving to the screen, became a global name through Narcos on Netflix in 2015, and a decade later returns to his mother tongue, Portuguese, with his part at The Secret Agent, a political thriller set during Brazil’s 1977 military dictatorship, delivering what critics call his masterpiece.
The results speak for themselves: Best Actor at Cannes 2025, Golden Globe, and New York Film Critics Circle. And now, an Oscar nomination that makes him the first Brazilian man ever nominated for Best Actor.
Benicio del Toro (Puerto Rico) — Best Supporting Actor | One Battle After Another
There’s talent that earns nominations, and there’s talent that becomes part of the narrative itself. Benicio del Toro is the latter.
The Puerto Rican actor arrives with his third nomination for Best Supporting Actor, a category he won for Traffic (2001). His nod this year for One Battle After Another cements his place as one of the most important Latino actors in Oscar history.
The Power Behind the Camera
Guillermo del Toro (Mexico) — Best Picture & Best Adapted Screenplay | Frankenstein
For Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein was a reckoning not with critics but with himself. This project—dreamed by the Guadalajara-born filmmaker for over two decades, built on practical sets, and deliberately kept away from overwhelming CGI—earned him nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Del Toro is the most nominated Latino producer in the history of the Academy Awards. His version of Frankenstein didn’t earn him a Best Director nomination, an omission that stirred plenty of conversation, but it did collect nine nominations and a near-unanimous verdict: a gothic masterpiece and the most personal film of his career.
Florencia Martín (Argentina) — Best Production Design | One Battle After Another
After her first Oscar nomination for Babylon in 2023, the Argentine designer returns with one of the season’s boldest bets: One Battle After Another. Two-plus years of pre-production, a full survey of California locations, and sets built from scratch gave this film its defining visual identity and make her a serious contender.
The Forces of Animation
Yvett Merino (Mexican American) — Best Animated Feature | Zootopia 2
The woman who arrived at Disney three decades ago as a temp became the first Latina to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature (Encanto, 2022). In 2026, Yvett Merino returns in the same category as producer of Zootopia 2, the second highest-grossing animated film in history.
“The door opened a little,” she said after winning for Encanto. “And I feel it’s my job to keep it open.”
Adrian Molina (Mexican American) — Best Animated Feature | Elio
Adrian Molina—the codirector of Coco, the film that brought Mexican culture to the center of the world’s attention—originally conceived Elio as an autobiographical story about identity and belonging. In 2024, he left the project after pressure to remove elements of queer representation. He retains his director credit for the weight of his contribution to the film.
The Architects of Sound and Image
José Antonio García (Mexico) earns his third Oscar nomination for Best Sound for One Battle After Another, following Argo and Roma. Felipe Pacheco (Costa Rica) becomes the first Costa Rican ever nominated for an Oscar, on the sound team of Sinners—the most nominated film in Academy history. Adolpho Veloso (Brazil) rounds out the list with a Best Cinematography nomination for Train Dreams.
In animation, Mexican coproducer Nidia Santiago adds her name for Little Amélie or the Character of Rain. And Colombian American photographer Juan Arredondo competes for Best Documentary Short for Armed Only with a Camera, a chronicle of the first American journalist killed in the Russia-Ukraine war.
What All of This Means
From Mexico to Brazil, Puerto Rico to Colombia, Costa Rica to Argentina: This is how the geography of Latino cinema in Hollywood is being redrawn. Not as occasional visitor but as permanent architects.
On March 15, the Dolby Theatre will reveal how many statuettes carry their names, their flags, and their identity.
The 98th Academy Awards takes place Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. ET on ABC and Hulu.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI.
