THE ODYSSEY (2026): Anne Hathaway’s Path to the Oscars – Should She Go for Lead or Supporting Actress?

Anne Hathaway’s Road to the Right Category at the Oscars

Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway is going to be nominated for an Oscar for her work in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey but figuring out which category she will be nominated in has posed a challenge.

Anne Hathaway delivered a performance for the record books in The Odyssey, but in which category should she claim her prize? It would be easy to dismiss her minimal screen time and simply declare Best Supporting Actress, but history has shown that great performances such as Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs or Geoffrey Rush for Shine often find themselves in the leading category rather than the supporting one.

Of course, the biggest debate is just how long Hathaway’s performance was in contrast to the length of the entire film. Hopkins was said to have only 16 minutes of actual screen time in his winning performance while Rush had about 31. Hathaway may fall closer to Hopkins in terms of her overall time appearing in The Odyssey, but boy did she deliver in those minutes in which she appeared in the film.

It is clear that Samantha Morton is a formidable candidate for a nomination for Best Supporting Actress this year. She definitely seemed to have less time than Hathaway so if Hathaway were to compete against Morton, the trophy would likely go to Hathaway.

The Academy put their foot down last year when Chase Infiniti was submitted for lead actress for One Battle After Another and they chose to not even nominate her in the supporting category for that poor studio push in the wrong category. Infiniti was rumored to have only about a half hour of screen time in a film that ran two hours longer than her time in the movie.

If the Academy puts their foot down this year, it will put Morton at a disadvantage to win. Of course, great short performances from established actresses like Hathaway could go either way. Infiniti was a new actress so that also worked to her disadvantage last year. Kate Winslet was nominated for The Reader by the Academy in the category of Best Actress years back and won in that category despite only having 40 minutes or so of screen time in a rougly two hour film.

Today, though, it’s a whole new Academy. They don’t play games these days. However, a great performance is a great performance, regardless, and Hathaway’s work is of the highest caliber this year. That and the fact she gave a fearless lead performance in Mother Mary could boost her chances in the leading category. However, the final result could lead to a loss for Morton and another win for Hathaway if the Academy chooses to go the Best Supporting Actress route with Hathaway.

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