At a glittering nominees luncheon in Los Angeles, Ethan Hawke shared a surprisingly playful take on awards season. Rather than embracing rivalry, he hinted at a far more collaborative spirit among this year’s contenders. His unexpected idea subtly reshaped how the Best Actor race could be viewed.

Ethan Hawke revealed at the Oscars Nominees Luncheon that he wants to form a boy band with his fellow Best Actor contenders.

“If we started a boy band, it’d be good,” he told Entertainment Tonight, pitching the idea with playful confidence while praising the strength of the category and transforming awards rivalry into an unexpected moment of camaraderie.

Hawke shares the 2026 Best Actor category with Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme, Leonardo DiCaprio for One Battle After Another, Michael B. Jordan for Sinners, and Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent, a lineup he discussed during his conversation with Entertainment Tonight.

The five nominees were honored together at the 98th Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon, where the annual gathering spotlighted this year’s leading contenders ahead of the ceremony.

While the lineup reads like a cinematic supergroup, his own role carries deeply personal weight.

Ethan Hawke honored for powerful turn as Lorenz Hart

Ethan Hawke is nominated for Best Actor for portraying real-life lyricist Lorenz Hart in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon. The film captures Hart during the opening night of Oklahoma! as he reflects on his partnership with Richard Rodgers and his complicated legacy.

This nomination is especially significant because Hawke has never won an Oscar despite four previous nominations. With nods for Training Day, Boyhood, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight, this marks his first-ever recognition in the Best Actor category.

What are your thoughts on Ethan Hawke’s Oscars boy band vision? Let us know in the comments.

Written by

Shraddha Priyadarshi

Edited by

Aliza Siddiqui