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Universal Pictures will campaign Anne Hathaway in the supporting actress category for her turn as Penelope in Christopher Nolan’s billion-dollar sensation “The Odyssey,” Variety has learned
exclusively.
The decision puts one of the season’s marquee names near the top of the supporting actress conversation, settling a question awards watchers have debated since the film opened: not whether Hathaway would contend but where. It also positions Matt Damon, who plays Odysseus, as the film’s lone above-the-title lead in the acting races and pairs Hathaway with her co-star Samantha Morton, whose Circe has drawn some of the film’s strongest notices.
With Hathaway in supporting, Universal will have a shot at the most common double-acting nomination in Academy history: two supporting actress nominees from the same film. It has happened more often than any other two-nominee combination in the acting categories. The downside is obvious — Hathaway and Morton (a two-time Oscar nominee for “In America” and “Sweet and Lowdown”) would be competing against each other — but a film of this size gives the studio plenty of reason to try.
Hathaway won the supporting actress Oscar in 2013 for her performance as Fantine in the movie musical “Les Misérables.” The Academy has a history of rewarding established favorites in major prestige films, and “The Odyssey” certainly fits that mold. Nolan’s first film since “Oppenheimer,” which won best picture and best director, has crossed $1.6 billion worldwide, making it a major player in Universal’s best picture campaign.
The supporting actress placement also puts Hathaway in a category that, at least this early in the season, looks less crowded than the lead actress race. That field has been gaining momentum around Oscar winner Julianne Moore (“Still Alice”), whose film “The Debut” made a splash at Telluride and continued its run at TIFF.
The season has some intriguing history if it breaks Hathaway’s way.
If both Moore and Hathaway were to win — giving each her second Academy Award on the same night — they would be the first pair of women to do so since 1995. That year, Jessica Lange won lead actress for “Blue Sky,” her second Oscar after “Tootsie,” while Dianne Wiest won supporting actress for “Bullets Over Broadway,” her second after “Hannah and Her Sisters.” No ceremony in the three decades since has seen two women each win a second acting Oscar.
Assuming victory, Hathaway would also become only the third woman to win supporting actress twice, joining Wiest and Shelley Winters. Wiest won for “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986) and “Bullets Over Broadway” (1994), while Winters won for “The Diary of Anne Frank” (1959) and “A Patch of Blue” (1965). If “The Odyssey” lands a best picture nomination, Hathaway would be the first woman to win supporting actress twice for films that were both nominated for best picture.
The Penelope role also caps a huge year for Hathaway. She opened 2026 as the pop star at the center of A24’s “Mother Mary,” which underperformed at the box office but earned her warm notices. She then returned as Andy Sachs opposite Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt in “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” which has grossed $691 million worldwide. After “The Odyssey” came Warner Bros.’ 1982-set creature adventure “The End of Oak Street,” in which Hathaway plays suburban mother Denise Platt. And still ahead is one of her biggest swings of the year as the title role in Michael Showalter’s “Verity,” the Colleen Hoover thriller opposite Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett, which opens Oct. 2. Hathaway also serves as a producer.
Universal is positioning “The Odyssey” for a massive Oscar nomination morning. Beyond the obvious technical blitz, with the epic seeking recognition in every available artisan category — including original song for the Travis Scott-penned track — the film is also looking for multiple acting nominations. Damon is the push in lead actor, while Hathaway and Morton are competing in supporting actress. The film could also land one or two supporting actor bids, with veterans John Leguizamo and Robert Pattinson in the mix. Pattinson, like Hathaway, is having a particularly busy year, with four films that also include “Primetime,” “The Drama” and “Dune: Part Three,” the latter two of which also star “The Odyssey” castmate Zendaya.
Notably, only four films in Oscar history have landed double-acting nominations across two categories in the same year: “All About Eve” (1950), with Anne Baxter and Bette Davis in best actress and Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter in supporting actress; “Peyton Place” (1957), with Arthur Kennedy and Russ Tamblyn in supporting actor and Hope Lange and Diane Varsi in supporting actress; “The Last Picture Show” (1971), with Jeff Bridges and winner Ben Johnson in supporting actor and Ellen Burstyn and winner Cloris Leachman in supporting actress; and “Terms of Endearment” (1983), with winner Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger in actress and John Lithgow and winner Jack Nicholson in supporting actor.
In an awards race still taking shape, Hathaway gives Universal a recognizable contender with a previous Oscar win, a clear path to building a campaign around one of the year’s biggest films.
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