After receiving her first Academy Award nomination for her role in “One Battle After Another,” Teyana Taylor is “emotional” and “humbled.”
The 35-year-old actress and singer was among the nominees for the 2026 Academy Awards announced this week, earning a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her portrayal of Perfedia Beverly Hills in the Paul Thomas Anderson film. She marked the milestone with an emotional Instagram post that included footage of the moment she learned she had been nominated.
“OMGGGG!!!! This lil harlem girl had a big dream & now she is an @theacademy Award nominee,” she wrote in the caption.
In the video, set to the R&B singer’s hit song which interpolates Marvin Sapp hit, “Never Would Have Made It,” Taylor, dressed in a deep red kaftan with a patterned silk scarf tied around her hair, sits on a white couch with a group of loved ones gathered in anticipation. The moment takes place in a bright living room overlooking her native New York City through floor-to-ceiling windows.
When her name was called, she and the group erupted in excitement, jumping up together as they clapped, cheered, cried, and yelled. The video then cut to the “Gonna Love Me” singer calling her mother, still visibly stunned as she laughed and joked, “Ma, you gots to calm down.” In another clip, she prays with someone on the phone who thanks God for the moment and for making it possible.
“I am so deeply emotional, so humbled, and so grateful for every person who has walked this road with me. My village, My prayer warriors,” the actress wrote. “My career has been filled with battles, doubts, and moments of deep uncertainty. It has felt like one long fight for space, for respect, and for opportunity.”
She continued, “But these moments feels like a gentle reminder that dreams really do survive… even when the journey is hard. This feels like a soft, beautiful ‘yes’ from the universe.”
“And as I always say… the weight/wait was not punishment, it was preparation for what was already written,” she added, before thanking her “One Battle After Another” family, including co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infiniti, Regina Hall, and director Paul Thomas Anderson.
“I am emotional. I am humbled. My heart is full. My life is forever changed, and I give all glory to God,” she concluded.
Taylor’s Oscar nomination arrives during a buzzy award season that has already brought major wins for the star. Earlier this month, she took home her first Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the film that follows a former revolutionary who is thrust back into the world he left behind when old dangers resurface to threaten him and his daughter.
It’s also capping a multi-hyphenate career that has been building for nearly two decades. She first caught mainstream attention as a teenager on MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16,” before steadily carving out space for herself as a creative force.
Her acclaimed starring role in 2023’s “A Thousand and One” marked a turning point for her career, and she has since continued stacking major projects, including Hulu’s “All’s Fair,” “The Book of Clarence,” Netflix’s buzzy “Straw,” and Netflix’s new film “The Rip,” which recently dropped on the platform.
Next, in addition to hosting “Saturday Night Live” on Jan. 24, the star is set to portray music legend Dionne Warwick in an upcoming biopic.
Over the years, Taylor has managed to move between music, fashion, and Hollywood. In 2025, she made headlines as a host for the Met Gala and released her album “Escape Room,” all while balancing life offstage, including enrolling in culinary school and raising the two daughters she shares with her ex, former NBA player Iman Shumpert: Iman “Junie” Tayla Shumpert Jr., 10, and Rue Rose Shumpert, 5.
