Amy Madigan Wins Best Supporting Actress Oscar for ‘Weapons’

This is Madigan's first win — and only her second nomination after 1986's "Twice in a Lifetime."

In one of the most suspenseful Best Supporting Actress Oscar races in recent memory, Amy Madigan took home the win for her performance as the child-devouring witch Aunt Gladys in Zach Cregger‘s horror movie “Weapons.”

It’s a significant win not only for Madigan, here with her first nomination since 1986 for “Twice in a Lifetime,” but for the horror genre as well: It’s “Weapons” only nomination, and in a year where “Sinners,” also released by Warner Bros., received the most Oscar nods for any film in history (16).

Madigan is on screen for less than 15 minutes in “Weapons,” but as a garishly styled, wigged-up, pasty Baba Yaga who torments a small town, she makes a potent impression. Madigan’s main competition in this category included Teyana Taylor for “One Battle After Another” (whose only significant precursor award win was at the Golden Globes) and Wunmi Mosaku for “Sinners” (she won the BAFTA award in this category). Madigan was also up against Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (“Sentimental Value”) and Elle Fanning (“Sentimental Value”).

Madigan’s charming speech at the 2026 Actor Awards, presented to her by SAG, and her outspoken support for the rights of the acting community surely went a long way toward securing this win.

Writer/director Cregger previously told IndieWire that Madigan insisted on doing almost all of her own stunts for the film, including in the over-the-top, climactic chase sequence that involved a lot of running and crashing into walls and through windows.

“Gladys is rather eccentric. She wears loud colors, and her makeup is blatantly out there,” Madigan previously told IndieWire. “[Zach Cregger] was overseeing everything and had ideas, of course, but we all tried a lot of different things. We had to make sure that when you saw Gladys, you were like, ‘Whoa.’ If you saw her walking down the street, you would definitely turn around.”

“That Keystone Cops escapade at the end where I run,” she said of the shocking finale scene, “we did that over a series of days. ‘Let’s shoot you blasting through this door in this location,’ and it was fun. And, of course, I had a stunt person. And they said, ‘Well, she’s right here.’ I was 74, I got a bum knee, and whatever else. Too many lines on your face, your neck hangs down, all that shit. The producers were a little nervous about it: ‘Suppose I smacked into something and cut my head open? Suppose I broke something?’ Fair enough. I just looked at Zach, and I said, ‘No, I’m doing it.’”

The 98th Academy Awards took place at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 15, with Conan O’Brien returning as host. The ceremony was broadcast live on ABC starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Check out the full list of winners right here.