Anne Hathaway will campaign for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, ending months of speculation over where Universal would place her. The decision arrives during an unusually busy year for Hathaway, whose 2026 slate has kept her firmly within the awards conversation.

But it was The Odyssey that created the more specific question: whether her performance belonged in lead or supporting. The campaign has finally found its category, after arduous awards-season debates over exactly where Hathaway’s Penelope belonged.

Universal will campaign Anne Hathaway in Supporting Actress, putting her in the same category as her The Odyssey co-star Samantha Morton, who plays Circe, as per Variety. Matt Damon, meanwhile, is being positioned in Lead Actor for his performance as Odysseus. The placement settles a conversation that had been building since before The Odyssey reached theaters.

Variety has presented an answer to its own previous report that Hathaway’s campaign could go either way, with the studio weighing whether Penelope’s importance to the story justified a Lead Actress push or whether Supporting Actress offered the more natural placement. The discussion was particularly notable given Hathaway’s previous Oscar history: she won Supporting Actress for Les Misérables in 2013. 

While the film itself has generated substantial awards attention following its release, with Oscar voters responding positively at early Academy screenings, Hathaway's performance subsequently became one of the film’s major acting talking points.

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Behind the campaign is a Penelope who spends much of the epic separated from Odysseus, yet remains central to what his journey ultimately means.

As has been established, Anne Hathaway plays Penelope, the wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus, with the film dividing its narrative between Odysseus’ voyage and the family he leaves behind on Ithaca. Penelope’s story consequently unfolds against the pressure of Odysseus’ absence.

She must contend with the suitors occupying her home while raising a son who has grown up without his father. All of this creates a family dynamic that exists alongside the film’s enormous mythological adventure.

Hathaway’s performance has drawn particular attention from critics. Her character has been described to have a held a rich character arc to perhaps being the film’s strongest, while some have argued that Christopher Nolan’s treatment of Penelope differs considerably from Homer’s formidable original character.

A number of reviews have similarly singled Hathaway out amid the sprawling ensemble. With Universal now placing Hathaway in Supporting Actress, the months-long category conversation has reached its conclusion. What remains is the considerably longer journey from Penelope’s Ithacan waiting game to Oscar nomination morning.

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Do you think Anne Hathaway should be running for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars for her performance as Penelope? Let us know in the comments!