Conan O’Brien will host the Oscars again in 2026, but he could also be at the ceremony as a nominee, thanks to his supporting role in a buzzy new A24 movie. At the 2025 ceremony, O’Brien proved to be the best Oscars host in years. He undercut the usual self-seriousness of the event with his signature brand of silliness, bringing out a sandworm from Dune to play the harp and bringing out a heroic L.A. fire chief to mock the box office failure of Joker: Folie à Deux.
After O’Brien’s biting jokes about Drake, Karla Sofía Gascón’s tweets, and The Brutalist’s taxing runtime, there were immediate calls for him to return as host next year. Conan is not the first Oscars host to present the show more than once; Billy Crystal has hosted the Oscars nine times, while Bob Hope hosted it a whopping 19 times. But despite Conan’s confirmed comeback in next year’s Oscars, there’s a chance he’ll also be at the ceremony as a nominee.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You Could Be Conan’s Second Ticket To The 2026 Oscars
Conan’s A24 Movie Is Getting A Lot Of Buzz
Conan stars alongside Rose Byrne in the upcoming A24 movie If I Had Legs I’d Kick You by writer-director Mary Bronstein. Byrne stars as a woman whose life is crashing down around her. Conan plays her curmudgeonly therapist, with whom she shares a hostile relationship. The movie recently If I Had Legd I’d Kick You premiered at Sundance to rave reviews — scoring a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 93% — and Conan’s performance is getting singled out for praise. It’s too soon to tell if that praise will lead to a Best Supporting Actor nomination at next year’s Oscars, but it looks promising.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You also features Danielle Macdonald, ASAP Rocky, and Christian Slater in supporting roles.
The Academy has been giving a lot of love to A24 in recent years, and O’Brien is in their good graces after hosting a great show this year. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You doesn’t have a general release date yet — it’s still making the rounds on the festival circuit — but it’s certainly not inconceivable that it could enter the Oscars race in 2026. It could be a major contender; Byrne could be in the running for Best Actress and Bronstein could be in the running for Best Original Screenplay.
O’Brien has had acting roles before, but there’s always been a broad comedic bent to those characters, like the Riddler in The Lego Batman Movie and Andy Warhol in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. This is Conan’s first straight dramatic acting role, and by all accounts, he nails it. The Academy loves when a comedian plays against type with a dramatic performance; his potential nomination would follow in the tradition of Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me? and Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting.
What To Expect From Conan O’Brien’s Return The Oscars In 2026
O’Brien Will Host The Oscars A Second Time
Since O’Brien was widely praised for his performance as 2025’s Oscars host, it’s not surprising that he will return next year. Interestingly, Nikki Glaser, who was similarly praised for hosting the Golden Globes this year, was recently confirmed to be returning as the host next year as well. Considering that Jimmy Kimmel recently hosted the Oscars three times (two consecutive), there was a precedent for Conan to return in 2026. Before the announcement, Conan was asked about his potential return at the 2026 Oscars and said “It’s up to the Academy.”
“The only reason I’m hosting the Oscars next year is that I want to hear Adrien Brody finish his speech.”
He said that he had “a really good time” hosting the Oscars and that it was a “fun gig,” suggesting that he was open to doing it again. After the confirmation, Conan O’Brien joked about only accepting to host the Oscars in 2026 so he could hear Adrian Brody finish his speech, referencing the actor’s record-breaking acceptance speech for Best Actor. In one of the latest episodes of his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend, O’Brien welcomed his head writer, Mike Sweeney, and did a recap of the Oscars.
Conan Hosting The Oscars While Being A Nominee Would Be Oscars History
It Has Only Happened Twice
If Conan hosts the 2026 Oscars while being nominated for Best Supporting Actor, it wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened, although it is very rare. In 2011, James Franco co-hosted the Oscars while he was nominated for Best Actor for 127 Hours. In 2013, Seth MacFarlane hosted the Oscars while he was nominated for Best Original Song for Ted. This, of course, doesn’t include, the presenters for each category, which usually includes nominees from other categories. The Oscars have been hosted by nominees before, but it’s not common.
