It’s finally that time of year. On Thursday, January 23, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will unveil the nominations for the 98th Academy Awards. The nominations will be read live by Danielle Brooks (Oscar nominee for The Color Purple) and Lewis Pullman. To prepare for the big day, Team Contending gathers around the Water Cooler to dish on their 2026 Oscar nomination predictions in all 24 categories. We’ll be finalizing our predictions on the site by end of day Tuesday!

Be sure to stay with The Contending all week as we cover the 2026 Oscar nominations!

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Seasoned character actor Saul Rubinek’s incredibly diverse resume boasts collaborations with some of cinema’s greatest filmmakers. He worked with Oliver Stone on Wall Street and Nixon. He co-starred in Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning masterpiece Unforgiven. He was also featured in Tony Scott’s True Romance, based on a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino. His career also boasts memorable turns on such long-standing television series as Frasier, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Lost, Hunters, and most recently Peacock’s The Copenhagen Test.

Created by Thomas Brandon, The Copenhagen Test stars Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and Melissa Barrera (Scream). Liu plays Alexander Hale, an intelligence agent whose brain is hacked which allows access to everything he sees and hears. Rubinek’s Victor Simonek, a former intelligence analyst who now runs a restaurant, mentors Alexander, but is there more to their partnership?

Rubinek joined the series thanks to a lifetime of adoration for the spy thriller novels of Ian Fleming or, later, John le Carré. Rubinek considers showrunner Brandon’s work a descendant of the storytelling-focused spy novels he loved.

“This piece, when I read it, I realized, ‘Oh my god, this is a grandchild of that world!’ This writer knows it and is not talking down to the audience. It is complex, interesting, and propulsive,” Rubinek explained. “The real metaphor here that Thomas Brandon is using is creating a situation that poetically, entertainingly, and very excitingly creates a situation where the ends and the means are put right up against each other. Especially on an immigrant kid who needs maybe more than anybody else to prove his loyalty to the country that has stopped giving his parents safety.”

Here, in a podcast interview with The Contending, Saul Rubinek talks about much from his extensive career within theater, film, and television. He praises The Copenhagen Test show runners Thomas Brandon and Jennifer Yale for their ability to create an atmosphere of safety. He marvels at their ability to create a set that sponsored artistic freedom and risk-taking. He also calls series star Liu a “generous leader” who deeply understands the mutual support system between star and supporting cast required to create something great.

Rubinek also shares several stories from his personal life, many of which he describes in his new book All in the Telling: a somewhat true story, which is now available on Amazon. He dives into his incredible past, including his introduction into theater in his Canadian childhood. He also shares perspectives on his recent critically acclaimed performance as “Saul Rubinek” (or a variation of himself) in the recent off-Broadway play Playing Shylock. Rubinek will soon re-stage this performance in Montreal.

Rubinek is a gifted character actor whose performances grace many of film and television’s best creations. But, most importantly, Rubinek is a gifted storyteller with a great deal to share.

Click here to listen to the full podcast with The Copenhagen Test co-star Saul Rubinek!

The Copenhagen Test streams exclusively on Peacock.

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The post ‘The Copenhagen Test:’ Saul Rubinek On What Led Him To Peacock’s Acclaimed Thriller appeared first on The Contending.

One Battle After Another and Hamnet took home the big Best Picture wins at the 2026 Golden Globe Awards. On this week’s podcast, we review the ceremony and host Nikki Glaser, its winners, and the best / worst moments of the evening. Plus, following last night’s actress wins, how does the 2026 Oscar Actress landscape change? Is Teyana Taylor the de facto frontrunner? Is Jessie Buckley unstoppable? Will Rose Byrne’s acclaimed performance in the challenging If I Had Legs I’d Kick You finally bring the actress Oscar attention? We tackle these questions and more as we dive into the 2026 Oscar Actress races.

We close our podcast with a Flash Forward to the media we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week.

We’re deeply appreciative for your shares, likes, and positive ratings on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Click here to listen! Our video podcast follows below!

Podcast Music:
Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Here We Go! by cinematic alex
https://tunetank.com/track/802-here-we-go/

The post 2026 Golden Globes & Analyzing the 2026 Oscar Actress Races [VIDEO] appeared first on The Contending.