Teyana Taylor’s Oscar Nomination Reflects a Journey of Faith, Patience, and Preparation

Jan 23

On the heels of her Golden Globe win, One Battle After Another star Teyana Taylor scored her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.

By EEW Magazine Online Entertainment Editors

Christopher Polk/2026GG/Penske Media via Getty Images

When actress and creative force Teyana Taylor learned she had earned her first Academy Award nomination, her response was not framed in surprise, but in praise to God.

“The wait was not punishment, it was preparation for what was already written,” Taylor said in a recent interview on Good Morning America. “And I give all glory to God because that little girl from Harlem, at a very young age, she’s always been a prayer. She’s always had prayer warriors. She’s always had a great support system.”

Taylor is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Perfidia Beverly Hills in the 2026 film One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The nomination marks a significant milestone in a career that has unfolded across music, fashion, choreography, directing, and acting, often outside the conventional awards spotlight.

One Battle After Another stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson, a retired revolutionary forced back into action to protect his teenage daughter, Willa, from a former adversary. The antagonist, Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw, is portrayed as a white supremacist fixated on reclaiming the past and reviving a secretive extremist network.

Taylor’s character, Perfidia, is Willa’s mother and a central emotional force in the story. She is not simply a figure from Ferguson’s past, but a woman whose choices and convictions shape the film’s exploration of legacy, consequence, and inheritance.

The narrative traces Ferguson’s former involvement with a radical collective known as the French 75, while Perfidia represents the personal cost of those ideological battles and the lasting impact on the next generation.

Industry observers have pointed to Taylor’s performance as a grounding presence in the film, offering emotional clarity and restraint within Anderson’s expansive storytelling. Her portrayal avoids spectacle, instead anchoring the film’s larger themes in lived experience and moral tension.

Taylor’s nomination follows a season of growing critical momentum. In her Golden Globe acceptance speech earlier this year, she opened by thanking God.

“First, Father God, in the name of Jesus, I thank you and I praise you for every part of this faith walk,” she said. “Every lesson, every test and every blessing.”

That language is not new for Taylor. Throughout her career, she has spoken openly about prayer, patience, and spiritual grounding, even during periods when professional recognition lagged behind her talent and output.

In reflecting on her Oscar nomination, Taylor returned to that theme of endurance.

“That little girl never gave up,” she said. “She stayed patient, and she waited her turn, and here we are now.”

Awards season often celebrates stories of rapid ascent. Taylor’s journey reflects something different: a career shaped by steady work, creative risk, and preparation that unfolded largely out of public view.

For EEW Magazine readers, the moment serves as both inspiration and reminder. Prayer and professional excellence are not competing values. Faith does not replace discipline. It sustains it.

The 35-year-old multi hyphenate has also managed to earn a Grammy nomination for her visual album, Escape Room, released last year.

In an interview with Hollywood Reporter she said, “The fact that everything is happening at once — being nominated for a Grammy for my album, and nominated for an Oscar for acting, and winning a Golden Globe, it just is a testament of really standing 10 toes down on your dreams.”

As One Battle After Another continues its awards run, Taylor’s nomination stands as both an artistic achievement and a personal testimony. The recognition did not redefine her story. It confirmed it.

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