Road to the Oscars 2026: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas on her ‘Sentimental Value’ nomination: ‘Kind of absurd’
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as Agnes Borg in ‘Sentimental Value.’ (Kasper Tuxen Andersen)
The 98th annual Oscars are less than a week away. Many of the stars of Sentimental Value are nominated at Sunday’s ceremony, including Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, who plays Agnes Borg in Joachim Trier’s Norwegian film.
Lilleaas, who is nominated for best supporting actress, told ABC Audio “just being in a movie that so many people get to see and enjoy” is what is most special about recognition like this. So is connecting with people about the film during its press tour.
“I think that’s what I’m gonna be taking with me through life,” Lilleaas said. “Getting to meet people after they’ve seen it and hear their thoughts and hear how they’re reacting based on their own lives.”
She continued, “People share a lot of personal stuff, and I appreciate it, because when do you ever get to hear those stories and how similar we are across culture? It’s like, we all have family in one way or another and they seem to work in more or less the same way, despite where we live.”
ABC Audio spoke to Lilleaas before she was Oscar-nominated. She said she was centering the film’s impact and focusing less on what it means to get awarded for her work.
“These awards, it’s something that I’ve seen from afar and it’s never been part of how I work or how I live or what I think is ever attainable or is ever a focus even,” Lilleaas said. “So it’s kind of absurd and a little bit outside of the body. It’s something that’s just somebody’s talking about and that I’m trying not to think about so much.”
The Oscars will take place on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The show will air live on ABC and will also stream live on Hulu.
Will Smith performs live onstage during the ‘Based On A True Story’ Summer Tour at Festhalle Frankfurt on July 18, 2025, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
A former violinist and crew member for Will Smith is suing the actor and rapper, as well as his touring company, for wrongful termination and sexual harassment, claims that Smith’s lawyer is denying.
Brian King Joseph, who toured with Smith in 2025, alleged in a complaint filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court that he was wrongfully terminated and retaliated against after reporting workplace safety hazards.
According to the complaint, Joseph said he reported to Smith and the touring company that someone had “unlawfully” entered his Las Vegas hotel room during the tour and allegedly left a handwritten note, among other items, including wipes, a beer bottle, a red backpack, a bottle of HIV medication bearing another person’s name, an earring and hospital discharge paperwork for someone Joseph did not know.
The note allegedly read, “Brian, I’ll be back no later [sic] 5:30, just us (drawn heart), Stone F,” according to the complaint.
Joseph said he reported the matter to the hotel, a local non-emergency police line and to Smith’s representatives, stating that he was afraid someone was going to return to his hotel room and try to have sex with him.
In the complaint, Joseph said a few days after notifying Smith’s team, he was terminated from his role with the tour and accused of making up the matter; another violinist was hired to replace him on tour.
Joseph also accused Smith in the complaint of allegedly “deliberately grooming and priming [him] for further sexual exploitation,” suggesting “a pattern of predatory behavior.”
Joseph said in the complaint that he experienced PTSD and mental illness because of the termination.
Joseph is seeking a trial and compensatory damages, attorney’s fees and other relief as determined by a jury.
Allen B. Grodsky, an attorney for Smith, pushed back against Joseph’s claims in a statement to ABC News Thursday.
“Mr. Joseph’s allegations concerning my client are false, baseless, and reckless,” Grodsky stated. “They are categorically denied, and we will use all legal means available to address these claims and to ensure that the truth is brought to light.”
Smith went on a global tour last year to support his Based on a True Story album, which was released in March 2025. Smith’s tour stopped in Las Vegas that same month.
Based on a True Story was Smith’s first full-length album in two decades.
Eric Dane attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Columbia Pictures’ ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ at TCL Chinese Theatre on May 30, 2024 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Actor Eric Dane, best known for his starring role in the long-running ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, has died at 53.
Dane revealed in April 2025 that he’d been battling the incurable degenerative neurological disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
“My left side is functioning; my right side has completely stopped working,” Dane told ABC’s Diane Sawyer in June 2025, adding that he was rapidly losing voluntary function in his left arm: “I feel like maybe a couple, few more months and I won’t have my left hand either.”
Born on Nov. 9, 1972, in San Francisco, California, Dane caught the acting bug in high school and made his television debut in a 1991 episode of Saved by the Bell. More roles followed in shows including The Wonder Years, Roseanne, Married… with Children and others. Dane’s profile rose when he was cast in the recurring role of Jason Dean for two seasons of the long-running hit supernatural series Charmed.
But Dane’s breakout role was that of plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Sloan in the ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, which he played for eight seasons beginning in 2006. His character – referred to on the show by female characters as “McSteamy,” because of his good looks – made him a star.
In a 2025 interview with Diane Sawyer, Dane recalled one of his most memorable McSteamy scenes, early on his run on the show, in which he emerged from a steam-filled bathroom, barely clad in a towel. That moment, one of Grey’s Anatomy‘s most talked-about, cemented Dane’s status as a prime time TV heartthrob – yet he had no idea then of the lasting impact it would have.
“In the moment, it was just another scene to me,” he said. “I just remember walking out of a bathroom where a very nice gentleman was kind of blowing smoke towards me.”
Following his character’s departure from the show in 2012, Dane starred as Cmdr. Tom Chandler, the commanding officer of a U.S. Navy destroyer during a deadly global pandemic, in the TNT action drama The Last Ship. Dane played the role for the show’s five-season run, which ended in 2018. The following year, he was cast in the hit HBO drama Euphoria as Cal Jacobs, the closeted father of actor Jacob Elordi’s character, Nate.
Most recently, Dane starred in the 2025 Amazon Prime crime drama Countdown.
In addition to the television work for which he was best known, Dane also enjoyed a film career, with roles in movies including X-Men: The Last Stand, Marley & Me, Burlesque, Dangerous Waters and 2024’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die.
In November 2025, Dane, the progression of his disease apparent, made a guest appearance on the TV drama Brilliant Minds, playing a firefighter with ALS who kept his diagnosis from his family.
Despite his ALS diagnosis, Dane told Diane Sawyer in 2025 that he was “very hopeful” about his future.
“I don’t think this is the end of my story,” he said. “And whether it is or it isn’t, I’m gonna carry that idea with me.”
Dane is survived by two daughters, whom he shares with the actress Rebecca Gayheart.
Gayheart and Dane married in October 2004. Gayheart filed for divorce in 2018 but later requested to dismiss that petition in March 2025, a month before Dane went public with his ALS diagnosis.
In a December 2025 essay for The Cut, Gayheart wrote that she and Dane never got a divorce, describing their relationship as a “familial love.”
“It’s a very complicated relationship, one that’s confusing for people. Our love may not be romantic, but it’s a familial love,” she wrote. “Eric knows that I am always going to want the best for him. That I’m going to do my best to do right by him. And I know he would do the same for me.”
She continued, “So whatever I can do or however I can show up to make this journey better for him or easier for him, I want to do that. And I want to model that for my girls: That’s what you do. That’s the right thing to do.”
Viola Davis attends the Academy Museum 5th annual gala in Partnership with Rolex at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Oct. 18, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. (Emma McIntyre/Oscars/Getty Images for Academy Museum of Motion Pictures)
The NAACP announced Thursday that Viola Davis will be the recipient of the prestigious Chairman’s Award.
She’ll receive the honor at the upcoming 57th NAACP Image Awards, which air live from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Feb. 28.
“The Chairman’s Award honors individuals who excel in public service and leverage their unique platforms to ignite and drive meaningful change,” according to the announcement.
“Viola Davis is a generational talent who has commanded audiences with her powerful and transcending performances,” Leon W. Russell, chair of the NAACP National Board of Directors, said. “Through a career defined by excellence and courage, she has used her platform to work towards opportunity and equity, crafting an undeniable legacy for generations to come. We look forward to celebrating her and the trailblazing path she has created for herself, and others to follow.”
Past award recipients include Kamala Harris, Amanda Gorman, Samuel L. Jackson, the late civil rights activist Rep. John Lewis, Ruby Dee, Danny Glover, Rev. James Lawson, Tyler Perry and then-Sen. Barack Obama.
Davis, who holds EGOT status, is also nominated for an NAACP Image Award for her role in the action-thriller G20.
The public can vote to determine winners in select categories. Voting ends Friday.
