Road to the Oscars 2026: Rose Byrne talks her first Oscar nomination for ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’
Rose Byrne stars in ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.’ (Logan White/A24)
The 98th annual Oscars are less than a week away. Rose Byrne received her first-ever Oscar nomination for her performance in the film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. She’s up for best actress at the ceremony, and Byrne’s nomination is the only recognition the film received this year.
Byrne spoke to ABC Audio about what it means to represent director Mary Bronstein’s film at this year’s ceremony.
“We premiered [If I Had] Legs [I’d Kick You] a year ago at Sundance. So, it’s been a year of shepherding this film. And it’s an indie film,” Byrne said, adding, “So it was a smaller budget for advertising stuff.”
Despite all of that, Byrne said the film has connected and made an impact.
“It’s been truly an extraordinary experience,” Byrne said. “I just couldn’t anticipate how people have received it. It’s been really varied. What people’s takeaway from the film is [that] it’s very interpretive and it is a real expression of feeling. And I think that’s just been a highlight to be part of something that’s very compelling, and polarizing and moving.”
All of that has been “really, really cool,” she said, but even better is that she gets to represent the film as its only nomination.
“To have this recognition, it’s really recognition for the film, because the character is the film and the film is the character,” Byrne said, before speaking on what she’s enjoyed most about this awards season.
“It’s been fun to meet people I love, meet people I admire,” Byrne said. “It’s incredible, obviously, I’m the fan.”
The Oscars will take place Sunday at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The show will air live on ABC and will also stream live on Hulu.
Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow attend the ‘Iron Man 3’ photocall at The Dorchester on April 17, 2013, in London, England. (Mike Marsland/Getty Images)
Even more stars have been announced as presenters at the 98th Oscars.
Will Arnett, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Robert Downey Jr., Anne Hathaway, Paul Mescal and Gwyneth Paltrow will take to the Oscars stage to present awards at this year’s ceremony, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday.
They join the previously announced presenters Javier Bardem, Chris Evans, Chase Infiniti, Demi Moore, Kumail Nanjiani and Maya Rudolph.
Also presenting are Adrien Brody, Kieran Culkin, Mikey Madison and Zoe Saldaña, who will all return to the awards ceremony after winning Oscars last year.
The producers for the Oscars will continue announcing the talent who will present at the show throughout the coming week, they announced.
Conan O’Brien will host the awards ceremony for the second time, while Raj Kapoor serves as executive producer and showrunner and Katy Mullan executive produces.
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.
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.”
Ellen Pompeo stars in ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ season 22. (Disney/Anne Marie Fox)
A spinoff of Grey’s Anatomy is headed to ABC.
The network has ordered a currently untitled Grey’s Anatomy spinoff series set in Texas for the 2026-27 season, ABC Audio has confirmed.
The new series is described as “an edgy drama about a team at a West Texas rural medical center — the last chance for care before miles of nowhere,” according to its official logline.
ABC has given the one-hour drama a straight to series order. It is co-created by Shonda Rhimes and Meg Marinis. The pair also executive produce the show alongside Betsy Beers and the original show’s star, Ellen Pompeo. The new spinoff series is produced by Shondaland and 20th Television.
“I am incredibly excited to expand the Grey’s Anatomy universe. This opportunity will bring new characters and stories to life that will embody the same heart, emotion and connection audiences have loved from Grey’s for more than two decades — all set in my home state of Texas,” Marinis said. “I am so grateful to Shonda Rhimes for creating this dynamic world and feel so fortunate that I get to be a part of it.”
Sources tell ABC Audio that Netflix is, and continues to be, the home of Shondaland. This new ABC show gives Marinis and Rhimes the opportunity to continue telling stories from the Grey’s Anatomy universe, and to honor the original show’s legacy and its loyal fans.
The upcoming TV season marks the second year in a row that ABC is set to increase its scripted slate, which includes the 23rd season of the original Grey’s Anatomy.
