The Oscars are almost here! The 98th Annual Academy Awards take place tonight — Sunday, March 15 — at 7 p.m. EST/ 4 p.m. PST, live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, with Conan O’Brien returning as host. After weeks of campaigning, a fresh batch of industry greats are about to add the coveted golden Oscar statuette to their shelves.
Ryan Coogler’s horror film Sinners leads the pack this year with a record-breaking 16 nominations, including Best Picture and Michael B. Jordan for Best Actor. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another followed closely behind with 13 nominations, including acting nods for Leonardo DiCaprio and breakout star Teyana Taylor. Frankenstein, Marty Supreme and the foreign film Sentimental Value each scored nine nominations, while the screen adaptation of Hamnet earned eight.
Oscar winners 2006
Ahead of this year’s awards, we’re taking a walk down memory lane and revisiting the 2006 Oscars red carpet. Social media was in its infancy, Netflix was still operating with DVDs in the mail and Pluto was months away from being downgraded to a dwarf planet.
Keep reading to see more of your favourite stars 20 years ago.
Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by KMazur/WireImage)
(KMazur via Getty Images)
Witherspoon wore a vintage Christian Dior gown from the ’50s to collect the Best Actress Oscar for her performance as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line.
Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)
(Steve Granitz via Getty Images)
Alba, who was on hand as a presenter, opted for a silk chiffon Versace gown with lace detailing.
Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger
Michelle William and Heath Ledger at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Lester Cohen/WireImage)
(L. Cohen via Getty Images)
Williams (in Vera Wang) and Ledger were both nominated for their performances in Brokeback Mountain.
Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Dan MacMedan/WireImage)
(Dan MacMedan via Getty Images)
Parton performed her nominated song “Travelin’ Thru,” from the film TransAmerica. In November 2025, Parton was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an honorary Oscar for her charitable contributions to medical research and children’s literacy.
Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley at 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Dan MacMedan/WireImage)
(Dan MacMedan via Getty Images)
Knightley received a Best Actress nomination for her performance in Joe Wright’s adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. Her mermaid-style taffeta Vera Wang gown was later donated to Oxfam and auctioned off to raise money for drought relief in East Asia.
Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves
Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Lester Cohen/WireImage)
(L. Cohen via Getty Images)
Speed co-stars Bullock (wearing Angel Sanchez) and Reeves hit the red carpet together to promote their film, The Lake House, which premiered in June 2006.
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
(Jeff Kravitz via Getty Images)
Theron, who was nominated for Best Actress for her performance in North Country, wore one of the night’s most polarizing red carpet looks: a hunter green gown by John Galliano for Christian Dior.
Naomi Watts
Naomi Watts at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by SGranitz/WireImage)
(Steve Granitz via Getty Images)
The King Kong star wore a deconstructed tulle gown by Givenchy to introduce a performance by Dolly Parton.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)
(Jeffrey Mayer via Getty Images)
Smith posed happily with his wife, Jada (wearing Roberto Cavalli), before presenting the Best International Feature Film to Tsotsi.
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman and Mimi O’Donnell at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)
(F. Micelotta via Getty Images)
Hoffman was a frontrunner to take home the Oscar for Best Actor. Later that night, he thanked his mom for introducing him to theatre as he accepted his golden statuette.
Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez
Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by SGranitz/WireImage)
(Steve Granitz via Getty Images)
Lopez wore a vintage ’50s olive coloured gown by Egyptian-born designer Jean Dessès on the red carpet alongside her then husband, Marc Anthony.
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by KMazur/WireImage)
(KMazur via Getty Images)
Garner arrived at the Oscars in a sparkling champagne-coloured Michael Kors gown, four months after giving birth to her first child, Violet Affleck.
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)
(Jeffrey Mayer via Getty Images)
Aniston wore a black chiffon scoop neck gown by Rochas to present the award for Best Costume Design to Colleen Atwood for Memoirs of a Geisha.
Taraji P. Henson
Taraji P. Henson at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Dan MacMedan/WireImage)
(Dan MacMedan via Getty Images)
The Hustle & Flow star performed the Oscar-winning song “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” alongside Three 6 Mafia during the 2006 ceremony.
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Chris Polk/FilmMagic)
(Christopher Polk via Getty Images)
Kidman wore a white strapless Balenciaga gown to present the award for Best Supporting Actor.
George Clooney
George Clooney at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by SGranitz/WireImage)
(Steve Granitz via Getty Images)
Clooney looked dapper in a classic black tuxedo on the night he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in Syriana.
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)
(F. Micelotta via Getty Images)
Streep wore a purple Valentino gown to present an honorary Oscar to director Robert Altman, who directed her in the film A Prairie Home Companion.
Amy Adams
Amy Adams at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)
(F. Micelotta via Getty Images)
Adams, wearing Carolina Herrera, was a first-time Best Supporting Actress nominee for her role in Junebug.
Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Steve Granitz Archive 1/WireImage)
(Steve Granitz via Getty Images)
Weisz wore a custom Narciso Rodriguez gown to accept her Best Supporting Actress Oscar. The Constant Gardener star was seven months pregnant with her first child, Henry Aranofsky.
Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek at the 2006 Academy Awards. (Photo by Chris Polk/FilmMagic)
(Christopher Polk via Getty Images)
Hayek, in Versace, presented the award for Best Original Score to Gustavo Santaolalla for Brokeback Mountain.
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