Zendaya Sets Best Actress Oscar Campaign for Dune: Part 3

Zendaya will reportedly campaign in the Best Actress category for her role as Chani in Dune: Part III in the upcoming Oscars race.

“The move marks a shift from the first two films, where she was positioned in supporting actress,” said Variety. “The decision reflects Chani’s expanded role in the story.”

This larger, different role for Zendaya’s character in Dune: Part III has not gone unnoticed. IGN’s Jesse Schedeen recently wrote that “everything we’ve seen of Dune: Part Three so far suggests Chani is playing a vastly different role compared to the source material [Frank Herbert’s book Dune Messiah]. Her status quo is completely different. She isn’t Paul’s faithful concubine, pining for the day she can proudly bear his children. She’s rejected Paul and everything he stands for, preferring instead to live as a true Fremen, totally free and a servant to no one.”

It should be noted that none of the actors in either of the past two Dune movies have earned either an Oscar or a Golden Globe nomination for those films. Both Dune movies, however, were nominated in technical categories.

Zendaya has enjoyed a stellar year as an actor, earning praise for The Drama and starring in the two highest-grossing movies of 2026, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey.

The leading entertainment industry awards prognosticators at GoldDerby, however, don’t have Zendaya as a hopeful in either of the Oscars’ actress categories for any of her films. (They currently have her Odyssey co-stars Anne Hathaway and Samantha Morton as the leading contenders to earn a Best Supporting Actress nomination for that film.)

GoldDerby does, however, have Zendaya in the running for a Golden Globe nomination as Best Film Comedy/Musical Actress for The Drama and as TV Drama Actress for the final season of Euphoria. They also have her in the running for a Screen Actors Guild nomination as TV Drama Actress for Euphoria.

The Academy recently altered their rules ahead of next year’s Oscars, including updating their positions on AI and allowing multiple nominations for the same actor in the same category.

The 99th Academy Awards will air live on ABC and Hulu on Sunday, March 14, 2027, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. It will be the third year in a row that Conan O’Brien has hosted the Oscars ceremony.