The internet has been up in arms over Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar snubs for years. It’s become a running joke that Leo will never get the Oscar he deserves, but that may change at this year’s Academy Awards, at which he’s been nominated for Best Actor for his performance in The Revenant. Leo’s been nominated for a total of six Oscars and hasn’t won one yet – but how unusual is that? As it turns out, not very. Here are ten other accomplished actors who you might be surprised to learn have yet to be awarded one of those coveted golden statues.
Tom Cruise
Cruise has received three nominations, one for Born on the Fourth of July (1990), one for Jerry McGuire (1997), and one for Magnolia (2000). It’s worth noting that Cruise actually won the Golden Globe for all three of these performances. The way the categories break down is different for each award show, so Cruise was up against different actors at the Oscars, and a Golden Globe win doesn’t always mean you’re going to get the Oscar.
Johnny Depp
Depp has three Oscar nominations: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Finding Neverland (2004), and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007). He even won the Golden Globe for Best Actor for Finding Neverland, but the Oscar went to Jamie Foxx instead. Depp once said of the Academy Awards, “I don’t want to win one of those things ever… I don’t want to have to talk.” He added, “The idea of winning means that you’re in competition with someone and I’m not in competition with anybody.” So, if you believe him, Depp is perfectly content without an Oscar, partially because he’s shy, and partially because he doesn’t think anybody’s in competition with him.
Glenn Close
Close has earned three Best Supporting Actress nominations for her performances in The World According to Garp (1982), The Big Chill (1983), and The Natural (1984). Also, three Best Actress nominations for Fatal Attraction (1987), Dangerous Liasons (1988), and Albert Nobbs (2011). That’s just as many winless nominations as Leo, so where’s the internet army begging for Glenn Close’s award?
Amy Adams
She received four Best Supporting Actress nominations for Junebug (2005), Doubt (2008), The Fighter (2010), and The Master (2012). She also earned one Best Actress nomination for American Hustle (2013), but the award went to Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook. Adams still has a promising career ahead of her, though, and we think she’ll win one before she’s done.
Liam Neeson
Neeson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Schindler’s List. Interestingly, Schindler’s list won seven other Academy Awards that year, including Best Film and Best Director, but Neeson wasn’t chosen to win his category. Instead, Best Actor went to Tom Hanks for Philadelphia.
Ralph Fiennes
Fiennes was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Schindler’s List (1993) and for Best Actor in The English Patient (1996). He was also nominated for just about every other award besides an Oscar for his acting in Grand Budapest Hotel in 2014. Like Neeson, he also wasn’t a part of the seven award Schindler’s List won that year. Instead, Best Supporting Actor went to Tommy Lee Jones for The Fugitive.
Will Smith
Smith’s been nominated for Best Actor twice: the first for Ali (2001) and then The Pursuit of Happyness in (2006). His film work has yet to get him a Golden Globe or Screen Actors Guild Award yet, either. A lot of people think that Smith was snubbed this year, believing that his performance in Concussion was Best Actor nomination worthy. His absence from the category is garnering even more buzz given that not a single one of the Best Actor nominees this year is a man of color.
Brad Pitt
Technically, he gets credit for being a producer on the 2014 Best Picture 12 Years a Slave, but Pitt hasn’t been awarded an Oscar for his acting just yet. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for 12 Monkeys in 1995 (maybe 12 is his lucky number?), and received a nomination for Best Actor for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Moneyball (2010). The Big Short is nominated for Best Picture this year, but Pitt didn’t receive a nomination for his individual performance.
Matt Damon
Matt Damon is another actor on our list that hasn’t received an Oscar for his acting, but did receive one for his film work in a different manner. In 1997, Damon shared the award for Best Original Screenplay with Ben Affleck for Good Will Hunting. He was also nominated for his acting performance in that film, but didn’t win. Otherwise, Damon received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Invictus (2009) and he’ll be going up against Leo this year for Best Actor due to his performance The Martian. So, one of these guys might be at the end of their losing streak.
Annette Bening
Bening has racked up four Academy Award nominations in her impressive film career. She was nominated once for Best Supporting Actress for The Grifters in 1995 and three times for Best Actress for American Beauty (1999), Being Julia (2004), and The Kids Are Alright (2010). Though, even without an Oscar win, her work will certainly be remembered.
Basically, our point here is that there are a lot of acoomplished actors who haven’t won any Oscars, and that’s okay. It’s an honor just to be nominated for an award so prestigious in the film world. If we all got up in arms about every good actor who didn’t get to take home their own little golden man, our arms would get really tired. Still, good luck to Leo, because if he wins, the internet can finally move on.
Photo credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11