Most Talented Hollywood Actors Who Have Never Won an Oscar
Will Smith
Some of you might not know this but before Will Smith was a huge blockbuster Hollywood actor he made a name for himself as a rapper in the late 80’s. He went by The Fresh Prince. In 1990, he acted as an exaggerated version of himself in the hit NBC sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show ran for six seasons and it boosted Will into Hollywood stardom. Will then went on to star in ginormous Blockbuster films like Enemy of the State, Wild Wild West, Men in Black (series), Bad Boys (series), The Pursuit of Happiness, I am Legend, Suicide Squad, Aladdin and Gemini Man. Despite all his great films, Will has never actually won an Oscar. He has been nominated for two Academy Awards but never got called to go up to the podium. Regardless, he’s doing pretty good in the award department. He has won 5 Golden Globes and 4 Grammy Awards. Will still has a long career ahead of him, there’s no doubt in my mind he’ll win one day.
Amy Adams
Amy Adams made her feature film debut in 1999, acting in the satire Drop Dead Gorgeous. Her first major role came in 2002, starring opposite of Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can. Even though she was in a hit movie she still had yet to really prove herself to Hollywood. She did so in 2005 in an independent film called Junebug, where she played a very talkative pregnant woman. Since then she has starred in Oscar worthy films such as Doubt, The Fighter, The Master, American Hustle and Arrival. She also starred in the critically acclaimed mini-series called Sharp Objects on HBO. For her efforts Amy has been nominated for a whopping six oscars but never got a statue. She also has won two Golden Globes and has been nominated for seven British Academy Film Awards. Amy is known for her acting range of playing both comedic and serious dramatic roles. She’ll definitely be nominated several more times and actually win one.
Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper is another powerhouse in Hollywood that has yet to be selected by the Academy. Bradley has been acting since 1999 but didn’t receive international success until his role in The Hangover. Since then he has absolutely been killing it. He starred in Limitless, A Place Beyond the Pines, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, American Sniper, voiced the character Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy and other Marvel films and starred and directed A Star is Born with Lady Gaga. He has been nominated for Oscars three years in a row. Best Actor for Silver Linings Playbook (2013), Best Supporting Actor for American Hustle (2014) and Best Actor a second time for American Sniper (2015). He was nominated again for Best Actor in 2018 for his role of Jackson Maine in A Star is Born. Personally I think he should have won.
Edward Norton
Edward started pursuing an acting career in 1993 and just three years later got this first Oscar nomination in 1996, for the crime-thriller, Primal Fear. Two years later he got another Oscar nomination for his role as a reformed Neo-Nazi in 1998’s American History X. Perhaps his best film is when he co-starred opposite Brad Pitt in the classic cult film, Fight Club, which since has earned him international notoriety. In the new millennium Norton starred in many more critically acclaimed movies like 25th Hour (2002), Red Dragon (2002), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), The Illusionist (2006), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Bourne Legacy (2012) and Birdman (2014). He received another Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Birdman. This year Norton starred, written, produced and directed the Neo-noire crime film, Motherless Brooklyn, where he plays a private investigator with Tourettes Syndrome, who tries to solve the murder of his mentor. The trailer looks pretty good so maybe this is Norton’s year to give his long overdue acceptance speech.
Meg Ryan
Meg Ryan is on this list because she has starred in some of the best romantic films ever made but hasn’t won an Oscar. She starred in Sleepless in Seattle (1993), alongside Tom Hanks, The French Kiss (1995), You’ve Got Mail (1998), again alongside Tom Hanks and the best rom-com ever made, When Harry Met Sally (1989). She also had a supporting role in Top Gun. She was one of the most successful actresses in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. The only big award she has ever won was a Golden Globe for When Harry Met Sally. The film was only nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Ryan definitely should have at least been nominated. Billy Crystal too if we’re being honest. When Harry Met Sally has since went down in history as one of the funniest films. It was placed at number 23rd of AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Laughs.
Tom Cruise
Everyone knows who Tom Cruise is. He’s starred in like a million action films. His movies combined have made over $4 billion in North America and over $10 billion world-wide. He is one of the highest grossing box-office actors of all time. Despite all his success, Tom has only been nominated for three Oscars and won none of them. He was nominated for Best Actor for Born on the Fourth of July in 1990 and Jerry Maguire in 1997. He was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his hilarious role in the cult classic film, Magnolia in 2000. Tom has won several accolades (including Golden Raspberry Awards) for his work, including 3 Golden Globes, for all the same films he was nominated for Oscars. I’m sure Tom is itching to put one of those coveted golden statues in his trophy case at home. But until then he’s going to have to settle with just being one of the highest paid actors in the world.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp is another head-scratcher on why he hasn’t won an Oscar yet. He’s one of the most popular character actors of his generation. His great roles include, Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd, Willy Wonka, The Mad-Hatter and of course, Captain Jack Sparrow. Johnny has been nominated for 10 Golden Globe Awards and won one for playing Sweeney Todd in 2008. He won a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role of Captain Jack Sparrow. Johnny has also been nominated for 18 People’s Choice Awards and won 14 of them.
Johnny has been nominated for 3 Academy Awards but unfortunately hasn’t won one yet. He was nominated for Best Actor in Pirates of the Caribbean in 2004, Best Actor for Finding Netherland in 2005 and Best Actor again for Sweeney Todd in 2008. Sean Penn beat him in 2004 for his role in Mystic River, which is understandable, that is a great film. Jamie Fox got the Best Actor Oscar for portraying Ray Lewis in Ray, which makes sense again, Ray Lewis is an icon and Jamie did a terrific job. In 2008, Daniel Day-Lewis beat him for his iconic role in There Will Be Blood, which is also fair. Johnny Depp has just been super unlucky for his films coming out the same year as some of the best in that decade. I’m sure though we’ll see Johnny Depp up on that podium before long.
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer is a famous actress with a lot of range who has received no formal training on the craft. She got her start in 1982 as one of the leads in the musical romantic-comedy, Grease 2. Tired of always playing the nice pretty girl, Michelle auditioned for Tony Montana’s wife-turned mole in the gangster epic, Scarface and got the part. This was considered her breakout role. She then starred in the films, Married to the Mob (1988), Dangerous Liaisons (1988), and the Fabulous Baker Boys (1989). She was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Dangerous Liaisons and again the next year for Best Actress in The Fabulous Baker Boys.
In 1992, Michelle got her third Oscar nomination (Best Actress) for playing a troubled housewife in Love Field. She was beat by Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs. In 1995, Michelle starred in the classic drama, Dangerous Minds, where she plays a teacher of a classroom full of tough underprivileged kids. In 2000, she starred alongside Mel Gibson in the horror-thriller, What Lies Beneath. In 2001, she played in the Oscar nominated film, I am Sam, starring Sean Penn. Recently, she played Janet Van Dyne in Ant-Man and the Wasp and in Avengers: End Game. Michelle has been in so many contemporary classic films, it’s weird she doesn’t have at least one Oscar to her name.
Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. has been acting ever since he was five years old in 1970. He has had two periods of great success. In the late-80’s - early-90’s Robert was part of what was known as “the Brat Pack,” which was a group of actors like; Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald and Rob Lowe who all starred in teen movies like The Breakfast Club and Weird Science. In 1992, Robert got his first Oscar nomination for playing Charlie Chaplin in the bioptic film, Chaplin. Robert was an A-list star throughout the 90’s but would repeatedly get in trouble for drug and alcohol abuse. By the early 2000’s it was so bad that no one would hire him because they didn’t want to pay for his insurance. If it wasn’t for his good friend Mel Gibson who personally paid for his insurance for the 2003 movie, The Singing Detective, which got his career back on track, Robert probably would have faded into obscurity. In 2005, he starred in the critically successful black comedy, Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, then in 2008 he really got back in the spotlight for his acting in Tropic Thunder. For which he received another Oscar nomination. That same year he also starred as Iron Man which kicked off a hugely successful franchise. Robert has since become one of the richest actors in Hollywood today, but still hasn’t won an Academy Award.
Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Phoenix had his first major role in the space adventure movie, SpaceCamp in 1986. Throughout the 90’s he continued to act in supporting roles to positive reviews while his older brother River Phoenix rose to a huge childhood star. Joaquin’s career started to take off in 2000 for his part in the period film, Quills and his role as Commodus in the Oscar-winning drama, Gladiator. This was Joaquin’s first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He received his second nomination in 2005 for playing Johnny Cash in the bioptic film, Walk the Line. Joaquin got his third Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a lustful alcoholic in The Master (2012).
His other acclaimed films are Signs (2002), The Village (2004), Hotel Rwanda (2004), Her (2013) and Inherent Vice (2014). This year Joaquin starred as the iconic batman villain the Joker in the new film titled Joker. It was a huge commercial and critical success. Joker was the first R rated film to reach $1 billion dollars in profits. There’s a lot of talk of Joaquin already having the Best Actor Oscar in the bag. If he doesn’t receive the award it would be a huge disappointment.
