As the saying goes: It’s nice to just be nominated. It may surprise people to learn that even the most famous actors in Hollywood have not received an acting Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Fun fact: Did you know no one knows for sure where the «Oscar» nickname comes from? Bette Davis is sometimes credited for it because she said the statuette looked like her husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson. Another theory claims Academy librarian Margaret Herrick came up with it on the basis the statues resembled her own uncle Oscar.
Actors don’t really need trophies to cement their status as the cream of the crop. But it’s still surprising to learn which A-listers haven’t received golden recognition. Given that, here are the top actors who haven’t won an acting Oscar.
Keanu Reeves
Once a teen heartthrob before graduating to blockbuster status, Keanu Reeves has not been nominated for anything from the Academy. But given his prominence in action fare like Speed and franchises like The Matrix and John Wick, which are typically ignored by the Oscars, it’s actually easy to see why Reeves has never taken home gold.
Sigourney Weaver
The Alien and Ghostbusters star was previously nominated for Best Actress for both Aliens (1987) and Gorillas in the Mist (1989), and for Best Supporting Actress in Working Girl also in 1989. She holds awards from other major entities like the BAFTA Awards and Golden Globes. When you’ve burned aliens and dumped a Ghostbuster, an Oscar seems like an afterthought.
Don Cheadle
The man who wears the armor of War Machine in the Marvel franchise was previously nominated for his performance in Hotel Rwanda in 2005. But Cheadle holds distinction for being one of the few Black artists to have received nominations for an EGOT (Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, Tonys), which is a feat even rarer than winning an Academy Award.
Hugh Jackman
He can sing, he can dance, he can slice up bad guys with his claws as the superhero Wolverine. The Australian powerhouse wasn’t nominated for his X-Men movie roles, however. Instead, he was nominated for Best Actor for his lead role in the movie adaptation of Les Misérables at the 2013 ceremony.
Stanley Tucci
Renowned as a character actor, Stanley Tucci has taken home Emmys and Golden Globes. He was nominated by the Academy for Best Supporting Actor in the 2009 movie The Lovely Bones. With more roles in acclaimed dramas like Spotlight and Supernova and franchise pictures like Captain America: The First Avenger and The Hunger Games, his face isn’t one to forget.
Emily Blunt
Recognized by Forbes as one of the highest-paid actresses in 2020, Emily Blunt’s fame is attributed to her flexibility in a wide tonal diversity of movies, including The Devil Wears Prada (which she won a Golden Globe for), Edge of Tomorrow, Sicario, A Quiet Place, Mary Poppins Returns, and Oppenheimer.
Timothée Chalamet
Despite his youthful age, Timothée Chalamet’s career resembles that of an industry veteran decades his senior. The Dune star was once nominated for Best Actor, for the 2017 drama Call Me By Your Name. He has also starred in Interstellar, Miss Stevens, Lady Bird, Little Women, Bones and All, and Wonka.
Margot Robbie
The Australian dynamo burst into Hollywood in her star-making role in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street before embodying both Harley Quinn and Barbie, not to mention an angelic Sharon Tate in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Robbie has been previously nominated for her roles in I, Tonya and Bombshell.
Toni Collette
Toni Collette’s harrowing performance in Hereditary generated serious Oscar buzz. But Collette was nominated for another horror movie, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense. She has also starred in Velvet Goldmine, Changing Lanes, About a Boy, Little Miss Sunshine, Fright Night, Knives Out, and I’m Thinking of Ending Things.
Adam Driver
From strutting around New York in the TV show Girls to trying to rule over a galaxy far, far away in the Star Wars movies, Adam Driver has made his mark in Hollywood in a relatively short time. He has been nominated for his roles in BlacKkKlansman and Marriage Story. His other films include Frances Ha, Lincoln, Logan Lucky, The Last Duel, House of Gucci, and Ferrari.
Bryan Cranston
Bryan Cranston came a long way from voicing monsters on Power Rangers. His thunderous performance in the TV juggernaut Breaking Bad gave the actor a truckload of Emmys. But as far as the cinematic Oscars go, Cranston has been nominated for Trumbo. He lost to Leonardo DiCaprio, for The Revenant.
John Malkovich
You know you’re a big deal when you have an entire movie named after you. The celebrated actor has received Oscar nominations for his roles in the movies Places in the Heart and In the Line of Fire. He’s also starred in the films Empire of the Sun, Dangerous Liaisons, Of Mice and Men, Con Air, and Red. On top of that, audiences know what it’s like to be John Malkovich.
Sandra Oh
Sandra Oh is beloved across TV and film, but her most celebrated work comes from TV. She starred in seven seasons of the HBO comedy Arliss before her star-making gig in the ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. She gained further acclaim in the BBC spy thriller Killing Eve. Her film work includes The Princess Diaries, Under the Tuscan Sun, Raya and the Last Dragon, and Umma.
Liam Neeson
He trained Obi-Wan and Batman, and has a set of very specific skills. But the towering Irish actor (he stands 6-foot-4) was nominated for an Oscar for a more noble character: Oskar Schindler, a real-life German businessman who saved over a thousand Polish-Jewish refugees during World War II in Steven Spielberg’s classic Schindler’s List.
Oscar Isaac
Since his star-making performance in Inside Llewyn Davis, Oscar Isaac has been an in-demand talent appearing in adult dramas and franchise blockbusters alike. His accolades include Golden Globe Awards and Emmy nominations. He’s also starred in the films Drive, A Most Violent Year, Ex Machina, Triple Frontier, The Card Counter, Dune, and the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
Ryan Gosling
The Canadian heartthrob has demonstrated greater range than his rom-com looks imply (though he’s great in rom-coms too). His films include Barbie, Lars and the Real Girl, Crazy Stupid Love, Blade Runner 2049, The Nice Guys, Drive, and Only God Forgives. He has Oscar nominations for the movies Half Nelson and La La Land, but he alone will always be Ken-ough.
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