The 7 Best Actors Who Have Never Won an Oscar

Some absolutely huge names have ended their Oscars curse in recent years, with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr. and Will Smith all finally getting their flowers from the Academy.

Yet, for every winner, there are many, many losers. Obviously, having a little golden statue on your mantlepiece is not the be-all and end-all, and plenty of esteemed actors have done more than enough in their careers to be deemed successful regardless of their Oscar record.

However, there are some stars for whom it just feels wrong that they’re still waiting for their first-ever Academy Award. Here are the seven best actors who have never won an Oscar, and why we think they deserved to claim the top prize in the past.

1. Tom Cruise

Many would agree that, without Tom Cruise, the movie industry might never have recovered from the global shutdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Top Gun: Maverick got bums in seats and showed us all why going to the cinema is so special, and the action movie was justly rewarded with a nomination for Best Picture, Cruise’s first as a producer, and fourth nomination in total. Frankly, I think he should have gotten a nod for his performance in that film, too, but it wasn’t to be. He may have received an honorary award this year, but to be honest, that’s nowhere near enough to celebrate what this man has achieved.

During a long and very successful career, Cruise has also picked up nominations for his work on Magnolia, Jerry Maguire, and Born on the Fourth of July. Those are incredibly diverse roles which highlight just how adept he is at switching up his on-screen presence while still being utterly captivating; whether he’s playing a crazed war veteran, a romantic sports agent, or a troubled guru, Cruise will always entertain, guaranteed. 

2. Edward Norton

Edward Norton is one of the most underrated actors of his generation. He’s quietly turned out astonishing work for the last 30 years, hitting such a consistently high level every time he’s put on screen. The Academy has certainly taken notice of Norton, with four nominations to his name so far, but he’s never taken those final steps onto the big stage to claim the ultimate reward.

Norton was first nominated for a supporting role in 1997 for Primal Fear. He was back just two years later for his lead role in the blistering portrayal of a reformed neo-Nazi, American History X. That was a phenomenal performance in such a challenging part, but he was up against Tom Hanks for Saving Private Ryan and eventual winner, Roberto Benigni, for the mesmerising Life is Beautiful. Since then, Norton has bagged nominations for his roles in Birdman and A Complete Unknown; both were marvellous performances, but admittedly, Norton was never going to win for them. If he was going to win for anything, it should have been Fight Club, but he wasn’t even recognised for that thrilling David Fincher flick.

3. Jake Gyllenhaal

Two Oscars snubs have left me absolutely bewildered in the past decade or so. One is Amy Adams failing to be nominated for Arrival, and the other is Jake Gyllenhaal not getting a look in for Nightcrawler. How the Academy could look at that transformative, sociopathic turn as Lou Bloom and think that Gyllenhaal wasn’t one of the best actors that year is beyond me. SAG, BAFTA, and the Golden Globes all saw it, but alas, no glory at the Oscars.

Gyllenhaal, somehow, only has one Oscar nomination to date, for his supporting role in Brokeback Mountain. Again, that’s another one that he probably should have won, with George Clooney getting the award on the night for his work on Syriana. Both Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger were overlooked for their performances in the iconic cowboy romance story, and while Ledger lost to a fantastic Philip Seymour Hoffman performance in Capote, there’s no way Gyllenhaal should have gone home empty-handed.

4. Hugh Jackman

Speaking of Gyllenhaal, I believe his co-star in Prisoners, Hugh Jackman, should have received some Oscar love for his wild performance in that Denis Villeneuve movie. In the detective story, Jackman goes from being a concerned father to losing all control and taking the law into his own hands. He’s so convincing as a broken, desperate man who will stop at nothing to save his daughter; it’s a genuinely terrifying turn from the usually so charming actor.

Believe it or not, Jackman still only has one nomination from the Academy Awards, and that was for Les Misérables in 2013. He’s one of a handful of performers who need an Oscar to achieve EGOT status, and you have to imagine that he will eventually get it one day – if he’s not too busy still playing Wolverine, that is.

5. Mark Ruffalo

Don’t tell Marvel, but maybe the role of the Hulk is cursed; Ed Norton can’t get an Oscar, and neither can Mark Ruffalo. Of the two, you’d have to imagine Ruffalo is the one who came closest to breaking his duck. He was first nominated back in 2011 for a supporting role in The Kids Are All Right, but since then, he’s really taken his career to the next level.

Ruffalo was nominated in 2015 for Foxcatcher, but was trumped (rather deservedly) by J. K. Simmons for his monstrous turn in Whiplash. A year later, Ruffalo had what I would say was his best chance with Spotlight, which earned critical acclaim across the board. The cast even won ensemble awards. It wasn’t enough, though: Mark Rylance took the win for Bridge of Spies. Then, in 2024, Ruffalo’s hilarious performance as the bitter, twisted antagonist of Poor Things, Duncan Wedderburn, bagged him his fourth nomination for supporting actor. He was beaten by MCU co-star Robert Downey Jr., who finally won his first Oscar for Oppenheimer, and to be fair, that was absolutely the right decision.

6. Ralph Fiennes

He’s become a pop culture sensation over the past year or so by playing Dr Ian Kelson in 28 Years Later, and its sequel, The Bone Temple, but Ralph Fiennes will always be remembered most for his role as the evil Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series. Away from his franchise work, Fiennes is one of the most revered actors of his time, and yet he still doesn’t have an Oscar to show for it.

No offence to Tommy Lee Jones, who won for his role in The Fugitive in 1994, but Fiennes should absolutely have taken the prize for supporting actor after his menacing turn as Amon Göth in Schindler’s List. Shortly after, Fiennes was up for the prize again, this time for a leading role in The English Patient, but he was beaten to the punch (as was Tom Cruise) by Geoffrey Rush for Shine. Fiennes had to wait a long time for his next shot at glory when he was on the campaign trail in 2025 for Conclave. However, if you ask me, he should also have been given more love for his clever, comedic portrayal of Monsieur Gustave in The Grand Budapest Hotel.

7. Willem Dafoe

Willem Dafoe is one of the most beloved actors working today. He’s a regular fixture in most people’s most-watched stats at the end of each year on Letterboxd, and that’s largely down to the fact that he’s always booked and busy with a wide range of roles. Superhero movies, brooding dramas, religious epics, and war movies; Dafoe has done it all, and he always knocks it out of the park.

Despite all this, he still hasn’t won an Oscar after four nominations so far. His first was in 1987 for a supporting role in Platoon, and he probably should have won. Dafoe had to wait 14 years for his next nomination, with Shadow of the Vampire earning him widespread praise. 

However, his strongest shot at glory was arguably at the 2018 Academy Awards, when he was up for his supporting role in Sean Baker’s gritty coming-of-age drama, The Florida Project. I’m sure he wouldn’t begrudge Sam Rockwell winning for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, but it’s still a shame. Still, Dafoe seems to have so much fun playing weird and wonderful characters, diving into indie projects and genre movies, that he probably doesn’t lose much sleep over whether the Academy likes his work or not.