In the world of cinema, the Academy Awards are some of the greatest accolades a filmmaker can earn. For actors, getting to take the stage and win an Oscar is a sign that the industry recognizes and respects your craft. But that doesn’t mean they’re perfect. There have been plenty of winners who feel like poor choices in retrospect, and there are plenty of worthy performers who never got the chance to take home the win.
While some of the actors on this list went on to receive honorary awards from the Academy in recognition of their careers, they never took home the win on Oscar night. Some of them at least earned nominations, while others never even got that opportunity. Looking back at Oscar history, here are 10 actors who deserved a win for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor but never actually pulled off a win.
Ralph Fiennes (3 Nominations)
Ralph Fiennes is one of those great actors in Hollywood who feels like he should have a shelf full of Oscars, but he’s never actually won an Academy Award. Gifted with a no-nonsense authenticity that he can bring to everything from grounded thrillers like The Constant Gardener (2005) to blockbuster villainy as Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, Fiennes’s three nominations speak to his versatility.
His monstrously mundane performance as Amon Göth in Schindler’s List (1993) earned him his only nomination for Best Supporting Actor, while his more morally optimistic roles in The English Patient (1996) and Conclave (2024) highlighted his strength as a leading man. Fiennes hasn’t earned an Oscar yet—in a just world, he’d take home one for his wildly weird but deeply empathetic turn in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026).
Cary Grant (2 Nominations)
Cary Grant is one of the idealized stars of classic Hollywood, an early and enduring example of what the movie star became in the 20th century. Despite laying the groundwork for some of cinema’s most memorable leading man archetypes in comedies like His Gal Friday (1940), thrillers like Notorious (1946), and adventure films like North by Northwest (1959), Grant never actually took home an Academy Award.
He was nominated twice during his career, failing to win for either Penny Serenade (1941) or None But the Lonely Heart (1944). Some of his most famous (and charming) performances, such as Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) and Charade (1963), all went without nominations. While he’s more than earned his place in Hollywood history after starring in over seventy films, it’s a shame Grant never got his chance to take the stage at the Academy Awards.
Alan Rickman (0 Nominations)
One of the great oversights in Oscar history was the academy’s failure to ever nominate Alan Rickman before his untimely passing. While most audiences know Rickman best for his turn as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series or as the diabolically charming thief Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988), Rickman was a highly respected thespian who earned many major award nominations over the course of his career.
While his most critically acclaimed work involves the stage or television, he also starred in BAFTA-nominated films like Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Michael Collins (1996). He should have at least gotten a nomination for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), where his deliciously despicable Sheriff of Nottingham is one of the unexpected joys of a campy action movie for the ages. At least the BAFTAs recognized the strength of that performance, giving Rickman an award and prompting him to note that subtly isn’t always the right choice.
Samuel L. Jackson (1 Nomination)
Samuel L. Jackson is one of the most iconic screen actors of the last 50 years, with a career that spans powerfully human performances to his blockbuster turns in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars franchise. Despite his ability to mold his signature traits into distinct characters, almost none of his performances have earned major award recognition from the Academy of Motion Pictures, although he received an honorary Academy Award in 2022.
To date, his only nomination is for Pulp Fiction (1994), which he lost to Martin Landau’s performance in Ed Wood (1994). While that’s a great film, it means that Jackson remains criminally underappreciated by the academy. At least he has the ultimate consolidation prize: Jackson is among the highest-grossing actors of all time, highlighting how his place in Hollywood history is cemented with or without an Oscar.
Peter O'Toole (8 Nominations)
As one of Hollywood’s most legendary leading actors, Peter O’Toole is in some of the best epics of all time, yet that success never translated into an Academy Award. The star of Lawrence of Arabia (1962) earned plenty of respect from the academy and earned eight Academy Award nominations between 1962 and 2006. Unfortunately, he was beaten out each time despite the strength of his work in films like Becket (1964) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969).
The problem for O’Toole was that, by almost sheer luck, each of his nominations went up against iconic turns from other legendary actors, like Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) or Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980). As a result, he’s actually tied with Glenn Close for the actor with the most nominations and no wins.
Willem Dafoe (4 Nominations)
Willem Dafoe is one of Hollywood’s most intriguing actors, bringing a distinct energy that can go from understated to unhinged in an instant. It’s why he makes such memorable supporting characters and villains in blockbusters like Spider-Man (2002) and The Boondock Saints (1999). It’s also something the academy appreciates, as three of his four Oscar nominations have been for Best Supporting Actor.
Dafoe has been nominated in three different decades in the category, with recognition for the Vietnam War drama Platoon (1986), the terrifically meta horror film Shadow of the Vampire (2000), and Sean Baker’s understated coming-of-age film, The Florida Project (2017). He earned his first Best Actor nomination for At Eternity’s Gate (2018), but the beloved character actor still hasn’t earned an actual win.
Johnny Depp (3 Nominations)
While the actor has become a more controversial figure in recent years, there was a time when Johnny Depp was one of the biggest stars in the world. Similar to Samuel L. Jackson, the actor developed a specific on-screen persona, although his was far more in line with frequent collaborator Tim Burton’s interest in gothic romance than the harsher characters Jackson plays. After breaking big in the 1990s thanks to starring turns in Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Ed Wood, the actor racked up three Academy Award nominations in the span of five years.
While his iconic debut as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) earned unexpected raves for the actor, his more dramatic performance in Finding Neverland (2004) and musical turn in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) also earned nods. Depp lost in all three cases, although he did take home a Golden Globe for the latter performance.
Bradley Cooper (12 Nominations)
Bradley Cooper has missed out on each of his dozen Oscar nominations, which also underscores his versatility in the film industry. After making his big break as Alias (2001) and starring in blockbuster hits like The Hangover (2009), Cooper started racking up Oscar nominations in Silver Linings Playbook (2012).
In the subsequent decade, Cooper has earned nominations for his performances in American Hustle (2013), American Sniper (2014), A Star is Born (2018), and Maestro (2023), but hasn’t won for any of them. He’s also earned nominations as a screenwriter and producer, including Joker (2019) and Nightmare Alley (2021). Given how many aspects of the industry he works in, it’s likely only a matter of time before Cooper wins an award.
Oscar Isaac (0 Nominations)
Oscar Isaac is one of the best actors of this current generation, but he has never gotten an Academy Award nomination. The actor has displayed a great wealth of talents in playing complex characters, bringing a sympathetic vibe to his toxic characters in Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), The Card Counter (2021), and Frankenstein (2025). Even his most broadly appealing characters, like Marc Spector in Moon Knight (2022), are subverted with darker edges.
However, the actor has yet to take home a win, which is a shame, especially after great performances in movies like Operation Finale (2018) and Ex Machina (2015) were just as worthy of a nomination as anything else released that year. Hopefully, Issac’s dry spell ends soon, and the actor is able to finally snag a nomination and win.
Donald Sutherland (0 Nominations)
Despite being one of the most acclaimed actors of the 20th century and delivering plenty of fantastic performances, Donald Sutherland never actually earned an Academy Award nomination during his lengthy career. After breaking out in charming roles in war films like The Dirty Dozen (1967) and Kelly’s Heroes (1970), Sutherland starred in dozens of acclaimed dramas like Ordinary People (1980) and sci-fi stories like Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978).
Despite delivering terrific performances (seriously, check out his turn in 1973’s Don’t Look Now if you want to see pure grief on screen), modern audiences are likely most familiar with his appearances as President Snow in the Hunger Games franchise. However, despite his plethora of great performances, Sutherland never earned a single Oscar nomination during his career. The actor got plenty of award recognition for his work in television, though, including Emmys for his work in Citizen X (1995).
