The 98th Academy Awards are just around the corner, and the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories, per usual, feature some steep competition. First-time nominees like Teyana Taylor, Rose Byrne, and Elle Fanning could very well join the small group of Hollywood actresses to win an Oscar. Meanwhile, Emma Stone, who was nominated for Bugonia (2025), has a chance to become the third woman in history to win Best Actress more than twice.
Still, it’s important to remember that the Oscars aren’t infallible. While countless deserving women have earned the prestigious award, many more have not, even though they should have. Oscar snubs and heavy competition have led to several actresses whose fans may be shocked to learn they never actually won the award. Here are ten of the best actresses who have never won an Oscar and where to watch their Oscar-worthy performances on streaming services like Disney+, Prime Video, and more!
Amy Adams
Amy Adams caught the Academy Awards' attention throughout her three-decade-long acting career, earning five Best Supporting Actress nominations, and one Best Actress nomination for American Hustle (2013). However, she has never actually won an Oscar. If she hadn’t been contending with Anne Hathaway’s Les Misérables (2012) performance, she certainly could’ve won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, rather than just a nomination, for The Master (2012), in which she perfectly portrays the wife of a cult leader, chillingly capturing quiet but manic devotion and a simmering rage.
However, the performance arguably most deserving of an Oscar didn’t even land Adams a nomination. Adams carried Arrival (2016) on her shoulders, beautifully capturing what it means to be human in a performance so powerful it brings you to tears. Alas, she didn’t receive an Oscar nod for Arrival, nor for Enchanted (2007), in which she played a Disney princess with such conviction one could argue it was Oscar-worthy.
Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett has had two opportunities to win the Oscar during her illustrious acting career, once for Best Actress for What’s Love Got to Do With It? (1993) and for Best Supporting Actress for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). In 1994, the Best Actress race was extremely tight between Bassett and Holly Hunter for The Piano (1993). Many agree that Bassett’s stunning transformation into Tina Turner deserved an Oscar. She embodies the role wholly, often making you forget she isn’t actually Turner.
No one expected Bassett to go almost three decades before another nomination, despite giving worthy performances in the likes of Strange Days (1995) and Black Panther (2018). In 2023, she lost the Oscar race again despite her powerful performance as the fierce, grieving leader of Wakanda. Although she received an Academy Honorary Award for her lifetime achievements, it’s still shocking she never took home a competitive Oscar.
Betty Field
Betty Field was a major star in classic Hollywood. One of her very first roles was as Mae Jackson in Of Mice and Men (1939). She dazzled as Curly’s (Bob Steele) unhappy wife, who dreams of freedom from her boring, stifling marriage. Field plays the role with delicacy and conviction, and it’s hard not to feel for her. Considering her impressive breakthrough performance and Of Mice and Men’s Best Picture nominations, it’s shocking that Field didn’t get a nomination.
Field would go on to star in major productions, from The Shepherd of the Hills (1941) to Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), showcasing her incredible versatility and quiet conviction in every role. Whether she was a barefoot girl with a wild side or a wife with a provocative streak, she owned her performances. Somehow, though, none of these roles ever earned her an Oscar or any other major accolade nomination.
Demi Moore
Demi Moore is one of the most recognizable names in Hollywood, familiar to audiences through dozens of roles over four decades. She has a knack for portraying powerful, shrewd women, offering a surprisingly convincing and inspiring performance in G.I. Jane (1997) and bringing viewers to tears with her quietly potent role as Molly Jensen in Ghost (1990). Although Hollywood later seemed to refrain from giving her major dramatic roles, Moore persisted in giving her best with what she had.
Most recently, she enjoyed her comeback with The Substance (2024) and offered an Oscar-worthy performance as Elisabeth Sparkle, a woman who begins spiraling after taking a drug that promises to give her a younger, more beautiful version of herself. Like Adams and Bassett, though, the timing of her nomination was difficult, as it put her up against breakout star Mikey Madison. Still, Moore’s lack of an Oscar win continues to frustrate fans.
Glenn Close
As a three-time Emmy, Tony, and Golden Globe winner, one would just assume Close has an Oscar to her name as well. However, despite a staggering eight Oscar nominations, Close has never won. She’s one of those actresses who disappears into her role, playing each with such passion and conviction that she’s magnetic. Some of her nominations easily could’ve been wins, such as her shocking and horrifyingly intriguing performance as a spiraling erotomaniac in Fatal Attraction (1987) or as the determined but rigid “Mawmaw” in Hillbilly Elegy (2020).
Close offered an even more Oscar-deserving performance in Dangerous Liaisons (1988) as the manipulative, vengeful, and provocative Marquise de Merteuil. Like Fatal Attraction, her role in Dangerous Liaisons is horrifying, but in a good way. It’s mesmerizing just how terrifying she can be onscreen, and it’s a skill not many actresses boast. Despite her phenomenal acting skills, Close has yet to win that Oscar.
Jane Powell
Jane Powell was a star in the Golden Age of Hollywood, known for her infectious charm and striking soprano vocals. She shone in numerous MGM musicals, helping lead Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and Royal Wedding (1951) to multiple Oscar nominations, although she received no Best Actress nods for either. I believe her most Oscar-worthy performance was in Royal Wedding. Her voice is simply breathtaking, while her chemistry with Fred Astaire is on point. Her ballad in the film “Too Late Now” also received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.
Unfortunately, like Betty Field, Powell never seemed to gain the recognition she deserved. Aside from her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, she never earned any major film accolades and struggled due to Hollywood typecasting her as “the girl next door.” However, her musical performances have earned her an unforgettable place in Hollywood history.
Liv Ullmann
Critics hail Liv Ullmann as one of the greatest European actresses of all time. She has an incredible ability to evoke emotion through her roles, captivating audiences with her ability to tap so well into complex characters. During her career, she received two Oscar nominations, one for The Emigrants (1971) and another for Face to Face (1976). Both roles were, indeed, Oscar-worthy.
From capturing the difficulty of the immigrant experience in The Emigrants to outdoing herself with the deeply haunting performance of a struggling psychiatrist, Ullmann further established her versatility and ability to dive deep into her characters’ psyches. Her ability to not just physically but also psychologically embody her characters is a true, rare talent. Despite her performances, Ullmann never won a competitive Oscar. Like Bassett, though, she did receive the Academy Honorary Award for her incredible career.
Michelle Williams
With three Golden Globes and an Emmy to her name, one would think Michelle Williams was a shoo-in for an Oscar. However, after five Oscar nominations, she has yet to win. Williams is another actress who is incredibly adept at portraying emotionally complex women, especially those who are dissatisfied and vulnerable. Her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Brokeback Mountain (2005) could have been a win, as she played the betrayed wife, Alma, with a quiet but heartbreaking conviction.
In 2016, Williams dazzled again with her role as Randi in Manchester by the Sea (2016), where she captured a raw but powerful portrayal of a woman rebuilding her life after tragedy. However, the role I think she deserved the Oscar for most was Mitzi in The Fabelmans (2022). Williams stole the show with her performance, beautifully conveying the complex Mitzi as she juggles her larger-than-life persona alongside her own personal turmoil.
Shelley Duvall
Shelley Duvall is one of the best actresses and “Scream Queens” of her time. Yet, she never received so much as an Oscar nomination. Many believe she should have been nominated for an Oscar for her role in The Shining (1980). As Wendy, the wife of a man spiraling into madness, Duvall offered one of the most poignant and convincing depictions of both pure terror and unfathomable courage. Unfortunately, it was only in retrospect that many acknowledged the brilliance of her performance.
Duvall delivered another Oscar-worthy performance in 3 Women (1977), where she showed her knack for playing eccentric, oddball characters like Millie. She nails the role of the confident, but also the somewhat pitiful woman who lives in a fantasy world where society adores her. Duvall contributes beautifully to the surreal exploration of femininity in a role that earned her a BAFTA nomination but still no Oscar nods.
Toni Collette
Toni Collette is a horror icon due to her phenomenal performances in Hereditary (2018) and The Sixth Sense (1999). She earned her sole Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Lynn in The Sixth Sense. Collette played the role of the overwhelmed mother to perfection, contributing to the movie's most moving scenes with her unconditional love for her son, despite his supernatural abilities. As she was up against Angelina Jolie’s performance in Girl, Interrupted (1999), though, Collette did not win the Oscar.
Her best role is arguably as Annie Graham in Hereditary. Colette offered what many critics and audiences hail as one of the best horror performances of all time, capturing a woman’s mental spiral and poignantly exploring the toll of emotional abuse. It’s an intense, chilling, and incredibly Oscar-worthy performance. The fact that Collette received no nomination for Hereditary has even led to discussions of possible horror bias at the Academy Awards.
