10 Really Good Actors Consistently Snubbed By The Oscars

OK, so an Oscar isn't exactly the highest form of recognition an artist in the film industry could ever hope to get (is there even one?). But it certainly is the most popular, and it is an undeniable fact that getting one of those 13.5-inch statuettes could propel any recipient's profile to greater heights in Hollywood.

It is undeniable too, however, that the Academy is notorious for giving Oscars to people who we think don't deserve it, while at the same time snubbing exceptional work by some of the best directors, writers, and actors in the industry. This is the same Academy that waited decades before giving Martin Scorsese an Oscar for a film that is hardly his finest, in light of the better films he's done in the past; the same Academy that gave Kevin Costner an Oscar for one of the most overrated films of the 1990s; and the same Academy that never even bothered to nominate the actors listed below for some of the greatest performances of their career. While some actors turned down roles that eventually won Oscars, these actors gave performances that actually deserved Oscars, but were snubbed by the Academy on countless nomination nights.

1. Gary Oldman

Sure, Oldman does have a propensity to be over the top in his acting, but his first-rate turns in Sid & Nancy, Dracula, The Professional and Murder in the First nevertheless deserve an Oscar nod at the very least. And by the way, he has already proven that he can also play a quiet but dignified character by way of Christopher Nolan's Batman movies.

2. John Cusack

John Cusack is one of the quirkiest actors in Hollywood today, and is also one of its most underrated and unrecognized. Starting with The Grifters, Cusack's list of Oscar-worthy but Oscar-overlooked performances continued with Grosse Pointe Blank, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity and Grace is Gone.

3. Jim Carrey

Yes, Jim Carrey can act, whether you like it or not. Forget Ace Ventura and all those dumb movies that made him one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood at one point in time. Just think of his memorable take on Andy Kaufman, one of the most eccentric comedians of all time, in Man on The Moon, and his surprisingly restrained performances in The Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He ought to have been given an Oscar straight away if only for his success at keeping his hyperkinetic act in check.

4. Christian Bale

Christian Bale is hypnotic as the obsessed, narcissistic Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, but the hypnosis was lost on Academy voters. The same goes for his performances in such films as The Machinist and more recently, Rescue Dawn, where he played a pilot shot down over Laos during the Vietnam War.

5. Matthew Broderick

Not too many people realize that Matthew Broderick is one hell of an actor. It's just too bad that he's closely identified with relatively light cinema fare that people tend to forget that he did display great acting chops in such movies as Glory, You Can Count On Me and my personal favorite, Election.

6. Kevin Bacon

Over the years, Kevin Bacon has been piling up one notable performance after another in films like Apollo 13, A Few Good Men, and JFK, all of which were overlooked by Oscar. Even his most compelling turn in The Woodsman, where he plays a convicted child molester trying to live life again after serving 12 years in prison, didn't get so much as a wink from the Academy.

7. Alan Rickman

In his villainous roles, Alan Rickman has consistently been turning in deliciously wicked portrayals. He was exceptional as Eamon de Valera in Michael Collins, and his turn as Judge Turpin in Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street generated lots of Oscar talk. Unfortunately, all that Oscar talk was just that: talk.

8. Dennis Quaid

There's this one small movie from 1998 called Savior that boasts what I believe to be Dennis Quaid's most moving performance, that of a former Marine turned ruthless sniper during the Bosnian War seeking redemption. Unfortunately, very few people saw it, and I doubt if any of the Academy voters even knew it existed, and they missed out on something really good. Anyway, they also overlooked Quaid's closeted gay husband in Far From Heaven four years later, so what else is new?

9. Daniel Craig

It was bad enough that Daniel Craig didn't get a nod for his maniacal Connor Rooney in The Road to Perdition or his portrayal of a philandering Ted Hughes in Sylvia, but to be ignored by the Academy for his reinvention of the James Bond character in Casino Royale is just a bit too much. He should at least have been nominated for making the usually 2-dimensional secret agent seem more human.

10. Steve Buscemi

Steve Buscemi is one great actor who turns in one unforgettable performance after another even in the really bad movies he's decided to make. And when he does appear in really good movies like Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, and the excellent Ghost World, he's absolutely brilliant. So why hasn't he been nominated yet? Is it the way he looks? But Academy members nominated Edward James Olmos once, didn't they?

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EW TheBootyMaster SinemaBlog DebbieSchlussel AmericanRhetoric LASplash HollywoodChicago CrankyCritic Collider RottenTomatoes

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