In 2016, the world seemed to stop when Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar award for his role in The Revenant. Before that fateful night, there were several memes and articles written about how DiCaprio should have gotten an award long before 2016. Films like What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Titanic, and The Great Gatsby were constantly brought up, with fans of DiCaprio calling out unfairness when it came to the actor and winning the most important and dignifying award there is for actors. Fansided stated that DiCaprio has been historically snubbed by the Academy Awards over and over again, receiving a total of five nominations, but only one win in his very successful roster of films and projects. When he received his first and only Oscar for his work on The Revenant, he used that moment on stage to talk about climate change and what we could do as a population to help better the Earth.
The Academy Awards seem to have a pattern of not rewarding amazing actors and actresses for their well-known works and iconic roles that viewers come to love and remember them by. Glenn Close, an actress who has been acting for decades, has been snubbed one too many times by the Awards, with eight nominations in total for Oscars she didn't win. Fatal Attraction, The Big Chill, and Dangerous Liaisons are all roles that fans and viewers remember her most by, and yet, other actresses took home the award those nights. Not saying that those other actresses didn't rightfully deserve the win, but when Glenn Close comes out with zero after years of hard work, it's difficult to believe that they made the right choice. Here is a list of actors and actresses that haven't nabbed an Oscar win, that just might shock you.
6 Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man, and Tony Stark is Robert Downey Jr. It's hard to believe that an actor such as Downey Jr., who has several notable film and television credits under his belt, has never received an Oscar award. When Tony Stark snapped his fingers in the last Avengers movie, viewers reacted with several big emotions at the loss of such a beloved character, Robert Downey Jr delivering the performance of the year for the Marvel franchise. Other than Iron Man, RDJ has played some big characters such as Paul Avery in Zodiac, Charles Chaplin in Chaplin, and Hank Palmer in The Judge.
5 Laurence Fishburne
Similar to RDJ, Laurence Fishburne is extremely notable, not only for his memorable voice, but the way he acts as well. If you remember anything from The Matrix series, it's probably Fishburne's character Morpheus offering Neo (Keanu Reeves) the red or blue pill. As of late, Fishburne is most notably remembered for his recurring role in Freeform's Black-ish, where he plays Pop, the father of Anthony Anderson's character. One of his best roles, that should have landed him an Oscar win was Dap Dunlap in School Daze, working alongside Spike Lee to create a realistic movie about college and fraternities.
4 Amy Adams
Amy Adams joins this list with six Oscar nominations, but not a single win to showcase how amazing and versatile her acting is. The Things state that several people in the film industry say that Adams has been treated unfairly within The Academy, claiming that Adams deserved an Oscar with her first nomination to begin with. Amy Adams transforms herself into each character she portrays, whether it's a princess in Enchanted or Julia Child's protégé in Julie and Julia. She has deserved and proven that she should have the accolades that other actresses/actors have at The Oscars.
3 John Goodman
Once a football star in college, John Goodman is most notably remembered for his role as Dan Conner on the hit show Roseanne. He has an extremely notable voice, whether you recognize it from Monsters Inc. with his iconic role as Sully or even ParaNorman, where he lent his voice to play Mr. Prenderghast. One can't misplace Goodman's voice, or the characters he's portrayed in non-animated films. The Big Lebowski, The Big Easy, Arachnophobia, and The Babe being some of his best movies. It seems that Goodman isn't done just yet with acting, so hopefully he'll be able to win an Oscar for his well-deserved career.
2 Samuel L. Jackson
Like everyone on this list, it's hard to believe that Samuel L Jackson hasn't been honored by The Academy for his decades of influential work. However, in March, Jackson was given an Honorary Academy Award by his longtime friend Denzel Washington at the Governors Awards. At 73, Jackson was finally given credit where credit was due for all that he has given to the film industry, but still, he never has won an Oscar for a specific character that he has played. Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction, Gator Purify in Jungle Fever, and Nick Fury in the Marvel Franchise are all well-known characters of his, and for that, he deserves more respect and recognition.
1 Toni Collette
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For her role in Hereditary, Toni Collette should have won an Oscar for such a performance. Collette has also wowed in films such as Little Miss Sunshine and The Sixth Sense, making a name for herself in the film industry, and joins this list of actors who haven't won an Oscar yet. Her characters such as Gretchen in Velvet Buzzsaw, Joni Thrombey in Knives Out, and Mother in I'm Thinking of Ending Things have proven that she is an extremely versatile actress and can nail any role that comes her way.