It's no secret that the Academy Awards definitely favor certain genres over others. Dramas are their obvious favorites, with comedies (but only certain kinds of comedies) being the types of films that land the vast majority of acting nominations come Oscar time. If you're performing in any other genre, such as sci-fi or horror, you generally have an uphill battle in front of you. It's not impossible, just less likely. Action movies aren't really the types of movies one thinks of when it comes to Oscar-caliber performances, but a handful of them have seen Oscar success.
Raiders of the Lost Ark and Mad Max: Fury Road, for example, were both Best Picture nominees in their given years, and Tommy Lee Jones and Heath Ledger are among those who have won for action movies, with both winning Best Supporting Actor statues for The Fugitive and The Dark Knight, respectively. Let's take a look at a few other performances in action movies that weren't Oscar nominees, but would have been just as worthy had they been nominated.
7 Chris Hemsworth - Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Many actors have won an Oscar off the strength of just one incredible scene, and it's one incredible scene that makes Chris Hemsworth's performance in Avengers: Infinity War Oscar-worthy. Hemsworth is good in all his other scenes, make no mistake, but the scene where Thor recounts all the family and friends he's lost to Rocket Raccoon features some absolutely incredible acting on Hemsworth's part. We see Hemsworth trying to hide his pain with laughter, to varying degrees of success. The way he delivers the line, "What more could I lose?" ends up hitting with the same force as a heavyweight boxer who just landed a knockout blow.
6 Michael B. Jordan - Black Panther (2018)
Michael B. Jordan received quite a number of accolades for his performance, though his name wasn't called when the 2018 Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominees were announced. It really should have been. Jordan's Erik Killmonger is one of the best and most complex villains the MCU has ever produced. He's given a very sympathetic backstory (his father was killed by his brother, the Black Panther before T'Challa); he has a seemingly altruistic motivation, which, thanks to Jordan's performance, does seem to be genuine and not just a mask for his true goal. Admittedly, he wants to achieve it in a very extreme way, but the best villains are always the ones we want to see succeed. Jordan's best scene is probably the one where he takes the heart-shaped herb and visits the Ancestral Plane, causing him to see not visions of grandeur and power, but a vision of heartbreak and pain. All of this adds up to one special villain performance thanks to the talents of Michael B. Jordan.
5 Sean Connery - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Sean Connery actually received a BAFTA nomination for his performance in this movie, but sadly, that didn't translate to love across the pond when the Academy Awards announced the 1989 Best Supporting Actor nominees. As Henry Jones Sr, father to Indiana Jones, Connery gives a performance very different from the ones we're used to seeing from him. In fact, it's a very comedic performance, though still a wonderful one. Connery's chemistry with Harrison Ford is perfect as the two Joneses play off of each other very well.
Connery's Jones, however, is totally out of his depth when fighting the Nazis, which, as he puts it, is a new experience for him. However, Connery also shows that the elder Jones has a few tricks of his own, such as knowing that the treacherous Elsa Schneider is a Nazi because "she talks in her sleep" or taking out a Nazi fighter plane with a flock of seagulls. Connery also does well with the dramatic moments he's given, such as when Indy chews him out for his Grail obsession, leading to the two of them both discussing Indy's mother and what the Grail truly represents.
4 Judi Dench - Skyfall (2012)
Judi Dench gets perhaps the biggest role she's ever had across her seven appearances as James Bond's boss. In Skyfall, Dench's M is front and center as main villain Raoul Silva targets her for the mistakes of her past. To add more pressure to things, the British government is questioning why they even need the 00 program, viewing it as a relic of the past. The film heavily emphasizes M's role as surrogate mother to both Silva and Bond, all while the mistakes and the fallout of those mistakes continue to pile up. Throughout all of it, Dench gives a magnificent performance. She gets a great dramatic moment when she recites a Tennyson poem at a hearing. Her chemistry with Craig is incredible, really making the whole surrogate mother angle the film is going for work. Her death scene is also fantastic, with her dying in Bond's arms and telling him "I did get one thing right." Magnificent work.
3 Uma Thurman - The Kill Bill Films
Uma Thurman received Golden Globe nominations for both Kill Bill films as well as a BAFTA nomination for Kill Bill Vol 1. Unfortunately, she did not receive what should have been her second Oscar nomination for portraying one of the most memorable characters Quentin Tarantino has ever given us. The Bride (real name of Beatrix Kiddo) is a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, but is very nearly assassinated on the orders of the titular Bill on her wedding day. As a result, The Bride goes on one of the bloodiest rampages of revenge, taking down every member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad along the way.
Physically strong (just look at the way she wields that katana) as well as emotionally strong, Thurman delivers a magnificent performance across both films, though the first is more action-heavy than the second. She conveys loss incredibly well. The Bride was pregnant at the time of her near-assassination, with her child being taken from her. No matter how you look at it, Thurman gives an absolutely brilliant performance across both films and should have gotten an Oscar nomination for at least one of them.
2 Alan Rickman - Die Hard
Despite the many memorable roles in his career, Alan Rickman is sadly on that list of incredible actors who never received a single Oscar nomination. He really should have gotten one for his big screen debut in Die Hard as one of the most memorable movie villains ever. Sophisticated, suave, intelligent, and dangerous, Rickman's Hans Gruber is a different class of villain. Every gesture, every mannerism is just perfect. It's impossible to take your eyes off of Gruber for a single second. He even does a convincing American accent when he's trying to fool John McClane into thinking he's another hostage. Rickman takes what could have been a very forgettable villain (he supposedly pushed the writers to make Gruber the sophisticated baddie we all know and love) and makes him something truly special.
1 Daniel Craig - Casino Royale
The debate will endlessly continue over who is the best overall 007, but as far as individual films go, Daniel Craig's debut performance as cinema's greatest superspy is the best across the entire franchise. Craig received a BAFTA nomination for his performance, but was sadly left off the list when the 2006 Best Actor Oscar nominees were announced. A shame, since Craig brings so much depth to the role of Bond, showing off perfectly how this rookie version of the character is still a blunt instrument and how he eventually becomes the suave spy we all know and love. Craig has no problems with the physical aspects, but the emotional ones are where he truly shines.
His chemistry with Eva Green's Vesper Lynd is perhaps the best between any Bond and Bond Girl, and the scene where he comforts Lynd in the shower really shows a tender side to Bond. Craig is also magnificent in the torture scene where he's tied to a chair, naked, as main villain Le Chiffre whacks his manhood repeatedly with a knotted rope. It's a shame Craig wasn't nominated for his performance, as he finds new depths to explore for a character who had been appearing on-screen for almost half a century when Casino Royale came out.