With the Oscars right around the corner this Sunday, March 2, we’re sure you’re getting ready to root for your favorite performances of the year. But, just like any year, the winners might actually surprise you – be that good or bad.
The Oscars is always filled with some shocking moments — from streaking on stage to outrageous fashion — but some of those shocks come in the form of major award snubs.
Sure, there have been some winners in the past that we’ve applauded endlessly, like Michelle Yeoh’s historic win in 2023, but some wins have left us disappointed too. After all, we sure weren’t the only ones confused when Angela Bassett didn’t win her Oscar for Black Panther a few years ago, right? Or what about when Ralph Fiennes, who’s also nominated this year for Conclave, didn’t take home the statuette for Schindler’s List back in 1994?
As it turns out, the Academy has had quite a few misses over the years, including snubbing some of the most known actors in the world, and most timeless and classic movies.
Check out all the Oscars snubs we’re still not over below:
Alfred Hitchcock
With movies like Psycho, Vertigo and The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most revered directors in movie history. Over the years, he scored five Oscar Best Director nominations, including ones for Psycho, Rear Window, Spellbound, Lifeboat and Rebecca. Despite all his success, he never won the statuette.
Instead, he was awarded the honorary Oscar with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1968.
‘Citizen Kane’
To this day, 1941’s Citizen Kane, which was directed, written and starred by Orson Welles, is known as one of the best movies of all time.
However, despite being nominated for Best Picture, How Green Was My Valley won the award instead. Safe to say one movie stood the test of time while the other surely didn’t.
‘Brokeback Mountain’
Speaking of movies that deserved more, 2005’s Brokeback Mountain was a beautiful genre-provoking film that was nominated for an impressive nine Oscars. But while the movie did score some wins with Best Directing for Ang Lee, Best Original Score and Best Adapted Screenplay, the movie was snubbed in the Best Picture category.
Instead, the controversial movie Crash won Best Picture. History has yet to forgive voters for this one.
‘Saving Private Ryan’
Another major Best Picture injustice happened a few years earlier at the 1999 Academy Awards with Saving Private Ryan. While Steven Spielberg did score Best Director, the World War II epic failed to score any acting wins or Best Picture.
Shakespeare in Love won Best Picture instead. According to many, the snub shined a light on the ruthless Oscar campaigning going on behind the scenes. In other words, Shakespeare in Love winning over Saving Private Ryan left people so confused, that everyone went digging for answers.
Peter O’Toole
Throughout his decades-long career, Peter O’Toole was nominated for eight Academy Awards. Most notably, he was nominated for Lawrence of Arabia in 1963, a movie that still has a place in many people’s “Best Movies of All Time” lists.
After eight disappointing losses, O’Toole was awarded an Honorary Award from the Academy in 2003.
Ralph Fiennes
Another moment that left fans outraged was when Ralph Fiennes lost the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Award for his role in Schindler’s List in 1994. Tommy Lee Jones won for his role in The Fugitive instead.
Fiennes is also nominated in 2025 in the Leading Actor category for his role in Conclave.
‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’
Whether you were a kid in the 80s or not, you know that Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial marked generations to come. That acclaim is reflected in the nominations too. The movie was nominated for nine Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture.
On the big day, however, the movie scored only the technical categories and was snubbed in all the big ones. Gandhi ended up winning Best Picture.
Glenn Close
Glenn Close may be a living Hollywood legend, but she’s yet to win an Oscar to display on her mantle. Over the years, she’s scored eight Oscar nominations and become the actress who’s had the most nominations without any wins.
Notably, fans agree that she was snubbed for one of her most famous roles, in her role as Alex in Fatal Attraction. Cher won for her role in Moonstruck instead.
Angela Bassett
Another star who fans will always go to bat for is Angela Bassett. According to many, the actress should’ve won for her role in 1994’s Tina Turner biopic, What’s Love Got to Do with It. In 2023, she was nominated again for her role in Black Panther but before the Academy could right their wrong, Jamie Lee Curtis won for Everything Everywhere All at Once instead.
In 2024, Bassett was an Honorary Oscar.
‘The Shawshank Redemption’
The Shawshank Redemption, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, is considered to be one of the best prison movies of all time. But when they left the 1995 Oscars, the movie and its cast and crew left empty-handed despite seven nominations.
Forrest Gump won Best Picture instead. Another classic though, right?
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick is another director who was notoriously snubbed throughout his career. With legendary movies like Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Barry Lyndon, he garnered 13 Oscar nominations and only one win, for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects in 1969. All his Best Director nods were surely snubbed.
Judy Garland
Judy Garland’s iconic movies like Meet Me in St. Louis, A Star Is Born and Judgment at Nuremberg, may be classics, but the late actress never won a Best Actress Oscar. She was nominated twice in 1955 for A Star Is Born and in 1962 for Judgment at Nuremberg but did not take the win. In 1940, however, she did win the Juvenile Award for her early work.
Funnily enough, Reneé Zellweger won an Oscar for portraying Judy Garland in her 2020 biopic, Judy.
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