In 2025, actors like Timothée Chalamet, Ralph Fiennes and more are hoping to finally land their first Oscar after many nominations over the years.
That said, however, it did take Leonardo DiCaprio six nods to get the Academy Award, so actors do have to find patience with the award show process and keep picking good movie roles. Only time will tell!
Let’s see which beloved stars with frequent nominations have not yet won an Oscar.
A version of this article was originally published on Jan 2019.
Demi Moore
We can hardly believe that after such a lengthy career in Hollywood, Demi Moore’s 2025 Oscar nomination for The Substance is her first time getting recognized at the Academy Awards.
After winning a Golden Globe for the role, Moore is a strong contender to take home the Best Actress award.
Timothée Chalamet
Timothée Chalamet became the youngest two-time Best Actor nominee when he was nominated for his role as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown in 2025.
Chalamet previously became one of the youngest nominees in Oscar history at the 2018 Oscars when, at just 22, he was nominated for his role in Call Me By Your Name.
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes’ 2025 Best Actor nomination for his role in Conclave is his third nomination and first in almost two decades.
In 1994, Fiennes was nominated for his supporting role in Schindler’s List. In 1997, he missed out on a win for his leading role in The English Patient.
Edward Norton
Edward Norton scored two Oscar nominations in the 1990s with Primal Fear and American History X. He didn’t return to the big show until 2014’s Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and the film went on to win Best Picture.
We don’t know what the Academy missed during Birdman because his character’s epic tanning booth fight with actor Michael Keaton is a delicious gem.
However, Norton is going for a fourth attempt at the 2025 Oscars after landing a nomination for his supporting role in Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown.
Glenn Close
Glenn Close is an eight-time Oscar nominee and overdue for the honor. However, anyone can look back at Albert Nobbs, The Big Chill, and Fatal Attraction and know Close is one of the greatest actresses of her time.
Tom Cruise
While Tom Cruise‘s hit Top Gun: Maverick managed to land him a Best Picture nomination at the 2023 Oscars, it had been a total of 24 years since the actor was last nominated for an Oscar, for Magnolia, considered by many film critics to be his finest role to date. He was on a hot streak earlier in his career with a string of well-received successes, like Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire. Despite his action-packet career pivot, we still can’t believe he doesn’t have an Oscar on his mantle.
Angela Bassett
Besides acquiring a mean set of biceps for her role as Tina Turner in What’s Love Got To Do With It?,Angela Bassett turned in the finest performance of her career with no Oscar win. The award in 1994 went to Holly Hunter for The Piano.
Back in 2019, Bassett admitted on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen that she deserved that Oscar after he read a comment from a fan who believed she should have won. “Yeah, me too,” she laughed.
In last year’s awards, fans of Bassett and critics alike deemed her loss for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever another major snub. The award was given to Jamie Lee Curtis for Everything Everywhere All at Once instead.
Bassett did win a very well deserved honorary Oscar in 2024 and we’re glad she did but, seriously, lets get this woman an award in the main show one of these days!
Bradley Cooper
What’s it going to take for Bradley Cooper to win his Oscar? He has not only been nominated in the acting categories but has also branched out to other categories, like Best Picture in his producer roles for Joker and one for assisting in screenwriting for the 2019 hit A Star Is Born.
In 2024, Cooper earned a series of nominations yet again including Best Picture and Best Actor for his many roles in creating Maestro. However, he again failed to secure a win.
Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams has given us consistently gut-wrenching performances over the years, from Brokeback Mountain to Manchester by the Sea. She speaks her heartbreak through her facial expressions without ever uttering a word. So how is it possible she doesn’t have an Oscar yet?
Over the years, she’s stacked five Best Actress nominations in multiple roles, including for The Fabelmans in 2023, but has yet to become an Oscar winner.
Harrison Ford
The Academy tends to overlook action stars when it comes to nominations. It’s hard to believe that Ford’s turns as Indiana Jones or Han Solo never earned him an Oscar — he’s managed the right balance of dramatic and funny in those roles.
Ford does have one solitary nomination, back in 1985 for Witness. Will he ever see another nomination again? We sure hope so!
Amy Adams
When will we be able to put Amy Adams on the Oscar winner list? She nailed her powerful role in American Hustle and The Fighter, and our patience is wearing thin with the Academy. The Academy needs to take a closer look at Adams’ nuanced performances. She makes those accents look easy, but they are anything but.
Annette Bening
Nobody, and we mean nobody, has had a better on-camera meltdown than Annette Bening in American Beauty. Her flawless execution of the scene screams Oscar, but Bening has lost all four times she’s been nominated. In fact, she lost to Hilary Swank in both 1999 and 2004.
In 2024, Bening missed out the coveted award yet again for her role in Nyad.
Sigourney Weaver
There is no one more badass than Sigourney Weaver in Alien. We think Ellen Ripley paved the way for Linda Hamilton’s character in The Terminator, and Weaver got an Oscar nod for blazing that trail.
Weaver was even one of the rare nominees to get two nominations in a single year — 1988’s Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl. Sadly, she didn’t walk away with either Oscar that night.
As baffling as it may seem, Weaver has yet to land another Oscar nod since!
Kirsten Dunst
Ever since she hit superstardom after co-starring in Interview with the Vampire and Little Women in 1994, we knew Kirsten Dunst was destined for greatness. Despite decades in the industry, though, she’s only been nominated once for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in the 2021 film The Power of the Dog. We’re sure some more nods will be coming soon!
Margot Robbie
While we’re still not over Margot Robbie being snubbed for a Best Actress nominated at the 2024 Oscars for her role in Barbie, Robbie has luckily received a couple of nods over the years.
Her nominated roles include I, Tonya and Bombshell, even though she totally deserved more for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Wolf of Wall Street and Mary Queen of Scots.
Saoirse Ronan
Okay, we know Saoirse Ronan is only 29 years old, but this 29-year-old has already been nominated for four Oscars, and we seriously want to see her win one soon! Ever since 2007, she’s been nominated for her roles in Atonement, Brooklyn, Lady Bird, and Little Women. We’re confident her success streak will only continue in the next few years!
Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe has been nominated for four Oscars, with three being for his supporting roles in Platoon, Shadow of the Vampire, and The Florida Project. Most recently, he was nominated in 2019 for his leading performance in At Eternity’s Gate but lost to Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody.
At this year’s awards, while he didn’t land an acting nod, Poor Things is nominated for Best Motion Picture.
Taraji P. Henson
We all know Taraji P. Henson was nominated for her supporting role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button back in 2009, but we’ll say it: she absolutely should’ve gotten another nod for her role in Hidden Figures and this year’s The Color Purple. A true Hollywood legend!
Salma Hayek
We are so tired of Salma Hayek being overlooked by the Academy. She was nominated only one time back in 2003, for her incredible role in Frida, but hasn’t been nominated since?! How?! We’re still not over when they snubbed her for her role in House of Gucci.
Carey Mulligan
Nominated this year for her role in Maestro, Carey Mulligan could be close to winning her first-ever Oscar. Prior to this year’s nod, she got nominations for her roles in Promising Young Woman and An Education. Could this year prove third time’s a charm?
Samuel L. Jackson
As a living legend of Hollywood, we’re all shocked to hear that Samuel L. Jackson has yet to receive an Oscar for acting and only received one nod from the Academy over the years. To correct that mistake, however, he received an honorary Academy Award back in 2022 for lifetime achievement at the Governors Awards.
Toni Collette
From About a Boy to Hereditary and Glass Onion, Toni Collette has proved just how versatile she is as an actress the years. And while her acting has garnered fans across the world, she’s yet to take a statue home. In fact, she’s only been nominated for an Oscar once, for Best Supporting Actress in The Sixth Sense in 2000.
Scarlett Johansson
Speaking on another Hollywood powerhouse, Scarlett Johansson made history at the 2020 Academy Awards after receiving two nominations in two different categories: Best Supporting Actress for Jojo Rabbit and Best Actress for Marriage Story. But, despite the impressive feat, Johansson didn’t take home any award that night and hasn’t landed another nomination since.
Emily Blunt
Though she didn’t end up taking home the award, we were shocked that her 2024 Best Supporting Actress for her role in Oppenheimer was Emily Blunt’s very first nomination. After all, Blunt has already played some incredible characters in The Quiet Place, The Devil Wears Prada and Salmon Fishing in Yemen.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp has embodied some memorable roles over the years (from Captain Jack Sparrow to Willy Wonka) and has yet to receive an Oscar for them. Depp has been nominated three times over the years for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2004, Finding Neverland in 2005 and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 2008.
James McAvoy
With incredible performances like Atonement and Split under his belt, it’s hard to believe that James McAvoy is not an Oscar winner. Believe it or not, McAvoy has yet to receive a nomination either! Bizarre, right?
Liam Neeson
While we may think of Liam Neeson as purely an action star, Neeson has starred in quite a few Oscar-worthy movies throughout his career. Among the highlights, of course, are his roles in Schindler’s List and Kinsey.
In 1994, he received his first and only nomination for Schindler’s List but ended up losing to Tom Hanks in Philadelphia.
Ewan McGregor
Speaking of Oscar-worthy actors, Ewan McGregor is another actor we could’ve sworn already had an Oscar in his mantle. From roles in Moulin Rouge!, August: Osage County and Trainspotting, it’s shocking to learn he’s never even been nominated for an Oscar before award.
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