Awards season: It doesn’t always go the way you think it will! Snafus like 2017’s Moonlight/La La Land mixup have proven that, although sometimes Oscar night surprises are more subtle—snubs, for example. Occasionally, an actor that you could swear is drowning in Academy Awards actually has no wins to their name. Is it fair? No. Should you and all the attendees at your Oscars party fight for hours about why these actors actually deserve the industry’s biggest awards? Yes. Below, find seven Hollywood actors who are surprisingly Oscar-free (despite their many nominations).
Glenn Close
Over the course of her storied career, Close has been nominated a whopping eight times for her roles in films including The Big Chill, Fatal Attraction, and Dangerous Liaisons, but she’s never taken an Oscar home. (Olivia Colman spoiled her most recent bid in 2019.) She’s one of the best-supporting-actress nominees this year for her role in Hillbilly Elegy, however, so maybe her time is nigh.
Liam Neeson
In 1994, Neeson was up for best actor for his career-defining role in the Holocaust drama Schindler’s List (that year’s best-picture winner). When he didn’t win, many considered it a major upset.
Ian McKellen
The recently vaccinated acting legend has been nominated twice, for his roles in Lord of the Rings and Gods and Monsters, but has yet to win one. Don’t cry for him, though; he’s the proud recipient of seven Olivier awards, a Tony, and a Golden Globe.
Annette Bening
Bening has been nominated for an Oscar four times, most recently in the best-actress category for her role in 2011’s The Kids Are All Right, but that was the year she lost out to Natalie Portman for her role in Black Swan.
Samuel L. Jackson
Despite having one of the most recognizable voices in Hollywood, Jackson didn’t win in the best-supporting-actor category when he was nominated for his 1994 performance in Pulp Fiction. Years later, after he failed to get a nod for 2015’s The Hateful Eight, Jackson’s wife, LaTanya Richardson, said that she and her husband had “moved on” from the snub. “I’m disturbed by it all, but we gotta remember: the Oscars is one night,” she added.
Stanley Tucci
Despite memorable roles in films like Julie & Julia and Big Night (which he co-directed with Campbell Scott), Tucci has only been nominated once, for The Lovely Bones; walking away from the 2010 Oscars empty-handed (all the better to cook and eat his way across Italy with). The same role also earned Tucci a BAFTA and Golden Globes nomination.
Sigourney Weaver
Weaver has three Oscar nominations to her name for her roles in Aliens, Working Girl, and Gorillas in the Mist. Securing both of the latter in 1989, she became only the fifth actor ever to receive two acting nominations in the same year—but as of now, she still has no wins.
This story originally appeared Vogue.com
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