Image Credit: Jojo WhildenChristian Bale, c’mon down! After dozens of dedicated, textured, surprising performances — notably Empire of the Sun, Velvet Goldmine, American Psycho, Laurel Canyon, The Machinist, Batman Begins, Rescue Dawn, The Prestige, and 3:10 to Yuma — the Academy has finally recognized the actor for his supporting performance in The Fighter. I’m not going to scream, “It’s about time,” but, well… it is.
The Oscar nod allows us to remove Bale from EW’s list of Greatest Actors Never to Receive a Nomination. Last year, Bale was planted near the top of EW’s criminally never-nominated list, which still includes the likes of Donald Sutherland, Jim Carrey, Richard Gere, and Gary Oldman.
Mark Ruffalo, James Franco, and five other actors joined Bale in celebrating their first Oscar nomination, but clearly, there are many deserving actors and actresses whose phone refuses to ring. Carrey was great in I Love You Phillip Morris. Sam Rockwell was superb in Conviction. Others you take for granted — like Alan Rickman, Dennis Quaid, Peter Sarsgaard, and Jennifer Jason Leigh — because you assume they already received at least one nomination for one of their many amazing past performances. Nope.
So with Bale off the hook, who’s the greatest working actor today still lacking a nomination. Is it Sutherland, who topped our list last year? Or what about Jeff Daniels, Steve Buscemi, Mia Farrow, Eli Wallach, John Turturro, or Brian Cox.
Whose omission is the biggest crime? And who is most likely to get off this notorious list next year?
Read more:
2011 Oscar nominees
Oscar react: David Fincher, Mark Wahlberg, and other nominees weigh in
Oscar nominations: The 5 biggest surprises
Oscar snubs: Christopher Nolan? Ryan Gosling? Barbara Hershey?
GARY OLDMAN.
TRUTH.
absolutely, he consistently gives incredible performances, the only times I cringed for him was his part in the Harry Potter movies which are unwatchable
The HP films are far from watchable, if it’s a genre you’re interested in, which you clearly are not. Especially the ones that feature Oldman as Sirius. On topic, Oldman, Rockwell, and Buscemi never getting nominated is criminal. Oldman in Sid & Nancy, Rockwell for Moon, and Buscemi for Ghost World are first-rate snubs.
How many guys could play Sid Vicious, Dracula, Beethoven, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Sirius Black with equal excellence?
Totally agree. Along with Alan Rickman and Harrison Ford.
Harrison Ford was nominated for Witness in 1985.
harrison ford witness 1985
exactly! The first person that came to mind when i read the title of this post.
What! Gary Oldman is a great Serius Black! If you read the books, you would appreciate his performance.
hands down. There has been a few times I didn’t even realize I was watching him in a role till the credits rolled, he sinks into these performances that deeply.
Seeing as how Gary Oldman is the namesake for the All-Star team of actors who’ve never had Oscar noms, he HAS to be the guy!
Definitely agree that Gary Oldman has to be at the top of the “snubbed list” – so many great performances, and I didn’t even see anyone mention his brief but mesmerizing part in ‘True Romance’ playing a sadistic white pimp who thinks he’s black…
Re-watch “The Professional” for Oldman unhinged. Wild!
Yes Yes Yes….he is a classic nut in that one..I hate how underrated he and Donald Sutherland are.
Absolutley!!!! JFK too. He almost always plays the wierdo. ex. Fifth Element. But he is Grrreat. Tony the Tiger
YES! I just rewatched The Professional/Leon this weekend. He was amazing in it. Even in movies that are terrible (cough **The 5th Element**cough), he’s amazing.
EEEVVVVVEEERRRRYYYYYOOOOONNNNEEEEEE!!!!!
Yes! Definitely!
Yep, he’s my nominee. After him I’d list Alan Rickman.
Honestly, I assumed both Oldman and Rickman had been nominated and am shocked (SHOCKED!) to learn neither has. This is not acceptable.
I was shocked too. I thought at least Alan Rickman would have been nominated for a supporting role.
WORD.
Mark Ruffalo should have been nominated. This guy has been overlooked too many times. I do like Christian Bale as an actor, but in my opinion, Mark Ruffalo should have been nominated over him.
They were both nominated…
Michael Sheen
Michael has bene nominated.
…actually, he hasn’t…and it’s an EXCELLENT call.
AMEN! He was overlooked for both ‘The Queen’ and ‘Frost/Nixon,’ though his costars (Helen Mirren and Frank Langella, respectively) got nods.
Excellent call. Michael Sheen raises the performances of everyone around him.
I think you mean Michael Biehn.
@C Men – I hope you are joking but if you aren’t, they do mean Michael Sheen. He played Lucius (I think) in “Underworld” & “U:Rise of the Lycans” and the tweens would know him from the Twilight series as Aro.
@ mari – yeah that sounds like a great resume for an Oscar. Michael Biehn is way better than that guy.
Michael Sheen was incredible in The Queen. I had no idea who he was before that film and I was seriously mesmerized by his performance. That sounds corny, but he totally made that movie, and complimented Helen Mirren’s performance so well.
He should have been nominated for Frost/Nixon, too.
I was more excited to see him show up in New Moon than any of those waxed chested hotties. Bring on the pasty Brits!
Excellent call with Michael Sheen. He was even incredible in that Underworld prequel. Seriously, here is a guy who can elevate absolutely any material into something watcheable.
THIS. Great call.
Everyone agrees Michael Sheen is a great choice, but I think the Sheen who deserves it even more is Martin. He’s had an astonishingly prolific career, with highlights like his debut in “The Subject Was Roses” to “Badlands” to “Apocalypse Now” – in my opinion, the most underrated actor of the seventies. And my personal favourite – the drunk he portrayed in 1982′s “That Championship Season”, when I became convinced that the four foot ten inch Sheen had actually been a championship basketball player!
Members of the Academy, please don’t hold his parenting of Charlie Sheen against him.
Gary and Alan, no doubt about it.
I thought it was a crime he’d never won one, let alone been nominated. How is that possible?
Gary Oldman that is.
Seriously. How has he never been nominated?!
Yes. First name that popped into my head.
Absolutely Gary Oldman.
AGREED.
(About Gary Oldman, if that wasn’t clear.)
agreed. Oldman. Too many great performances to mention
Absolutely.
Has Ryan Gosling been nominated?
yes, Best Actor for half nelson
Yes, he was nominated for Half Nelson a few years ago.
Jennifer Jason Leigh being overlooked so many times makes me the most upset. Aslo Steve Buscemi, Mia Farrow, Isabelle Huppert, and pretty much every comedian ever.
Steve Buscemi should have been nominated for Fargo…he was soooo great in that!
and ghost world
Alan Rickman has never been nominated?? REALLY? Wow!
This is wrong. He won twice for his role as Hans Gruber.
Rickman has never been nominated.
Not only has Rickman never been nominated, but how could it even be possible to win twice for a role that was only in one film???
Um, hello? Hans Gruber also appears in a two second flashback in Die Hard with a Vengeance. Duh!
Jeez you guys are easy.
He won Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. He was that good in Die Hard. Plus I’m pretty sure he was nominated for sound editing for that movie too.
bwhahaha to this whole conversation
all of those listed are deserving
how has donald sutherland never been nominated? that’s amazing to me.
I know! Dude was in MASH for goodness sake!
I actually thought he may have been nominated for both MASH and Klute. Definitely an actor who should have been nominated somewhere along the line.
John Cusack
AGREE! He is AMAZING!
Another good one. He was the only one of the threesome not nominated for Grifters.
I think that Cusack should have been nominated for Being John Malkovich
Agree – he is great
Donald Sutherland, definitely. I just assumed he had been nominated. I’ve always liked him.
Ewan McGregor
Oh man, Ewan is a good one. Im honestly shocked he wasn’t nominated for Moulin Rouge…he wasn’t was he??
No. Never nominated. Not for Moulin Rouge. Not even Trainspotting.
Seriously. Love.That.Man.
This of how bad the Star Wars prequels would have been if he wasn’t in them.
ewan macgregor
Didn’t Ewan get nominated for the musical with Nikole Kidman?
Good call! He was great in Moulin Rouge, and this year he and Jim Carrey were both worthy for “I Love You, Phillip Morris.”
Having said that, I agree with everyone above that Gary Oldman is number 1 in this category. He is excellent in everything he does
sam rockwell
I’m so with you on the Sam Rockwell suggestion! He made a movie with just him and a robot not just watchable but mesmerizing.
Sam Rockwell really deserved a nomination for Moon. Gary Oldman in just about everything he had done.
Especially The Scarlett Letter.
Even Frost/Nixon would have been a good supporting role nomination for Rockwell.
“Frost/Nixon” turned out to be a breeding ground for great actors without Oscar noms:
Rockwell, Bacon, Sheen…you could even throw in Oliver Platt, if you want.
Kurt Russell (pretty much excellent in everything he’s been in), and Kevin Bacon (decades of solid-to-great work).
Kevin Bacon – good call!
Wasn’t Kevin Bacon nominated for Murder in the First?
No he was not nominated for Murder in the First. That’s why he’s in the conversation. If he had been nominated he wouldn’t be eligible for the list of best actors without Oscar noms.
How Kurt Russel didn’t get a nom for his role as Gabriel Cash is perhaps the biggest mystery in the world.
Ha! Touche. (Though I’d say that pretty much every actor has a “Gabriel Cash” role on his or her resume.)
Oh Kevin Bacon, great call! His work in The Woodsman was astounding.
I thought “The Woodsman” was going to be it for him (in terms of finally getting him an Oscar nom).
Oh well. The good news is that it doesn’t seem like he’s going to stop working anytime soon, so there’s always a chance. (Even if it’s a late-career pity nod.)
Kevin should have received a nom for his best role ever in “Taking Chance”!
Russell can do anything – drama, comedy, action – and he’s believable every moment he’s on screen. He needs a great role soon so this can be rectified.
Yep.
It seems like Russell’s main problem (other than not having a super-showy/signature role) is that he makes it look kind of easy.
* I should clarify: Russell clearly has a signature role…it’s just that Snake Plissken is not usually the stuff Oscars are made of.
Bacon was also the highlight of the great “Diner” cast, no small feat. I often think if that had he been nominated that early in his career, he might have gone on to eighties stardom, then to a incredibly prolific career as a character actor, easily switching between leads and supporting roles, dramas and comedies…
.
…oh, wait a minute….
…not to mention the occasional awesome advertisement.
Rickman! Good one.
Wow, lots of great people. Sam Rockwell, Alan Rickman, John Cusack, Donald Sutherland, Gary Oldman, Jennifer Jason Leigh — they’re all amazing. (Not quite so keen on some of the others, like Jim Carrey and Richard Gere.)
Carrey should have been nominated for the Truman Show, in my opinion, no matter what people think of his career overall. And he was dead on as Kaufman in Man on the Moon.
Yes, for The Truman Show for sure. Say what you will about his other work but that was a snub in every way. Also I think he was great in Eternal Sunshine.
He breaks my heart in Eternal Sunshine, and was also spectacular in Man on the Moon. As for The Truman Show – it was on tv a few months ago and I’m pleased to report that the film still holds up. Carrey’s great in that.