With award season upon us, you’ve likely seen headlines about who is and isn’t nominated, what should and shouldn’t win, and so on and so forth. It feels like a lot of the same people win awards. It’s mostly straight, white, A-list men, while women, people of color and other minorities applaud from the crowd year after year. Although, we are slowly — emphasis on slowly —starting to see more representationand recognition emerge for groups of people who went without it for years in Hollywood.
Who knows what will happen at the show this year or who will bring home an award. Ahead ofthis year’s ceremony,you may be surprised to know that there are several A-list actors that you may think have won several awards, but haven’t even come close. Some have only been nominated once, and many didn’t even win.
18Harrison Ford
Harrison Fordis an extremely famous actor with a long catalog of roles behind his name. He’s a cultural icon, specifically in the film industry, and is immediately recognizable on screen. He’s best known for playing Han Solo in theStar Warsfranchise andIndiana Jones. But he also starred inBlade Runner, Jack Ryan, Ender’s Game, The Fugitive, Air Force One,and the new western drama on Paramount+,1923.
With such an extensive filmography, you may be surprised to see Ford on this list of actors with only one Oscar nomination. But he was only nominated once, at the 1986 ceremony for Best Actor in the 1985 movieWitness. Witnessis a crime thriller about a police detective (Ford) who is tasked with protecting an Amish woman and her son after they witness a murder at a train station. Witness was a well-received movie, with critics noting Ford’s performance, however at the Academy Awards Ford lost to William Hurt for his performance inKiss of the Spider Womanand hasn’t been nominated again since.
17Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlbergis known as a very versatile, well-rounded actor, with roles spanning comedy, drama and action. He’s starred in major movies likeA Perfect Storm, The Departed, The Fighter, Ted, twoTransformersmovies,Patriots DayandThe Other Guys.He’s also done some work as an executive producer on shows likeEntourage, Boardwalk Empire, and the2020 documentaryMcMillions.
Wahlberg is an A-Lister and his movies always draw big crowds, but he somehow only has one Oscar nomination. He was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance inThe Departed, but was beaten by Alan Arkin for his performance inLittle Miss Sunshine. Wahlberg also starred inThe Fighter, which wasnominated for Best Pictureat the 2011 Oscars, but lost toThe King’s Speech. Other than that, Wahlberg hasn’t been nominated for another Oscar since.
16Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucciis a beloved actor with great range who always stands out on screen, even if he’s just playing a supporting character. He’s starred in movies likeBurlesque, The Lovely Bones, The Devil Wears Prada, Prizzi’s Honor, Easy A,andThe Hunger Games. He’s also done voice work in animated movies likeRobots, Space Chimps,andThe Tale of Despereaux.
Despite all the outstanding performances Tucci has given over the span of his career, he has just one Oscar nomination. He received it for Best Supporting Actor at the 2010 awards for his role inThe Lovely Bones. The Lovely Bonesis a fantastic movie based on Alice Sebold’s novel of the same name about a girl who is murdered and watches over her family from a supernatural “in-between” space and deals with feeling torn between seeking vengeance on her killer (Tucci) and moving on to allow her family space to heal.The Lovely Bonesreceived generally mixed reviews, but most people found it to be enjoyable. However, Tucci lost to Christoph Waltz for his performance inInglourious Basterds.
15Uma Thurman
Uma Thurmanis also a very versatile actress who has taken on roles in a variety of genres including romantic comedies, dramas, action and sci-fi movies. She’s well-known for her roles inPulp Fiction, Kill Bill: Volume 1and2, Batman & Robin, andPercy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. She’s an iconic actress who brought characters like Poison Ivy, Pulp Fiction’s Mia Wallace and Kill Bill’s The Bride to life in ways that are still talked about today.
All that said, Thurman has just one Oscar nomination. She received the nomination for Best Supporting Actress inPulp Fictionat the 1995 Oscars. She lost to Dianne Wiest for her performance in Bullets over Broadway and hasn’t been nominated again since.
Related:10 Movies That Were Nominated for Oscars and Razzies in the Same Year
14Florence Pugh
Florence Pughis newer to the major film scene, but she’s quickly established herself as a dynamic powerhouse, bringing her talents to a range of movies in genres like horror, drama, action, romance, and comedy. She’s held roles inLittle Women, Don’t Worry Darling, Midsommar, Malevolent, The Wonder, andBlack Widow. She’s also set to appear inDune: Part 2, which releases later this year.
Although Pugh doesn’t have as extensive of a portfolio yet as some of the other names on this list do, she’s still established herself as a major star capable of pulling big audiences. That said, she has just one Oscar nomination — for Best Supporting Actress for her role inLittle Women. Pugh ended up losing to Laura Dern for her performance in the drama,Marriage Story. She hasn’t been nominated again since, but it’s likely there’s an Oscar somewhere in her future.
13Lupita Nyong’o
Lupita Nyong’ohas starred in several major movies like12 Years a Slave, Us, Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, andThe Rise of Skywalker. She thrives in every genre she’s cast in, from horror to drama to action and so on. She’s also another actress on this list that doesn’t have a massive filmography, but regardless has established herself as a force to be reckoned with as an actress.
Nyong’o only has one Academy Award nomination — for Best Supporting Actress at the 2014 award ceremony for her performance in12 Years a Slave— which she won. She hasn’t been nominated for another Oscar since, although she’s given outstanding performances in some of her other roles, specifically as Nakia inBlack Pantherand her role in Jordan Peele’sUs.
12Liam Neeson
Liam Neesonis another one of those immediately recognizable actors that have become a kind of cultural icon. His massive filmography includes movies likeSchindler’s List, Les Misérables, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Love Actually, Batman Begins, Non-Stop, and theTakenfranchise. He’s also done voice work inThe Chronicles of Narniafranchise,The Lego Movie, and the English dubbing ofPonyo.
Despite his long list of performances in such major movies, Neeson only has one Oscar nomination. He received it at the 1994 award ceremony for Best Actor for his role inSchindler’s List. He didn’t win the award — Tom Hanks did for his performance inPhiladelphia— but either way, he hasn’t been nominated for an Oscar again ever since.
11Bill Murray
There likely aren’t many people who don’t know whoBill Murrayis or who haven’t seen one of his movies. Murray’s career is primarily in the comedy genre, and he’s starred in movies likeCaddyshack, Tootsie, the Ghostbusters franchise, Scrooged, Groundhog Day, The Royal Tenenbaums, Lost in Translation, andThe Monument’s Men.He’s also given voice performances inGarfield: The Movie, Fantastic Mr. Foxand the 2016 remake ofThe Jungle Book.
Murray is an A-Lister with a massive fan base, but despite his box office pull and massive film portfolio, he’s only received one Oscar nomination. It was for Best Actor at the 2004 award ceremony for his performance inLost in Translation. He unfortunately lost to Sean Penn for his role inMystic Riverand hasn’t received another Oscar nomination since then.
10Eddie Murphy
Well-known actor and comedianEddie Murphyhas had a wide-spanning career making us laugh for years now. He rose to fame onSaturday Night Liveand has also performed in his own stand-up comedy specials. Murphy has starred in hits likeTrading Places, theBeverly Hills Copfranchise,Mulan, Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, Dr. Dolittle, The Haunted Mansion, Daddy Day Care, theShrekfranchise and the new Netflix originalYou People.
Like everyone else on this list, though, Murphy’s extensive filmography hasn’t transferred over to Academy Awards as he has just one nomination. He received it at the 2007 awards for Best Supporting Actor for his role inDreamgirls— the same year Mark Wahlberg was nominated forThe Departedand both were beaten by Alan Arkin inLittle Miss Sunshine.
9Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaugheyfirst became known for his roles in romantic comedies in movies likeHow to Lose a Guy in 10 DaysandThe Wedding Planner. But he eventually expanded his horizons and has taken on more dramatic roles along with the occasional comedy. He’s starred in a long list of movies includingDazed and Confused, Dallas Buyers Club, Mud, Interstellar, Gold, Magic Mike, The Wolf of Wall Street, andBernie.
McConaughey is an A-Lister with the power to bring people out to see his movies, regardless of what they’re about or what genre they are, simply because people like him. All that said, he has just one Oscar nomination. He received the nomination at the 2014 award ceremony for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance inDallas Buyers Club. McConaughey won the award — and it was well-deserved as his performance really was stellar. His supporting actor in the movie, Jared Leto, also won an Oscar that night, too.
