Bruce Dern and Mark Ruffalo: Who’s most overdue for an Oscar now?
As you all know by now, plenty of folks in the industry can go a whole career without ever winning an Oscar. As such, that makes for a ton of heavyweights in Hollywood who are very overdue for wins. Much like I did last week with people who have never been nominated, I’m going to be citing today ten actors or actresses who have yet to win Oscars but deserve to already have one on their mantle. All of these previous nominees were in contention at some point this year, believe it or not, and many will hopefully be winners within the next few years. Keep in mind that this is just my humble opinion, but take a look below at who I think is most overdue a little gold man…
Here now are ten actors/actresses who are overdue for an Academy Award:
10. Carey Mulligan – It might surprise a lot of you to know that Mulligan only has one Oscar nomination, for her breakthrough performance in An Education. She seems like she’s been nominated more than that, right? Well, that hasn’t happened, and while Suffragette didn’t do it for her this year, it feels like many more nominations are in her future, and as such, a solid chance at a win. I’d be shocked if she doesn’t wind up with an Oscar one day.
9. Johnny Depp – For a bit, it seemed like Depp was going to finally win for his role this year in Black Mass. Mostly though, it served as a reminder that he’s out there and still without a victory. Depp has a pocket of supporters who always push him when he’s in an awards friendly vehicle, so while I might prefer his recent outings in Kevin Smith movies, he’s probably only one safe prestige project away from getting to that stage.
8. Ellen Page – Another talented actress with only one nomination, she potentially should have won for Juno, but since then has been shut out. Had Freeheld been more of a contender, I think Page not only would have gotten a Best Supporting Actress nomination, she’d have easily been the frontrunner. Her time is still to come, it seems, but never count her out…
7. Will Smith – Much like with Depp, but to a greater extent, it seemed at one point in 2015 like it was finally going to be Smith’s year. Concussion wound up getting shut out, obviously, with Smith’s snub part of a larger problem among who voters choose, but it’s just a matter of time for Smith. He’s too well liked among his peers to be without an Academy Award for too long.
6. Laura Linney – Linney is the sort of veteran actress who often sneaks up to score a nod, but has yet to translate that into a win. Her shot this year with Mr. Holmes always seemed longer than most, but you have to sleep on her at your own risk. Whenever Linney is out there, she’s in the hunt. As such, I’m pretty confident that a win is eventually going to be in her future.
5. Bradley Cooper – After the run of noms that Cooper had up until this year, you have to consider him overdue with the Academy. Especially with David O. Russell, he seems hard to resist. Of course, both Burnt and his Russell project Joy didn’t hit for him, breaking a streak of being up for Oscar, but all that does is make him seem even more due by comparison…
4. Michael Fassbender – It took voters a bit to catch up with Fassbender, but now that he has multiple nominations, it’s only a matter of time until they reward him. Fassbender is up for Best Actor this year for Steve Jobs, but he appears unlikely to win. That being said, he’s now clearly one of the more due actors in Hollywood for an Oscar. Watch out for a win in the next five years, almost certainly. I’d be shocked if it didn’t happen, frankly.
3. Jessica Chastain – Few actresses get snubbed as often over a short period of time as Chastain has been, despite having two citations on her resume already. Perhaps her supporting turn in The Martian was always going to be a hard sell for the Academy, but she’s almost always nomination worthy, regardless of the project. As such, she’s probably the most overdue actress for a win in the business right now…
2. Mark Ruffalo – Each year, we seem to get closer and closer to Ruffalo finally taking the trophy. He has three nominations so far, all in Best Supporting Actor, and seemed prime to win this year for Spotlight. He still might, but it seems more likely that he’ll just come up short. To that end, mark him down as officially hugely overdue for an Academy Award. It’ll happen, Ruffalo just needs to wait a little bit longer.
1. Bruce Dern – Once again, I’m here to make the case that Dern is as overdue an Oscar as anyone in the industry. He only has two nominations in his career, which is a crime in and of itself. At one point, he seemed like the odds on favorite in Supporting Actor this year for his work in The Hateful Eight, but he just got lost in the shuffle. That takes nothing away from his work and I remain fully confident that he’s going to be on stage before too long. He’s just too strong of an actor to be continuously denied.
Honorable Mentions: Tom Cruise, Laura Dern, Ryan Gosling, Michael Keaton, and Rooney Mara.
Source: Hollywoodnews
