# Who now is the best actor/actress without an Oscar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303 "2005-02-28T15:17:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/21 "2005-02-28T20:05:14Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Jude Law (but I’m pretty sure he’ll get one) But only by default. In 2008, I predict that Jude Law will be nominated for all 5 slots of the Best Actor category for 5 different roles. People will be up in arms, as there will be at least 13 other roles for which he should have been nominated for that year. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/22 "2005-02-28T20:12:30Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > Don Cheadle’s performance in _Hotel Rawanda_ was one of the best bits of screen acting I’ve ever seen. We saw that movie on Saturday and I’m still crying. We were rooting for him, but he never had a chance. There’s almost always a pretty strong slate for Best Actor, but honestly I think that Don Cheadle’s performance was possibly the Best Actor in the last five _years_ or so. But it’s possible a lot of people didn’t see the movie; it sure wasn’t easy to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/23 "2005-02-28T20:30:49Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I’m always amazed to see the _X-Men_ movies in which _two_ of the ensemble cast have Oscars… and it’s not Ian McKellen, or Brian Cox, or Patrick Stewart. Sometimes there really is no justice. McKellen doesn’t have an Oscar? Well, hell, there’s your answer right there. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/24 "2005-02-28T21:03:31Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > Don Cheadle’s performance in _Hotel Rawanda_ was one of the best bits of screen acting I’ve ever seen. I agree with this 100% - I would have loved to have seen Don Cheadle win this year (and I not-so-secretly [believed](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5761828&postcount=26) that he would). However, I do take solace in knowing that my all-time favorite actor, Tom Hanks, went on to win two Oscars after not winning for what I (seriously) believe is his best performance (in _Big_ - say what you want, but that was a tough part, and he did it very well). ---
**Author:** ![nevermore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@nevermore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevermore)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/25 "2005-02-28T21:23:28Z")
Natalie Portman. no? well, she’s the hottest. (mmm) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/26 "2005-02-28T22:02:34Z")
> [@mamboman](#): > > D’Oh! Stanley Kubrick, of course,wasn’t an actor and I can’t believe Glen Close hasn’t won one - she was perfectly ubiquitous for a time there in the 80’s. Actually, the one Oscar Kubrick did win (and he did win a competetive one) was the one he didn’t deserve. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/27 "2005-02-28T22:59:15Z")
Am I the first to say Paul Giamatti? He hasn’t even been nominated yet, though. He really should have won for _American Splendor_, and his non-nomination for _Sideways_ was the biggest snub of this Oscar year. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/28 "2005-02-28T23:47:26Z")
Kate Winslet, easy, far and away. Lots of great actors are without Oscars, but she’s better’n any of them. I have mucho respect for Glenn Close, Jeff Bridges, Annette Bening, Ed Harris, et al, but Winslet’s better - in some cases, a LOT better than many of the actors cited so far. She’s one of the ten greatest actresses in the history of cinema. Assuming she stays in acting - bear in mind she’s not even thirty years old - fifty years from now her name will be spoken with the same reverence as Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, and Meryl Streep. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/29 "2005-03-01T00:42:09Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > McKellen doesn’t have an Oscar? Well, hell, there’s your answer right there. Yeah, that’s who I came in to post about, but **Sampiro** beat me to it. He was nominated for Supporting Actor for _Fellowship of the Ring_ but lost out to Jim Broadbent (who I think is great, but dude, McKellen!) Also, I should probably mention that I lost my last bit of faith in the Academy Awards in 1996 when Derek Jacobi (another non-Oscar-winner) didn’t even get nominated for his turn as Claudius in Branagh’s _Hamlet_… (though the RotK sweep restored that bit ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Sparky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Saint\_Sparky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Sparky)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/30 "2005-03-01T05:56:35Z")
Joan Allen is my #1 Choice. Alot of people already mentioned, so I will avoid repeating myself… but also think: Toni Collette, Barbara Hershey, Bette Midler, Lauren Bacall, Lynne Redgrave and Kristen Dunst. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/31 "2005-03-01T06:30:45Z")
Bill Murray. And she wasn’t one I thought of when I saw the thread title, but Kate Winslet, too. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/32 "2005-03-01T07:02:03Z")
> [@Katisha](#): > > Also, I should probably mention that I lost my last bit of faith in the Academy Awards in 1996 when Derek Jacobi (another non-Oscar-winner) didn’t even get nominated for his turn as Claudius in Branagh’s _Hamlet_… The Academy’s still pissed with him, perhaps, for turning down the role of Hannibal Lecter (yep, he did, though I can’t think he’d have done as much with it- he’s as talented as Hopkins but save for being 60 something and British he’s a different type= it’d be like seeing Morgan Freeman take on the role of an Islamic soldier in medieval England or something equally unfeasible.) I second Giamatti’s snub- I thought he was many times better than Church who is for whatever reason getting nominations and awards by several agencies. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/33 "2005-03-01T07:20:45Z")
How about Gary Oldman? One of the best actors ever and he’s never even been nominated for an Oscar. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/34 "2005-03-01T07:26:46Z")
And a trivia question. I originally planned to mention a second actor in my previous post whom I thought had never been nominated: Harvey Keitel. But I found out I was wrong - he had received a single nomination. A prize of no value to the first person who can name what year and the movie Keitel was nominated for without looking it up. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/35 "2005-03-01T07:36:27Z")
I forget the year, but I thought Keitel was nominated for “Mean Streets”. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/36 "2005-03-01T07:37:36Z")
And I was almost not quite entirely wrong as I could possibly be. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/37 "2005-03-01T09:17:48Z")
For females I would say Kate Winslett or Naomi Watts. For the males I would second Edward Norton or Gary Oldman. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/38 "2005-03-01T14:18:34Z")
Was Keitel nominated for the Bad Lt? (No idea the year)! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/39 "2005-03-01T15:37:07Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > And a trivia question. I originally planned to mention a second actor in my previous post whom I thought had never been nominated: Harvey Keitel. But I found out I was wrong - he had received a single nomination. A prize of no value to the first person who can name what year and the movie Keitel was nominated for without looking it up. 1991, _Bugsy_. He may have split the vote that year with his co-star Ben Kingsley. Jack Palance won. Yes, I’m an Oscar geek. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303/40 "2005-03-01T15:38:39Z")
But actually, mention of Keitel brings out the fact that sometimes, the very best actors only get nominations when they’re in big, Oscar-bait, Best Picture nominees. _Bugsy_ & Keitel is one example. Another is the absolutely brilliant **Ian Holm** , who’s only been nominated once, for _Chariots of Fire_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-now-is-the-best-actor-actress-without-an-oscar/292303.md?page=3)