The list of Best Picture winners is short, and exclusive, which means that even some of the most acclaimed, decorated, and generally well-liked actors of all time haven't taken home the grand prize at the Academy Awards. You might be surprised by the number of celebrities we have listed below — many of which have Oscars of their own — that have never starred in a Best Picture winner.
Denzel Washington
As one of a few actors who have two Oscars to their name, you might assume that some of the best Denzel Washington movies were also guaranteed a Best Picture win, right? Surprisingly, the star of Glory and Training Day has never made a movie that won the Academy's big prize, but at least he can say that King Kong still ain’t got nothing on him.
Heath Ledger
If what many consider to be one of the Academy’s greatest mistakes (awarding Crash Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain in 2006) had not happened, Heath Ledger’s name would not be on this list. However, the late Australian actor still left behind a stunning legacy only so many actors can dream of. Notably, he won a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as the Joker in one of the best superhero movies, The Dark Knight.
Christian Bale
Five of Christian Bale’s best movies have been nominated for Best Picture (The Fighter, American Hustle, The Big Short, Vice, and Ford v. Ferrari), but to no avail. At least his performance in The Fighter — David O. Russell’s 2010 boxing biopic — earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
Robert Downey Jr.
It is already hard enough to believe that Robert Downey Jr. has only two Oscar nominations (for Chaplin and Tropic Thunder), and that none of his many great movies outside of the MCU have achieved the highest honor, either. However, things could change at the 2024 Oscars, given his stunning work in the Oppenheimer cast and the promising chances for Christopher Nolan’s glowing biopic.
Toni Collette
Toni Collette is an extraordinarily talented actor with the accolades to prove it, including an Oscar nomination for 1999’s The Sixth Sense. However, the classic M. Night Shyamalan movie is also one of a few Toni Collette movies to be nominated for Best Picture (also including 2006’s Little Miss Sunshine), but she hasn't been in a winner yet.
Will Smith
From TV sitcoms to sci-fi blockbusters to critically acclaimed biopics, Will Smith’s filmography is pretty extraordinary, but it does not include Best Picture winners. If that does change for him soon, he may be unable to celebrate the honor in person. This is because he has been banned from future ceremonies for the next decade after slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars — which also happened to be the night he won Best Actor for King Richard.
Harrison Ford
Two of Harrison Ford's most iconic characters were featured in two Best Picture Nominees -- the original Star Wars movie, where he played Han Solo, and the first Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark -- but neither of them won. At least Ford, who does have an Oscar nomination for fellow Best Picture nominee 1985’s Witness, can say those films, among others, made him one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.
Scarlett Johansson
Some of the most significant films of Scarlett Johansson’s career were Best Pictures nominees — such as her breakthrough role in one of the best movies of the 2000s, Lost in Translation, and her dual Oscar-nominated performances the same year for Jojo Rabbit and Marriage Story. Of course, none of these films took home the top prize.
Ryan Gosling
There was a time when it seemed like Ryan Gosling would not be eligible for a list like this when we thought La La Land won Best Picture in 2017. However, it turned out to be a case of mistaken envelopes and the real winner was Moonlight. The Barbie cast member was also in the nominated film The Big Short, and there are sure to be more Ryan Gosling movies getting Oscar consideration.
Glenn Close
Glenn Close is one of those actors whose longtime losing streak at the Academy Awards — eight nominations, zero wins — continues to baffle audiences. Add on the fact that none of her best movies have won Best Picture either and the notion becomes simply unspeakable.
Jennifer Lawrence
The Academy loves Jennifer Lawrence — nominating her four times and awarding her the Best Actress Oscar for 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook. However, they seem to like her just a bit more than Jennifer Lawrence’s best movies, none of which have received the Best Picture award.
Julia Roberts
I suppose Julia Roberts’ multiple nominations and one win — for Erin Brockovich — had me convinced that she had been in a Best Picture winner at some point. In truth, said biopic from 2000 is actually the only Best Picture nominee among Roberts’ filmography so far, and it lost to Gladiator.
Meg Ryan
Would you believe that Meg Ryan has never been nominated for an Academy Award? Well, what if I told you that none of her movies — which include some of the best romantic comedies of all time, like When Harry Met Sally — were considered for the top prize either? Some talents just do not get the recognition they deserve.
Laura Linney
Curiously, Laura Linney has been nominated for her performances in 2000’s You Can Count On Me, Kinsey from 2004, and 2007’s The Savages — none of which even received Best Picture nominations. She has been in a Best Picture nominee though — Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River — however, that did not win either.
George Clooney
For a while, George Clooney’s filmography seemed to consist primarily of Best Picture nominees, such as Syriana (for which he won Best Supporting Actor) and Good Night, and Good Luck (which also earned him nods for writing and directing). However, in terms of the Best Picture category, that’s all any of them ever amounted to being; nominee.
Samuel L. Jackson
With a resume as lengthy and renowned as his, you would think Samuel L. Jackson has been in at least one Best Picture winner but he has not… yet. He has starred in quite a few Best Pictures nominees — many of which are Quentin Tarantino movies like Pulp Fiction, for which he received his sole Oscar nomination.
Hugh Jackman
Tom Hooper’s 2012 adaptation of Les Miserables earned eight nominations including one for Best Picture and and another for Best Actor for Hugh Jackman, but those categories were not among the three it did win. At least the Australian X-Men movie star has had the honor of hosting an Oscar ceremony before.
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt has won a Golden Globe for Gideon’s Daughters, a Screen Actors Guild Award for 2018’s A Quiet Place, and three BAFTA nominations for The Devil Wears Prada, a special “Rising Star Award” from the same year, and The Girl on the Train. However, never has the Academy given her a nod, nor have any of Emily Blunt’s movies even been nominated for Best Picture.
Jake Gyllenhaal
The fact that Jake Gyllenhaal has only been nominated for an Oscar once — for Best Supporting Actor in 2005’s Brokeback Mountain surprisingly enough -- is crazy. To learn that said LGBTQ+ romance movie is the only film of his to receive a Best Picture nomination is equally baffling.
Matthew McConaughey
Mathew McConaughey has starred in two films nominated for Best Picture — Dallas Buyer’s Club, for which he won his Best Actor Oscar, and The Wolf of Wall Street — which were both released in 2013. Even with favorable odds like that, neither acclaimed drama took home the gold that year.
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman has been nominated for three Oscars, and she took home one in 2011 for Black Swan. Darren Aronofsky’s twisted tale of ambition gone too far is also the actor’s only film to be nominated for Best Picture.
Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman is one of those actors who was overdue for his Oscar for a long time before he broke the streak with his transformative performance as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. Before (and after) his win, the British actor appeared in just a couple of Best Picture nominees — namely Oliver Stone’s JFK and David Fincher’s Mank.
Amy Adams
The fact that none of Amy Adams’ movies have earned a Best Picture Oscar — despite six being nominated, including American Hustle and Arrival — is not particularly shocking. What is shocking is that the actor also has six nominations of her own and has never won any of them.
Angela Bassett
Years after she was nominated for an Academy Award as Tina Turner in What’s Love Got To Do With It, Angela Bassett made history as the first actor to receive an Oscar nomination for a Marvel movie performance (as Queen Ramona in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). Yet, her first Marvel movie, 2018’s Black Panther, is her only Best Picture nominee.
Jeff Bridges
In addition to taking home an Oscar for Crazy Heart, Jeff Bridges has many Best Picture nominees under his belt, from 1971’s The Last Picture Show to Hell or High Water from 2016. Not a single one of them took him the grand prize, but I think the Academy’s biggest misstep in regards to acting legend was not nominating him for playing The Dude in The Big Lebowski.
Michael Caine
Despite two Academy Award wins to his name (one for 1986’s, Hannah and Her Sisters, and the other for 1999’s The Cider House Rules) Michael Caine cannot say he has starred in a Best Picture. Unfortunately, since the 90-year-old actor told The Telegraph that he is “sort of retired now,” he may never receive that honor.
Robin Williams
The late Robin Williams led a tremendous, widely beloved career that really made us laugh, through movies like 1993’s Mrs. Doubtfire, as well as cry, like with his Academy Award-winning performance in Good Will Hunting. That 1997 favorite and 1989’s Dead Poets Society are the only two Best Picture nominees he starred in.
Halle Berry
Halle Berry gave a landmark performance in 2001's Monster's Ball which earned her a historic Best Actress Oscar win. However, that film was not nominated for Best Picture, and neither has anything else the actor has starred in.
Sean Penn
Sean Penn has won Best Actor twice -- first for 2003's Mystic River by director Clint Eastwood and second for the title character of the powerful 2008 biopic, Milk. Neither of those acclaimed dramas got a Best Picture win, leaving the Fast Times at Ridgemont High cast member empty-handed in that particular regard.
Sandra Oh
With 13 Emmy nominations to her name, former Grey's Anatomy cast member Sandra Oh is better known as one of the greatest modern actors from the small screen. That would explain why her otherwise impressive big screen career -- which includes Alexander Payne's Best Picture-nominated Sideways -- does not include any grand prize winners at the Oscars at the moment.
Bradley Cooper
The otherwise bewildering fact that none of Bradley Cooper's many Oscar-nominated performances -- such as in 2012's Silver Linings Playbook or 2014's American Sniper -- nor his many Best Picture-nominated films -- including the two aforementioned films -- have resulted in any wins is not particularly a concern of mine. What I am surprised, and concerned, about is the snub for directing A Star is Born, which hopefully gets made up for when the upcoming Netflix movie, Maestro, comes out.
Viola Davis
I am happy that we live in a world in which an actor of momentous talent such as Viola Davis has been recognized and rewarded by the Academy with her Oscar win for 2016's Fences. That alone makes me, at least, content with the fact that there are still no Best Picture winners on her resume as of today.
Perhaps there will come a day when the names on this list change drastically and many of the actors above can say they have been in a Best Picture Oscar winner. For now, just keep cross your fingers and keep your hopes up for the next ceremony.
