20 Stars Who Have Never Been Nominated for an Oscar

When the Academy Awards take place on March 27, a number of performers will be celebrating their first nominations. That list includes the usual assortment of breakout stars, such as West Side Story’s Ariana DeBose and The Power of the Dog’s Kodi Smit-McPhee, but there are also quite a few who are finally being rewarded after years of snubs, including Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog) and Kristen Stewart (Spencer). They’re leaving behind the ranks of such never-nominated actors as Jim Carrey, Mia Farrow, Jamie Lee Curtis and Jeff Daniels. Here, 20 of the greatest living actors who have never made the cut — and note that we’ve left off performers who have technically never been nominated but still received an Honorary Academy Award, like Donald Sutherland and Steve Martin. Sound off in the comments below if we’ve missed any of your favorites!​​

Mia Farrow​​

The closest she came to a nomination: The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)​​

Woody Allen has directed five women to best actress or supporting actress Oscars (including two for Dianne Wiest). Despite seven Golden Globe nominations and one win, his former partner Mia Farrow has never gone for the Oscar gold. She could easily have been nominated for Rosemary’s Baby, Broadway Danny Rose, Hannah and Her Sisters or Alice, but we’re partial to this Depression-set romantic fantasy, in which a character in a film (played by Jeff Daniels) walks out of the screen and falls for Farrow’s lonely waitress, Cecilia.

Watch it: The Purple Rose of Cairo on Amazon Prime, Apple TV​​​

Jeff Daniels​​

The closest he came to a nomination: The Squid and the Whale (2005)

​Speaking of Jeff Daniels, the two-time Emmy winner and three-time Tony nominee is a fellow Oscar also-ran, despite Golden Globe nominations for The Purple Rose of Cairo, Something Wild and The Squid and the Whale. The last film, directed by Noah Baumbach, was a particular critical favorite, with Daniels playing the arrogant Brooklyn novelist Bernard Berkman; Oscar prognosticator website Gold Derby called it “the performance of a lifetime,” writing that his depiction of artistic vanity may have “hit too close to the bone for some actors.” Burn!

Watch it: The Squid and the Whale on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Hulu ​​​

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis (right) in "True Lies."

Ronald Siemoneit/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images

Jamie Lee Curtis​

The closest she came to a nomination: True Lies (1994)

With a career that’s spanned nearly five decades, Jamie Lee Curtis has had many brushes with awards season: She won a BAFTA for Trading Places, earned Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for A Fish Called Wanda and won a Golden Globe for True Lies, but she always comes up short come Oscar season. And, if we’re considering rewarding movies that might not normally be Oscar-friendly, she was stellar as a teen trapped in her mom’s body in the Freaky Friday remake.

Watch it: True Lies on Amazon Prime​​​

Jim Carrey

The closest he came to a nomination: Man on the Moon (1999) ​

Every few years, audiences remember what a deeply emotive and powerful actor the Canadian funnyman can be. It happened with The Truman Show, Man on the Moon and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the first two of which netted him Golden Globe best actor wins. Oscar voters have a soft spot for biopics, physical transformation and films about the entertainment world, which makes you wonder: If he couldn’t break through with the Andy Kaufman biography, what will it take to catch their attention?

Watch it: Man on the Moon on Apple TV, YouTube​​​

Don’t miss this: How the Real Grownups Fared in 2022’s Oscar Nominations​​​

Meg Ryan​​

The closest she came to a nomination: When Harry Met Sally… (1989)

​Academy voters used to have a much more open mind about romantic comedies (see: It Happened One Night, The Apartment, Annie Hall), but they fell out of favor in the 1980s, just as Meg Ryan was picking up steam as the queen of the genre. She was great in You've Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle, but her performance in the Rob Reiner classic is every bit as winning as some of the screwball greats.

Watch it: When Harry Met Sally… on Amazon Prime, HBO Max, YouTube​

Steve Buscemi​​

The closest he came to a nomination: Ghost World (2001)

​One of Hollywood’s most in-demand character actors for decades, Buscemi is perhaps best known for his collaborations with the Coen brothers on films like Fargo, Miller's Crossing and Barton Fink. In addition, he’s won two Independent Spirit Awards for Reservoir Dogs and Ghost World, a role that also earned him a Golden Globe nomination. And he’s clearly a favorite among his fellow actors: He’s won four Screen Actors Guild Awards for Boardwalk Empire. ​

Watch it: Ghost World on Amazon Prime, Apple TV​​​