Top 10 Actresses Never Nominated for an Oscar

February 20, 2019
TUCKER-BANKSHOT

Since everyone's got Oscar fever going into this weekend's ceremony, we thought it was high time we celebrate those actresses who have never been nominated for an Oscar.

All of these lovely ladies have been around for at least twenty years and have just never got their due. Fingers crossed that these beauties will be recognized one day, but in the mean time, let's all recognize how great they look nude!

10. Cameron Diaz

She should have been nominated for her role in Being John Malkovich, though her co-star Catherine Keener may have siphoned off some of her support. She landed both SAG and Golden Globe nominations for the role, so it wasn't completely outside the realm of possibility. Her best nude scenes to date were in the 2014 comedy Sex Tape, one of three films she starred in that year, and she hasn't acted again since

9. Jamie Lee Curtis

Screen royalty thanks to her famous parents, Jamie Lee managed to make a name for herself away from them thanks to her range displayed in films like Halloween and Trading Places (below). Jamie Lee landed a Golden Globe nomination for A Fish Called Wanda, and should definitely have scored a nom that year. Seven years later, she won a Globe and got a SAG nomination for her role in James Cameron's True Lies, another Oscar snub. I also happen to think she deserved a nomination for 2003's Freaky Friday, but that's just me.

8. Mia Farrow

A Golden Globe and BAFTA nominee for her breakout role in 1968's Rosemary's Baby, Mia Farrow competed for a lot of awards during her career, but never an Oscar. She was Globe nominated for three of her films with Woody Allen, and landed a BAFTA nomination for a fourth—Hannah and Her Sisters. It's a shame she never got a shot at Oscar gold, but you can see her topless in Robert Altman's A Wedding.

7. Isabella Rossellini

Another member of Hollywood royalty, Isabella made a name for herself when she shattered her image in David Lynch's masterful Blue Velvet. Sadly, she only scored an Independent Spirit Award for her work in the film, but it's among the best performances in any of Lynch's films. That film's utter lack of Oscar nominations baffles me to this day, particularly when they showered the knock-off that was American Beauty with awards over a decade later.

6. Ashley Judd

Another casualty of not being recognized earlier in her career, Ashley Judd's career choices of late have been lackluster to say the least. But back in 1993, she exploded onto the scene with a wonderfully subdued performance in Ruby in Paradise, a loose adaptation of Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey." She earned a Golden Globe nomination three years later for Norma Jean and Marilyn where she cemented her sex symbol status recreating Marilyn's legendary Playboy pictorial.

5. Meg Ryan

One of the perennial Oscar snubees of the 90s, Meg Ryan was nominated for three Golden Globes in her heyday, and landed a SAG nomination for her role in When a Man Loves a Woman. I don't know which is the biggest snub of her career, but I do know that she's totally underrated in two films for which she could have been nominated. 2003's In the Cut is better than its reputation suggests and she put her image on the line in that flick. She's also fantastic opposite Val Kilmer in Oliver Stone's The Doors.

4. Pam Grier

One of the luminaries of the Blaxploitation era, Pam Grier made a name for herself as a skin queen in flicks like Coffy (below), Foxy Brown, and Black Mama, White Mama. Though her career languished in the doldrums of the 80s and early 90s, Quentin Tarantino gave her the comeback of a lifetime in what I feel is his best film, Jackie Brown, an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's "Rum Punch." Grier earned a Golden Globe and SAG nomination, but was totally snubbed by the Oscars.

3. Robin Wright

Those who have only just caught on to Robin Wright's brilliance in the last few years thanks to House of Cards are missing out on one of the best actresses of her generation. Nominated for a Golden Globe and a SAG for her role in Forrest Gump, she was the most noticeably absent among the main cast in that year's Oscars. She's been robbed a bunch of times, but I feel she may land a nomination one of these days.

2. Emily Blunt

This year's most talked about snubbed actress, Emily Blunt scored a Golden Globe and a SAG nomination this year for her role in Mary Poppins Returns, as well as another SAG nom for A Quiet Place. She's been through this before, though, as she was robbed in 2006 for The Devil Wears Prada, and she was both SAG and BAFTA nominated for The Girl on the Train. She was also great in an early role, and still her best nude role, in 2004's My Summer of Love.

1. Scarlett Johansson

A four-time Golden Globe nominee, Scarlett has been robbed of a nomination at least twice, in my opinion. First, she gave a "stand-up and take notice of her" performance in Lost in Translation. Starring opposite the notoriously prickly Bill Murray, we instantly understood why he was sweet on her, and it's all in her performance. I also happen to think she was fantastic in Under the Skin, though that's another one that's super divisive, and I understand folks who don't like it or her performance. Like Emily and Robin just before her, I think her time is coming soon.