Oscars, or the Academy Awards, which is considered to be the epitome of honour, has over the years bestowed many with the golden statuette for their splendid work, but there have been some , who despite giving the best performance of the year, were robbed of fro winning an Oscar. Let’s take a journey into finding out the 10 acting performances (Male) who were robbed from winning an Oscar.
10. Sam Rockwell (Moon)
The 2009 film ‘Moon’ tells the story of Sam Bell, played by Sam Rockwell, who finds himself in an inner turmoil at he comes to the end of his three year long solo space voyage. The 46 year old American actor’s performances was heavily applauded by both critics and fans alike. Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic defined Rockwell’s performance as intense and poignant respectively, but in a shocking surprise Rockwell, not only didn’t win, but he was not even nominated for the Oscars that year, creating huge uproar from fans worldwide.
9. Steve Buscemi (Ghost World)
‘Ghost World’ tells the story of two teenagers in an American city. Steve Busceni starred in the 2001 movie in the role of a lonely middle aged man named Seymour. The 56 year old American actor, director and writer Buscemi was so robbed from winning and even getting nominated for the Oscars for this film. The Los Angeles Times, on Buscemi’s performance, wrote, “Buscemi rarely has had so full and challenging a role, that of a mature, reflective man, unhandsome yet not unattractive, thanks to a witty sensitivity and clear intelligence.”
8. Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
‘True Grit’ is a 2010 American Western film, which is considered to be one of the greatest in that genre and also one of the most commercially successful one. Directed by the Coen brothers, it starred the 56 year old American actor and musician Jeff Bridges in the lead role of United States Marshal Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn. Despite regarded by some as one of the finest works by an actor in that year, Bridges failed to win an Oscar despite getting nominated in the Best Actor category.
7. Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense)
The 1999 supernatural thriller ‘The Sixth Sense’ tells the story of Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), a troubled, isolated boy who is able to see and talk to the dead. The 26 year old American actor’s performance was applauded and heavily praised. Osment, who was 11 at the time of filming won a number of awards for this film and was even nominated for the Oscars in the Best Supporting Actor category, but in a huge surprise didn’t win angering fans across the world.
6. Russell Crowe for (A Beautiful Mind)
The 2001 biographical film ‘A Beautiful Mind’ starred Russell Crowe in the lead role of John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics. Although the film ran into few controversies regarding how the facts were put up about Nash’s life, but nevertheless Crowe’s performance was beamed as stunning by one and all. But, as fate would have it, Crowe was left without an Oscar at the end of the year.
5. Ed Harris (The Hours)
Ed Harris starred in the 2002 drama film ‘The Hours’, in which he played one of his toughest characters ever – Richard ‘Richie’ Brown, a writer dealing with his AIDS and his relationship with his friend. Apart from the physical transformation that Ed went through, he made the character alive and so real that one really felt that they knew who Richie was. Despite getting nominated for the Oscars, Harris was robbed from winning one.
4. John Hurt (V for Vendetta)
The 2006 political-thriller ‘V for Vendetta’ ,directed by James McTeigue, starred English actor John Hurt in the role of High Chancellor Adam Sutler. Despite huge appreciations and accolades, 74 year old Hurt was robbed from his Oscar win, disappointing critics and fans worldwide.
3. Robert De Niro (Goodfellas)
The 1990 American Crime film ‘Goodfellas’, directed by Martin Scorsese, starred 76 year old American actor-producer Robert De Niro in the role of Henry Hill. Although, regarded by many as one of De Niro’s best work of his career, it was shocking not even nominated for the Oscars, sending huge uproars across the fans.
2. Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List)
The 1993 cult epic-historical drama ‘Schindeler’s List’, which tells the story of Oskar Schindler (played by Liam Neeson), a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories is & Oscar winner movie. But the Oscar every Movie fan was hoping for the film to win was the Best Actor Category in which Neeson was nominated, but in a shocking turn of event, Neeson was robbed off the Oscars from his work yet.
1. Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator)
The 2000 British-American epic-historical film ‘Gladiator’ is one of the most successful film both commercially and critically of all time, Though Russel Crowe is undoubtedly the star that was born from the film, it also gave viewers Djimon Hounsou in the role of Juba. The 50 year old Beninese American actor and model’s work was appreciated widely and was considered for winning the Best Supporting Actor oOscar, but to many people’s shock, he was not even nominated.
Written By: Pranay Das