Each year we get excited about the annual Academy Awards, but shockingly, some of your favorites have never won the top prize. Here are 10 actors who you won’t believe have never won an Oscar.

Each winter, the Academy gives out four acting awards to some of Hollywood’s best performances of the previous year. These include Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress. This leaves many actors who gave amazing performances without an Oscar of their own, and over the years some of the best actors to ever grace the silver screen continue to get looked over.

While many actors’ dreams will come true this year when they are awarded their own golden statue, there are many incredibly talented actors who have never won an Oscar. These are some of Hollywood’s most talented stars, who we can’t believe have never won an Academy Award through 2020.

This article is current as of February 2020

Samuel L. Jackson

Total nominations: 1

Despite a whopping 182 acting credits to his name, and a career that began in the early 1970s, Samuel L. Jackson has never won an Oscar. In fact, he’s only ever been nominated once. It just goes to show you that awards don’t make a star.

Robert Downey Jr.

Total nominations: 2

Of course modern audiences mostly associate the name Robert Downey Jr. with Tony Stark, and of course it’s incredibly unlikely for a Marvel film to get an Oscar nomination for acting. But even before Iron Man, RDJ had an illustrious acting resume.With a career that began in the 80s and currently over 90 acting credits to his name, it’s surprising he hasn’t earned more than just two Oscar nominations, let alone that he’s never won.

Johnny Depp

Total nominations: 3

Any fool on the street could name at least one film and character Johnny Depp has played. Indeed, he’s probably the most iconic character actor of our time, but that is also probably why he’s never won an Oscar. Those over-the-top type caricatures don’t tend to get recognition at the Oscars. The most shocking part is probably that he doesn’t have more nominations for his earlier work.

Laura Linney

Total nominations: 3

Laura Linney might be one of those whose name you can’t really remember but you’ve seen her face everywhere. Odds are you know her from Love Actually, but she’s had consistent work and memorable films since the 90s. For the moment it seems Linney is quite content in the television world, but if the right film role comes around, she could easily earn herself an Oscar.

Sigourney Weaver

Total nominations: 3

Sigourney Weaver has never won an Oscar, yet her longstanding, accomplished presence in Hollywood would make you think she had. In fact, she’s only been nominated three times, twice in the same year. She actually hasn’t been nominated for an Oscar in 20 years. Her career is far from over though, and all it takes is one iconic role to get herself in the Oscar winners circle.

Tom Cruise

Total nominations: 3

Despite being in so many iconic and memorable films, Tom Cruise has never won an Oscar. His propensity for action films is probably what’s hindered his chances, given that the Oscars don’t tend to favor that type of film. That said, he has earned himself three nominations, and it’s not as if his career is suffering.

Annette Bening

Total nominations: 4

Annette Bening began her career in theatre, and quickly became a name to remember when she entered the film world. She has received four Oscar nominations so far, and it’s only a matter of time before that becomes five, and probably a removal from this list.

Amy Adams

Total nominations: 6

A relative ‘newcomer’ to the Hollywood scene, at least comparatively speaking, Amy Adams quickly became a household name after starring as the delightful Giselle in Enchanted. She also quickly proved herself as an actress to be taken seriously, earning six Oscar nominations, the fourth most nominations without a win.

Glenn Close

Total nominations: 7

It’s amazing to think that an actress revered as much as Glenn Close has never won an Oscar. She’s one of those you’d put in a category with Meryl Streep, a seemingly obvious Oscar winner. She does though hold the record for living actor with most nominations without a win. Nominated again in 2019, it’s possible this could be her year.

Peter O’Toole

Total nominations: 8

Holding the record for most nominated actor without a win is Peter O’Toole. Despite being a millennial who was not even alive for most of his career, to me, the name Peter O’Toole is synonymous with acting royalty. It’s one of those names that’s always mentioned in a ‘top actors of all time’ list, and yet he never won an Oscar. He did at least receive an Honorary award in 2003, for his longstanding achievement in film.

Honorable Mentions

The following actors are among the group of most nominated for an acting Oscar but never won.

Keira Knightley

Total nominations: 2

Jessica Chastain

Total nominations: 2

Brad Pitt

Total nominations: 3

Edward Norton

Total nominations: 3

Joaquin Phoenix

Total nominations: 3

Montgomery Clift

Total nominations: 4

Ed Harris

Total nominations: 4

Michelle Williams

Total nominations: 4

Bradley Cooper

Total nominations: 4

Willem Dafoe

Total nominations: 4

Richard Burton

Total nominations: 7

Each year there are more and more actors that enter Hollywood and put out incredible performances, and each year many of them go unnoticed by the Academy. It’s the name of the game, but we have to imagine a lot of the actors seen above will get their night to shine at some point in the future.

Related: Oscar category chaos: 5 new categories the Academy needs to add to the lineup

Many of these talented actors are still very active in Hollywood, and we look forward to enjoying more of their work. Hopefully one day, all of these brilliant nominees will be acknowledged for their amazing performances, and they’ll finally be able to join that exclusive club.

Which actor’s Oscar-less career surprises you most?