For many actors, being nominated for an Oscar is the pinnacle of their career. It’s a monumental honor and form of recognition, and a chance to be cemented into cinematic history. Many wonderful performances have been nominated since the award show’s inception in 1929, with huge cultural significance. Historically, the Academy and its voters tend to favor performances from certain types of films.
Dramas, biographies and independent movies always seem to reign supreme come awards season, whereas actors in blockbusters and successful franchises - particularly if the genre is sci-fi, fantasy or horror - mostly get pushed aside and ignored. This isn’t to say they always do, however. Most recently, Angela Bassett was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Over the years, there have been some surprising and well-deserved nominations for performances from some of cinema’s most popular movie franchises, giving the ceremony an exciting shake-up.
1 Pat Morita - ‘The Karate Kid’ (1984)
After playing Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid and its three sequels, Pat Morita became an on-screen hero to many. Bringing to life one of cinema’s most wise and beloved mentors, Morita portrayed the sensei and father figure to Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso.
In 1985, Morita was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the original film. Morita brings warmth and depth to Miyagi, with his philosophical life lessons, but what remains most memorable is his chore-based training style. He teaches Daniel to ‘wax on’ and ‘wax off’, and what at first seems mundane and irrelevant reveals itself to be martial arts mastery.
2 Heath Ledger - ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
The Joker is not only one of the most iconic comic book villains of all time, but one of the most iconic movie villains of all time, period. The Clown Prince of Crime has been portrayed by many actors over the years, but none have played him so brilliantly and terrifyingly as Heath Ledger.
In 2009, Ledger received a posthumous Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in The Dark Knight after his tragic passing, and deservedly won the award. His transformative performance changed the game for comic book movies, and left massive shoes to fill for other actors who took on the role afterward.
3 Ian McKellen - ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ (2001)
Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy remains the golden standard of fantasy filmmaking on a technical and storytelling level, with its finale The Return of the King winning a total of eleven Oscars. However, the series garnered attention from the Academy in the acting department also.
Sir Ian McKellen was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 2002 for his debut performance as the powerful and wise Gandalf the Grey in The Fellowship of the Ring. Bringing his remarkable Thespian presence to the franchise, McKellen portrayed the wizard in a way that made him equally warm and formidable.
4 Maria Bakalova - ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’ (2020)
Bulgarian actor Maria Bakalova was relatively unknown before her breakout performance in 2020’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, the outrageous and hilarious mockumentary sequel to the 2006 film Borat. Alongside Sacha Baron Cohen, Bakalova plays the titular character’s uneducated and downtrodden daughter.
In 2021, Bakalova received a surprise Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her daring and often bizarre comedic performance. It’s well-deserved thanks to the risky real-life stunts and undercover scenarios she put herself in, including interviewing disgraced politician Rudy Giuliani in character as a fifteen-year-old, with cringe-worthy results.
5 Sylvester Stallone - ‘Rocky’ (1976)
Sylvester Stallone became one of the most successful and prolific movie stars of all time after the success of the Rocky franchise. Starring as the titular Rocky Balboa in eight movies (including two Creed films), the actor’s career is defined by the Italian Stallion.
Much like the rags-to-riches story in the film, Stallone wrote and starred in the 1978 flick which catapulted him to stardom. Alongside being nominated for Best Screenplay, Stallone earned an Oscar nomination for Best Leading Actor. Years later in 2016, Stallone was once again nominated for playing the very same character in legacy sequel Creed.
6 Sigourney Weaver - ‘Aliens’ (1986)
Ridley Scott’s Alien introduced audiences to one of cinema’s most influential action heroes, Ellen Ripley, played by the phenomenal Sigourney Weaver. The franchise’s protagonist, who has appeared in multiple installments, is arguably at her best and most fierce in James Cameron’s sequel Aliens.
In the film that is described by many as bigger and better than its landmark predecessor, viewers get the chance to see Ripley in full action mode as she goes head-to-head with the Xenomorph queen. Weaver’s performance earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Leading Actress, which is her only nomination for the entire series.
7 Linda Blair - ‘The Exorcist’ (1973)
The Academy is notoriously known for often snubbing and ignoring films from the horror genre, but an exception was made for one of the scariest movies of all time, The Exorcist. The original film received ten nominations in 1974, including Best Picture.
Several actors from the film were also nominated, but the most notable was Linda Blair for Best Supporting Actress at just fifteen years old. Blair played the creepy possessed tween Regan, in a performance that saw her head spin, spider walk down the stairs, and completely terrify an entire generation of moviegoers.
8 Alec Guinness - ‘Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope’ (1977)
Star Wars is without a doubt the biggest film franchise and pop culture phenomenon of all time, but throughout its forty-plus year span and eleven films, only one actor has even been nominated for an Oscar for their role. That honor goes to Sir Alec Guinness.
Guinness portrayed Jedi master and mentor Ben ‘Obi-Wan’ Kenobi in the original trilogy, and received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in the first film. Bringing humanity, charm and a towering presence to the man who first showed Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) the ways of the Force, he would leave a lasting impression for decades to come.
9 Marlon Brando - ‘The Godfather’ (1972)
Marlon Brando was already one of the most respected and talented actors of his time, but no one had ever seen him in a role like Mafia patriarch Don Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, which became the defining performance of his career.
Brando, then only forty-seven years old, played the aging head of a mafia family, almost unrecognizable thanks to his impressive make-up and wheezy voice. He was nominated for Best Leading Actor, and won, but famously declined the award which was rejected on his behalf at the ceremony by Native American actor and activist Sacheen Littlefeather.