As awards season unfolds, critics and audiences are already placing their bets on who will win big come Oscar night on March 12. Actors like Brendan Fraser and Michelle Yeoh delivered top-notch work in films like The Whale and Everything Everywhere All at Once, which will certainly define their careers for years to come.
Fraser and Yeoh have received Oscar nominations for their efforts, but their wins aren't certain. Just like them, multiple actors have delivered career-defining work that got recognized by AMPAS. However, some failed to win the industry's top award, and critics and fans haven't forgotten about their snubs.
1 Rosamund Pike - 'Gone Girl' (2014)
Before Gone Girl, Rosamund Pike was famous for playing scene-stealing supporting roles as wholesome English roses. However, David Fincher's 2014 adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel changed that, casting her against type as Amy Elliott-Dunne, one of the all-time smartest movie villains.
Pike's performance was critically lauded, receiving critics' nominations left and right. However, she won no major awards, mainly due to tough competition from the overdue Julianne Moore, who sailed to an Oscar victory on an "it's about time" narrative. It's a shame because Pike delivered a game-changing performance; still, Gone Girl allowed her to enter the next phase of her career as a leading lady.
2 Robert De Niro - 'Taxi Driver' (1976)
Robert De Niro was already an Oscar winner when he starred in Martin Scorsese's psychological drama Taxi Driver. However, the film elevated him to star status and cemented him as one of the most iconic actors of the '70s. It also confirmed his partnership with Scorsese as one of the best in cinematic history, with the two collaborating on seven further projects.
Widely considered to be one of the best films from the 70s and among the best thrillers in history, Taxi Driver earned four Oscar nominations, including one for De Niro. However, he had the bad fortune of going against Peter Finch's career-best work in Sidney Lumet's Network. The nomination was the win for De Niro.
3 Rooney Mara - 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' (2011)
David Fincher followed his Oscar-nominated work in The Social Network with an English adaptation of Stieg Larsson's best-selling novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Numerous actors were reported to be in the running, but the role of Lisbeth Salander eventually went to the then-twenty-six-year-old Rooney Mara.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo received positive reviews, although most praise went to Mara's incendiary performance. She received an Oscar nomination in a particularly competitive year, but she never stood a chance in what was essentially a two-horse race between Viola Davis and the eventual winner, Meryl Streep.
4 Michelle Pfeiffer - 'The Fabulous Baker Boys' (1989)
The image of Michelle Pfeiffer in a red dress singing atop a piano has become ingrained in the pop culture lexicon. The actor received her second consecutive Oscar nomination for her alluring performance in Steve Kloves' 1989 musical drama The Fabulous Baker Boys.
Pfeiffer earned rave reviews for her performance, with many considering her the frontrunner for Best Actress. She won several awards, including the Golden Globe, LAFCA and NBR, cementing her place as the one to beat. Ultimately, the Oscar went to Jessica Tandy for her schmaltzy performance in that year's Beat Picture winner, Driving Miss Daisy. Neither win has aged particularly well.
5 Denzel Washington - 'Malcolm X' (1992)
Denzel Washington won his first Oscar for his supporting performance in 1989's Glory. However, Malcolm X showed a different side to the actor, showcasing him at his most intense and delivering one of the best performances of the 90s.
The film received near-universal acclaim, and Washington rode the wave of success to the Oscars. Unfortunately, Washington was no match for Al Pacino, who was overdue by the Academy by that point. He won Best Actor for his over-the-top work in Scent of a Woman, but people back then and now agree that the Oscar should've gone to Washington's star-making performance.
6 Angela Bassett - 'What's Love Got To Do With It?' (1993)
Washington's Malcolm X co-star Angela Bassett received her first and so far only Oscar nomination in 1993 for her work in What's Love Got to Do with It? Playing Tina Turner, Bassett delivers a tour-de-force opposite Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner. Their performances elevate the film to new heights, turning it into one of the all-time best musical biopics.
Bassett won the Golden Globe and earned a richly-deserved Oscar nomination. Still, the odds weren't in her favor, as Holly Hunter's heart-wrenching turn in Jane Campion's The Piano ultimately prevailed. Hunter's win remains divisive, with many maintaining the Oscar was rightfully Bassett's.
7 Ralph Fiennes - 'Schindler's List' (1993)
Nowadays, Ralph Fiennes might be best known for playing iconic villains, and it's all thanks to his breakthrough performance in Steven Spielberg's black-and-white masterpiece Schindler's List. As the sinister SS Untersturmfüherer Amon Goth, Fiennes is chilling and unforgettable, the embodiment of the horrors inflicted by the Nazis.
Schindler's List dominated the 1994 awards season, receiving twelve Oscar nominations and winning seven, including Best Picture. However, Fiennes didn't win the Best Supporting Actor trophy, losing against Tommy Lee Jones for The Fugitive. The choice might seem puzzling, but Jones delivered a worthy performance; whether he was more deserving than Fiennes depends on each fan.
8 Gloria Swanson - 'Sunset Boulevard' (1950)
The 23rd Academy Awards will forever live in infamy as the year when two of the all-time best performances lost the Oscar to one of the most forgettable. Gloria Swanson delivered a performance for the ages in Billy Wilder's noir masterpiece Sunset Boulevard. Playing the larger-than-life actor Norma Desmond, Swanson dominated the screen, her theatrical mannerisms and incredibly expressive face mesmerizing audiences and critics alike.
Swanson won the NBR and Golden Globe for Best Actress, and many saw the category as a fight to the death between her and All About Eve's Bette Davis. Alas, the eventual winner was Judy Holiday for her work in Born Yesterday, a choice that continues to haunt the Academy today.
9 Whoopi Goldberg - 'The Color Purple' (1985)
There are few better examples of a star-making performance than Whoopi Goldberg in Spielberg's The Color Purple. Playing Miss Celie, Goldberg is a revelation, delivering a heart-breaking and intense performance in the notoriously challenging film about the troubled life of a Black woman living in the South.
Nominated for an impressive eleven Oscars, The Color Purple failed to win in any category. Goldberg had previously won the Golden Globe, and although she had a compelling narrative and arguably the year's best performance, she had a titanic opponent in Geraldine Page. Then on her eighth nomination with no wins, Page was undeniable for her sweet and earnest performance in The Trip to Bountiful.
10 Michael Keaton - 'Birdman' (2014)
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Critics and fans believed Michael Keaton would claim the Oscar for what they saw as his comeback performance in Alejandro González Iñarritu's black comedy Birdman. Keaton plays an aging actor trying to stage a comeback, and the similarities with his career didn't go unnoticed.
Keaton won the Golden Globe and multiple critics' awards for his portrayal. However, he ultimately lost the Oscar to Eddie Redmayne, who won for doing the most acting in the by-the-numbers biopic The Theory of Everything. Keaton's loss still stings, but at least the nomination opened the door for a second stage in his career, and he's been killing it since.