Amy Adams

Six times nominated without a win to her name, Amy Adams has become something of a poster child for this cause. Five of her nods have been for Best Supporting Actress — for Junebug (2005), Doubt (2008), The Fighter (2010), The Master (2012), and Vice (2018), losing to Rachel Weisz, Penélope Cruz, Melissa Leo, Anne Hathaway, and Regina King, respectively. After 2013’s American Hustle earned Adams her first nomination for Best Actress, Cate Blanchett took home the prize over her. —Mary Sollosi

Edward Norton

Before 2025, Edward Norton had never been awarded a heavy gold trophy despite three nominations. He had gotten two nods for Best Supporting Actor, for Primal Fear (1996) and Birdman (2014), losing to Cuba Gooding Jr. and J.K. Simmons, respectively, and one for Best Actor in 1999 for American History X, when Roberto Benigni defeated him.

This year, his luck may change after nabbing his fourth Oscar nomination (third in supporting) for A Complete Unknown. For his sensitive turn as folk singer Pete Seeger, he is nominated alongside first-time nominees Yura Borisov in Anora, Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain, Guy Pearce in The Brutalist, and Jeremy Strong in The Apprentice. —M.S.

Samuel L. Jackson

Though Samuel L. Jackson‘s impressive filmography would, one might think, have earned him a competitive Oscar by now, he doesn’t have any — and, in fact, has only been nominated once. He lost Best Supporting Actor to Martin Landau in 1995, when he was nominated for Pulp Fiction. Jackson was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 2022 for his lifetime achievement in film, but he has yet to win one for an individual performance. —M.S.

Glenn Close

Glenn Close holds the record as the actress who has received the most Oscar nominations without having ever won. She’s got eight in total — including one for Best Supporting Actress for Hillbilly Elegy (2020), which could have knocked her off this list for good (despite the film’s critical bashing). She ultimately lost to another veteran actress, Yuh-Jung Youn.

Before that, her first three came all in a row, each for Best Supporting Actress, for The World According to Garp (1982), The Big Chill (1983), and The Natural (1984). She lost those races to Jessica Lange, Linda Hunt, and Peggy Ashcroft, respectively. Close’s other four nominations were all for Best Actress: Continuing her ’80s hot streak, she earned nominations for Fatal Attraction (1987) and Dangerous Liaisons (1988); her luck picked up again in the 2010s, with Best Actress noms for Albert Nobbs (2011) and The Wife (2018). She’s 0 for 4 in that category, too, having lost to Cher, Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep, and Olivia Colman. —M.S.

Bradley Cooper

The Academy really, really likes Bradley Cooper, but still not quite enough to give him a win. The movie star earned three Oscar nominations in a row in the early 2010s for Silver Linings Playbook (2012), American Hustle (2013), and American Sniper (2014), though he lost to Daniel Day-Lewis, Jared Leto, and Eddie Redmayne, respectively. He then directed himself to acting nominations for A Star Is Born (2018) and Maestro (2023), but he lost those years, too, to Rami Malek and Cillian Murphy.

Those five acting losses would be enough to call him overdue, but the pain doesn’t end there. He has also earned seven other nominations over the years for his producing and writing work, collecting Best Picture nominations for American Sniper, A Star Is Born, Joker (2019), Nightmare Alley (2021), and Maestro, with each of those films losing to Birdman (2014), Green Book (2018), Parasite (2019), CODA (2021), and Oppenheimer (2023). Meanwhile, his screenplay bids for A Star Is Born and Maestro lost to BlacKkKlansman (2018) and Anatomy of a Fall (2023). —Kevin Jacobsen

Sigourney Weaver

Sigourney Weaver has been nominated three times, including twice in the same year: Her stellar 1988 led to her being up for both Best Actress (for Gorillas in the Mist) and Best Supporting Actress (for Working Girl); the awards went to Jodie Foster and Geena Davis instead. This double disappointment came just two years after her first nomination, for Best Actress for Aliens (1986). She lost that year to Marlee Matlin. —M.S.

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise may be one of the most iconic film actors of all time, but even he hasn’t collected the elusive Oscar, despite three acting nominations and another for producing. He’s been recognized in the Best Actor category twice, for Born on the Fourth of July (1989) and Jerry Maguire (1996), but was passed over in favor of Daniel Day-Lewis and Geoffrey Rush, respectively. He got a nod at the turn of the century for Best Supporting Actor for Magnolia (1999), but Michael Caine took it home that year.

Cruise finally earned another Oscar nomination 23 years later as a producer on Best Picture nominee Top Gun: Maverick (2022), though the award ultimately went to Everything Everywhere All at Once. —M.S.

Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Pfeiffer has picked up three Oscar nominations, but no gold. She was first recognized in the Supporting Actress category for Dangerous Liaisons (1988) but lost to Geena Davis. Later, she was a Best Actress nominee for The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) and Love Field (1992) but was beaten by Jessica Tandy and Emma Thompson, respectively. —M.S.

Willem Dafoe

One of the most prolific actors working today, Willem Dafoe has amassed more than 150 credits in his 40-plus years in the industry. The veteran actor has four Oscar nominations but has sadly gone 0 for 4, losing Best Supporting Actor for Platoon (1986), Shadow of the Vampire (2000), and The Florida Project (2017) and Best Actor for At Eternity’s Gate (2018). The winners in each of those years were Michael Caine, Benicio Del Toro, Sam Rockwell, and Rami Malek, respectively. —K.J.

Bill Murray

The beloved comic actor Bill Murray (and Wes Anderson regular) has only picked up one Oscar nod thus far. He was nominated for Best Actor in 2004 for Lost in Translation; Sean Penn took home the trophy instead. —M.S.

Ian McKellen

Believe it or not, Sir Ian McKellen hasn’t gotten golden recognition from the Academy. He’s been nominated twice — first, for his role in Gods and Monsters (1998) for Best Actor, which he lost to Roberto Benigni; second, for playing Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), for which he got a Best Supporting Actor nod but Jim Broadbent took home the prize. —M.S.

Annette Bening

Annette Bening has picked up five Oscar nominations but still doesn’t have an Academy Award. Her first was for Best Supporting Actress for The Grifters (1990), which she lost to Whoopi Goldberg. Her next four were all for Best Actress, first for American Beauty (1999), then Being Julia (2004), then The Kids Are All Right (2010), and Nyad (2023). Hilary Swank bested her for the first two, while Natalie Portman and Emma Stone beat her out for the honor for the third and fourth time, respectively. —M.S.

Saoirse Ronan

Saoirse Ronan earned her first Oscar nomination at the age of 13 for her supporting performance in 2007’s Atonement, eventually losing to Tilda Swinton. Who could have guessed that by the age of 25 she would have earned three more nominations, all in the lead actress category?

The Irish actress received Best Actress nominations for Brooklyn (2015), Lady Bird (2017), and Little Women (2019), though she was overlooked for the win each time in favor of, respectively, Brie Larson, Frances McDormand, and Renée Zellweger. One nice pattern, though, is that each of the films Ronan has been nominated for was also nominated for Best Picture, a rare feat for a four-time nominee. —K.J.

Naomi Watts

Naomi Watts has been nominated twice for Best Actress, but never won a statuette. The first time was for her role in 21 Grams (2003), when she lost to Charlize Theron; she was recognized a second time for her performance in The Impossible (2012), but Jennifer Lawrence won instead. —M.S.

Michael Keaton

Despite a long career in Hollywood, Michael Keaton has no Oscar wins — and had never been nominated until 2015, when he got his first and (so far) only nod for his singular performance in Birdman (2014). Eddie Redmayne won Best Actor over him that year, though Birdman took home Best Picture. Keaton also starred in the next year’s Best Picture winner, Spotlight (2015), though he wasn’t nominated. —M.S.

Steve Buscemi

While it’s surprising that none of these accomplished performers have ever won an Oscar, Steve Buscemi has never even received a nomination from the Academy. His work in television has been more widely recognized: For his roles on such acclaimed series as Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos, he’s received multiple nominations at the Emmys and Golden Globes and won one of the latter awards. —M.S.

Jeff Daniels

Like Buscemi, Jeff Daniels has never been nominated for an Oscar but has received greater recognition at other awards shows. He’s got multiple Golden Globe nominations to his name as well as two Emmy wins, for The Newsroom and Godless. —M.S.

Mark Ruffalo

Mark Ruffalo has racked up four Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominations since 2011, but his winning moment has yet to come. His nominations were for his scene-stealing work in The Kids Are All Right (2010), Foxcatcher (2014), Spotlight (2015), and Poor Things (2023), though he’s had to sit in the audience and watch Christian Bale, J.K. Simmons, Mark Rylance, and his MCU buddy Robert Downey Jr. have their winning moments on stage.

While Ruffalo hasn’t won Oscar gold yet, he is part of a very exclusive club. After earning his fourth Supporting Actor nomination for Poor Things, he is now tied with seven other actors as having the most nominations in the category’s history. —K.J.

Laura Linney

Laura Linney has three Oscar nominations but has yet to nab the award. The veteran star picked up Best Actress nominations for You Can Count on Me (2000) and The Savages (2007), and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Kinsey (2004), falling each year to Julia Roberts, Marion Cotillard, and Cate Blanchett, respectively.

Luckily, Linney isn’t hurting for hardware overall, having collected four Emmys for her work on television, including for the TV movie Wild Iris, her guest turn on Frasier, and her leading roles in the miniseries John Adams and The Big C: Hereafter. —M.S.

John Malkovich

Though he’s been nominated twice for Best Supporting Actor, John Malkovich has never taken home the gold. Recognized for Places in the Heart (1984) and In the Line of Fire (1993), he lost to Haing S. Ngor and Tommy Lee Jones, respectively. —M.S.

Jim Carrey

The beloved funnyman Jim Carrey has never received an Oscar nomination, despite appearing in critically adored films such as The Truman Show (1998) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). He has picked up a slew of Golden Globe nominations, however, two of which have resulted in wins. —M.S.

Angela Bassett

Angela Bassett received an Honorary Academy Award in 2023 for lifetime achievement in film, arguably an acknowledgment that the veteran actress was passed over way too many times by them in the past. In addition to her honorary award, Bassett only has two Oscar nominations to her name: a Best Actress nomination for playing Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It (1993) and a Supporting Actress nomination for playing Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). She was passed over in favor of Holly Hunter and Jamie Lee Curtis.

It remains to be seen if she can do what other artists like Spike Lee, Paul Newman, and Henry Fonda have done in the past, receiving an Honorary Oscar and then a competitive Oscar not long after. —K.J.