The Academy Award is probably the most commercial prize in Hollywood – especially at the beginning of a career; winning an Oscar implies a flourishing career full of possibilities, development opportunities and, inseparable from it: a lot of money. Along with the “Palme d’Or”, the highest prize of the Cannes Film Festival, Oscar is the most prestigious prize in the film industry. Many filmmakers and actors wait a lifetime for one of these awards.
This circumstance is also because only 2 actors can win an Oscar every year: One for Best Leading Role, and one for Best Supporting Role, each taken into account separately by gender – this equally implies that the remaining 8 actors go home with empty pockets. One has been privileged to watch many great personalities play throughout recent film history.
Hollywood is like the history books: everybody remembers the winner, not the second-place finisher or even the third-place finisher. Plus, you will be surprised how many highly respected actors have yet to take home an Oscar! So, this is the list of 10 actors who have never won an Oscar, even though they are universally revered as iconic for their performing arts.
Tom Cruise is an actor known, amongst other things, just for his deep religious convictions. Had you told him 39 years ago that one day he would be one of the most wanted and highest-paid actors in the world, he would probably have laughed in your face and replied that his destiny was already predetermined and that he would become a priest.
Tom Cruise publicly declared his allegiance to the Church of Scientology in 1990. He piously claimed that its teachings had cured him of his dyslexia, or poor reading and spelling. Despite his embarrassing TV appearances (legendary: Cruise’s appearance on the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” where he paid homage to his then-wife Katie Holmes on a couch together with Oprah) as well as general private escapades, Cruise is an outstanding actor for whom such an appreciation is long overdue.
Oscar nominations:
- 1990: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Born on the 4th of July)
- 1997: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Jerry Maguire)
- 2000: Best Supporting Actor (Magnolia)