base talk Vulture: Who is the most overdue for an Oscar right now?

[Stepfon]

 

FRESH WOUNDS:

The 96th Academy Awards reshuffled Hollywood's overdue-for-Oscar rankings considerably. Big, loud snubs for Barbie at the nomination stage, a mild upset in Best Actress, a thwarted feel-good Best Actor campaign — the following people are overdue not based on the volume of nominations they've lost but based on how bright the snubbery still burns in our cultural memory.

 

Margot Robbie

3 noms, 0 wins

Back in, say, the early aughts, an actress who looked like Margot Robbie would have a surefire route to an Oscar: pile on the makeup to play an ugly person. Thankfully, there are more interesting paths available now. Through her LuckyChap shingle, Robbie has proven herself as a producer with a keen eye for talent and a knack for buzzy loglines. Gerwig comes out of Barbie feeling more overdue, but there's every chance Robbie beats her director to an Oscar — in Best Picture rather than Best Actress.

Next up: As an actress, Robbie is set to star in the romance A Big Bold Beautiful Journey from director Kogonada, an art-house fave making a leap to more accessible fare. As a producer, she's got the Olivia Wilde–helmed Christmas comedy Naughty.

 

THEY WANT IT SO BAD:

Perception is everything in Hollywood, and while nearly everyone in the business wants to win an Oscar, some are perceived as being more obvious about it than others. The media's reaction to this kind of thirst can be pretty bitchy and unfair. We've all written our apology notes to Anne Hathaway, whose Les Misérables campaign for Best Supporting Actress in 2013 was relentlessly mocked online for being "try-hard.” But for the moment, the following folks' apparent desperation to win will define every Oscar conversation they're in until they finally grab a trophy.

 

Glenn Close

8 noms, 0 wins

It's a facial expression that will stay with me until the day I die: Glenn Close's face, frozen in a forcibly gracious smile, suppressing a scream as Olivia Colman was announced as the Best Actress of 2018. That is the look of a woman who thought her day had finally come — her first Oscar — only to get beaten to the punch once again. Close coughed up another nominated performance two years later for Hillbilly Elegy, but, thankfully, she didn't win for that. Now she's the poster actress for Oscar futility. The cautionary tale for everybody else.

Next up: Back in Action, a Jamie Foxx–Cameron Diaz action-comedy from the director of Identity Thief and Horrible Bosses, does not sound like the stuff of long-awaited Oscar wins. But Close will also be in the Lee Daniels horror movie The Deliverance, which at least sounds awesome. – JR

 

Bradley Cooper

12 noms, 0 wins

When a movie star decides they want to direct, you might expect them to excel at publicly performing the role of filmmaker, even if their actual filmmaking is mediocre. The strange thing about Bradley Cooper's directorial career is that the reverse occurred: His first two movies earned Best Picture nominations, at the cost of the public and voters alike recoiling from Cooper's whole deal. On the Star Is Born campaign, Cooper was dinged for acting too above it all to play the game; on Maestro, he campaigned so hard that he violated the unwritten rule against wanting it too much. On one hand, the guy can't win; on the other, if you want to get an Oscar, this is the job. A possible silver lining: The Maestro backlash got so intense that I wonder if people will start to feel bad about overdoing it, setting Cooper up for an Anne Hathaway–style rehabilitation down the line.

Next up: Cooper's already set up his next directorial effort: a dark comedy called Is This Thing On?, in which he'll co-star alongside Will Arnett. In his day job as a Hollywood leading man, he's set to star in Steven Spielberg's Bullitt revamp, which will reportedly shoot this year. Neither of these projects is a Frank Rizzo biopic. 

 

LOUDLY OVERDUE:

This group is where we start to see some palpably unbalanced ledgers. Big nomination totals opposite that big goose egg for "wins.” For an actor, by the time they hit that fourth nomination without a win, people start to notice. Craftspeople usually go eight or nine nominations before anyone realizes. The following people have gone well beyond that, and it's starting to feel awfully conspicuous. Should they take these snubs personally?

 

Amy Adams

6 noms, 0 wins

Amy Adams "winning an Oscar for her work in Hillbilly Elegy would be worse than her never winning an Oscar at all,” Adams superfan Chris Murphy wrote for Vulture in 2020. From his lips to God's ears. After an astonishing opening run of six nominations in 14 years — though not one for Arrival, arguably her career peak — Adams hasn't come within sight of an Oscar since strapping on that voluminous Elegy wig. Recent choices like Disenchanted and Dear Evan Hansen speak to an actor with other priorities than awards at this point, but whenever Adams steps back into the world of prestige cinema, expect the "overdue" narrative to factor heavily into the conversation.

Next up: Adams is heading to Hulu for Marielle Heller's Nightbitch, about a mom who transforms into a dog at night. Even if it can't land her the Oscar, the film may at least get the stans back onboard. She's also got Taika Waititi's Kazuo Ishiguro adaptation Klara and the Sun, and the comedy The Invite from Little Miss Sunshine's Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.

 

Michelle Williams

5 noms, 0 wins

If it weren't for Amy Adams, we'd be talking a lot more about how Michelle Williams doesn't have an Oscar yet. Fittingly, both actresses got their first nomination in the same year, in the same category, falling to The Constant Gardener's Best Supporting Actress Rachel Weisz in 2006. Since then, Adams has had more high-profile projects, while Williams has kept delivering award-worthy work when it just wasn't her year. She was never expected to beat out Natalie Portman for Black Swan or Viola Davis for Fences or Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady. Two years ago, though, it seemed like she might cruise to a Supporting Actress win for playing a version of Steven Spielberg's dreamily difficult mother. Instead, Williams pushed for leading actress categorization, and she got bulldozed by Michelle Yeoh. But for the first time, Williams's bad luck with Oscar became part of her press narrative.

Next up: If Todd Haynes ever makes this Peggy Lee movie he's been talking about forever, Williams might play the lead role. Playing Marilyn Monroe didn't work for her, but biopics are still a trusted avenue toward the Oscar.

 

Annette Bening

5 noms, 0 wins

An Oscar win for Nyad was just never going to be in the cards, no matter how good Bening was at playing "stung by jellyfish.” But after five losses for movies like The Grifters, American Beauty, and The Kids Are All Right, not to mention a few high-profile nomination snubs (20th Century Women, I refuse to let this go), Bening's career is starting to look conspicuously underrewarded. What's more, Bening is always willing to play the game and show up for a roundtable or an "actor interviews actor" gambit. She will lend an air of gravitas to your red-carpet event.

Next up: Bening is currently embroiled in a family maybe-murder mystery on Peacock in Apples Never Fall, but in 2025, she will appear in director Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Lost Daughter follow-up, currently titled The Bride. Yes, it is a Bride of Frankenstein riff, and after Gyllenhaal directed Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley to nominations with The Lost Daughter, there is every reason to be excited about the Oscar prospects for this one.

 

QUIETLY OVERDUE:

These are the less obviously Oscar-parched, but their extensive résumés, combined with their stature in the business, make it fair for them to ask, "When's it my turn?”

 

Mark Ruffalo

4 noms, 0 wins

You don't think of Ruffalo as a long-suffering Oscar bridesmaid, in part because of his low-key public persona, but also because his nominations have mostly come for steady, unshowy performances. (All four have been in Supporting Actor.) His buffoonish turn in Poor Things displayed unexpected range, and considering how much the Academy loved Yorgos Lanthimos's film, he may well have been the runner-up to Robert Downey Jr. when all the votes were tallied. Like his former MCU castmate, all it might take is the right supporting role in the right Best Picture contender for Ruffalo to get his moment, too.

Next up: Another supporting role in Bong Joon Ho's Parasite follow-up Mickey 17, which has been ominously pushed back to January 2025. Before that, the two-time Emmy winner will return to TV as the father of Cooper Raiff and Lili Reinhart (who are playing literal children?) in Raiff's Hal & Harper.

 

Saoirse Ronan

4 noms, 0 wins

The benefits of starting young: Though she's yet to turn 30, Ronan has as many Oscar nominations as Joanne Woodward, Burt Lancaster, Barbara Stanwyck, and Warren Beatty. The flip side, however, is that voters may feel less pressure to award her, assuming she'll be back again soon. What gives Ronan an edge is having two plausible paths to a trophy. Her fruitful creative partnership with Greta Gerwig could see both rewarded in tandem, and if that doesn't work out, there will always be British period pieces in the running.

Next up: What did I just say about period pieces? Ronan will star in Steve McQueen's Blitz, which could get her to nom No. 5 as early as next year. On the less Oscar-y side of the biz, she's playing a teacher who locks a misbehaving student in her home in a film called Bad Apples. It's a comedy!

 

Carey Mulligan

3 noms, 0 wins

A few years ago, it seemed like Carey Mulligan might never actually follow up her breakthrough Oscar nomination for 2009's An Education. She kept delivering great performances that got ignored in movies like Shame, Far From the Madding Crowd, Mudbound, and Wildlife. But with Best Actress nods for Promising Young Woman and this year for Maestro, Mulligan is on the cusp of "overdue.” She hasn't lost often enough to surpass the Amy Adamses and Michelle Williamses of the world — much less the Glenn Closes — but with one more widely acclaimed and nominated performance, there certainly won't be any sense that she hasn't paid her dues.

Next up: One for the Money, a British comedy about a lottery winner where she doesn't even play the lottery winner. Gonna have to do better than that.

 

 

 

[QueenofCopyPaste]

Glenn Close

 

[WEEKND]

How in the world does Bradley Cooper have 12 nominations 

[GraceRandolph]

It's hard to argue with Glenn Close.

[Stepfon]

3 minutes ago, WEEKND said:

How in the world does Bradley Cooper have 12 nominations 

Acting, writing and producing. 

[QueenofCopyPaste]

Where is Dianne Warren??

 

15 nominations, 0 wins

[abelfenty]

If we're talking about any category the most overdue is easily Thomas Newman. How he's never won once despite composing so many legendary scores is beyond me

[McNulty]

Putting Lily in the list is weird, nobody heard of her until KOTFM so she's not an overdue. As for the rest, Saoirse Ronan and Samuel L. Jackson have a big chance to win this year

[Galaxy]

Not Frances McDormand

[TedMiracle]

Where's JLo?

[Stepfon]

12 minutes ago, QueenofCopyPaste said:

Where is Dianne Warren??

 

15 nominations, 0 wins

She is on the list at the source.

[RideOrDie]

4 minutes ago, TedMiracle said:

Where's JLo?

[Johnny Jacobs]

I dont believe in overdue oscar. 

Every year should be a clean slate and be judged by the recent performance, not the previous ones. 

 

I hate career oscars. 

Edited March 23 by Johnny Jacobs

[GreatestLoveofAll]

glenn close being oscar less is a crime 

[Weld_E]

I watched The Favorite for the first time

last night. How did Coleman win an Oscar for that over Glenn?

[prézli]

Glenn Close. Just give her one before she dies!!!

[EnigmaticAndroid]

Glenn Close 

[Hector]

9 minutes ago, Weld_E said:

I watched The Favorite for the first time

last night. How did Coleman win an Oscar for that over Glenn?

BAFTA, same way Emma won this year for Poor Things against Lily Gladstone in a very close race.

 

Glenn: Drama Golden Globe,  Critics Choice, SAG, Independent Spirit Award

Olivia: Comedy Golden Globe, BAFTA

 

Plus Olivia's film had 10 nominations compared to Glenn being the only nomination for The Wife. Granted Emma Stone & Olivia should have swapped categories that year. 

Edited March 23 by Hector

[StonedSoulPicnic]

Glenn should've won for Dangerous Liaisons.

[Fitzswiftie]

39 minutes ago, WEEKND said:

How in the world does Bradley Cooper have 12 nominations 

1. Best Actor - Silver Linings

2. Best Sup. Actor - American Hustle

3. Best Actor - American Sniper

4. Best Picture - American Sniper

5. Best Picture - A Star Is Born

6. Best Actor - A Star Is Born

7. Best Adapted Screenplay - A Star Is Born

8. Best Picture - Joker

9. Best Picture - Nightmare Alley

10. Best Picture - Maestro

11. Best Actor - Maestro

12. Best Original Screenplay - Maestro

[OnlyManInTheWorld]

Glenn Close should have 2.

[Lil' Oz]

Glenn should have won for Fatal Attraction

[NEX]

51 minutes ago, QueenofCopyPaste said:

Where is Dianne Warren??

 

15 nominations, 0 wins

Diane Warren
15 noms, 0 wins

When songwriter Diane Warren was presented with an honorary Oscar in 2022 for her lifetime of service to the film industry in the form of writing power ballads for every possible cinematic occasion, one school of thought supposed that she might stop aggressively pursuing nominations in the Best Original Song category. What fools. Judging by her back-to-back nominations for Tell It Like a Woman in 2023 and Flamin' Hot in 2024, Warren is as hard-core as ever about earning that first competitive Oscar. See also the "mini-tantrum" she allegedly threw at this year's ceremony when the Best Original Song presenters didn't read the names of the nominees. At this point, Oscar voters may be left with the decision to give it to Warren and end this madness or continue to deny her and see how far this bullet train to hell can go.

 

Next up: Perhaps in an attempt to cut out the middleman, a documentary on Warren's life and career, Diane Warren: Relentless, just premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival. The film features an original song called "Dear Me,” written by Warren and performed by Kesha. This has gotta be the one, right?

[Mtjjproducer]

Angela basset did the thing last year (and in what's love go to do with it and many other) and they gave it to freaky Friday 

[TrymeB]

Bradley Cooper is so desperate to win one. He stars in, produces and directs Oscar-bait after Oscar-bait movies, only to be told NO, each and every time. Maybe he should focus on making good movies that do well at the BO and worry less about the Oscars? 

Edited March 23 by TrymeB