
There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding the 88th Academy Awards ceremony, with many criticising the institution for its all-white nomination lists.
Right now though, we’d like to remind our readers of another great debate that gets brought up year after year: when is Leo going to get his Oscar?
Leonardo DiCaprio has been nominated four times now for the highly coveted title of Best Actor (as well as once for Best Supporting Actor, and once for his role as producer), and yet he’s never been able to take that golden statue home.
Fans all around the world have their fingers crossed that this will be his year, as he is nominated for his outstanding performance as Hugh Glass in The Revenant. Less than two weeks ago, Leo won the BAFTA for this very role, but the Academy Awards panel have always proved themselves to be harder to please.
While everyone at JFC wishes Leo well, let’s not forget that he’s not the only one to have been snubbed, ignored, or outright forgotten at the Oscars. Here are five others who have shared the same fate...
Ralph Fiennes
Shockingly, Ralph Fiennes, has only ever even been nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role for The English Patient, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Schindler’s List.
Granted, Fiennes doesn’t win our hearts as the handsome hero, but he is the man you love to hate – he’s Voldemort for God’s sake (and you’ll have to forgive us for saying the name out loud)!
Despite playing roles in hugely successful movies such as Schindler’s List, the Harry Potter films, Skyfall, Spectre, and The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fiennes hasn’t been anywhere near the Oscars since 1996. Well, Ralph, we still love you, or love to hate you at least, and we’re looking forward to seeing you in Hail, Caeser! later this year.
JFC Nomination: Best Supporting Actor in Harry Potter

He’s handsome, he can act, and he’s constantly paired with the world’s current favourite actress Jennifer Lawrence – what more does the Academy want?! Perhaps known best for his role in The Hangover trilogy, Bradley Cooper has proven that he can play a variety of roles, as well as being involved in the production of a number of the films he has starred in, including Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle.
He has managed to achieve three nominations in three years, something that has only been done by a mere ten actors before him (and the Oscars have been running since 1929!), and yet he’s never been given the prize we believe he deserves.
JFC Nomination: Best Actor in Limitless

A lot of people may be shocked to learn that Sir Ian McKellen (Sir!) has never won an Academy Award, and hasn’t even been nominated since 2001. He is widely known for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, his active role in LGBT rights campaigning, and, of course, his impressive film career.
His unforgettable performance as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy earned him one of his two Oscar nominations, but he was beaten that year by Jim Broadbent for his performance in Iris. Apart from his awesome movie roles, Ian McKellen seems like a genuinely cool, down to earth guy, and we’d love for him to finally get some golden-plated recognition for it!
JFC Nomination: Best Supporting Actor in The Lord of the Rings

Arguably, Matt Damon shouldn’t feature on this list, as he actually won Best Original Screenplay, along with Ben Affleck, at the 1997 Academy Awards for Good Will Hunting. However, he has never won the prize for his acting abilities, and they deserve to be recognised!
This year he’s up against Leo for the award of Best Actor, for his role in The Martian. His portrayal of the awe-inspiring Mark Watney is funny and strangely relatable as we watch him struggle for survival while stranded on Mars. Matt Damon is well known from his roles in Ocean’s Eleven (and the other two, less excellent, films of the trilogy) and the Bourne trilogy, but The Martian shows him in a new, more loveable light. Although, who can forget his hilarious genius as Bill the Krill in Happy Feet Two?
JFC Nomination: Best Actor in The Talented My. Ripley

Although many people may know Hugo Weaving for his chilling performance as Agent Smith in The Matrix, this actor is far more versatile than some people give him credit for (we’re looking at you, Oscars panel). Did you know, for example, that he was the voice of Rex the sheepdog in Babe? Or that he played an Australian drag queen known as Mitzi Del Bra in The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert?
He also makes a fantastically aloof Lord Elrond in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and an intriguing vigilante in V for Vendetta. It’s almost criminal that Weaving has never been recognised by the Academy for his outstanding performances in so many films. But then, it might have something to do with that time that he called the Oscars ‘meaningless’, and said that he ‘cannot bear… the whole red carpet thing’. Ouch…
JFC Nomination: Best Supporting Actor in The Matrix