10 Actors Who Won Oscars For The Wrong Film

5) George Clooney

Won For: Syriana

Should Have Won For: Michael Clayton

Like Bale, George Clooney seemingly took home his Best Supporting Actor Oscar largely because voters sympathized with the physical agony he had to go through for the part. And sure, Clooney probably did deserve something for Syriana, having piled on the pounds so hard he had to undergo surgery when his nose started leaking spinal fluid.

Clooney’s greatest performance, however, came not in Syriana, but in Michael Clayton. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime turn from the King of Hollywood, one that feels lived rather than performed.

It’s Clooney dampening down his star quality to give a portrait of a man whose spark has long since been extinguished, after years of being corrupted by the system in which he finds himself trapped.