10 Great Modern Actors Who Have Never Been Nominated For An Oscar

Guy Pearce

Do some Academy voters suffer from the same anterograde amnesia that befell Leonard Shelby, the haunted character Pearce portrays in Memento? It seems that Guy Pearce is always delivering magnetic performances that are quickly forgotten. He gave the finest performance from L.A. Confidential’s stunning ensemble (how Kim Basinger can walk away with a statue but Pearce not get a nomination confounds me). He was a liberating scene-stealer in the cult classic The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. He has also played everyone from Harry Houdini to Errol Flynn to Andy Warhol, and his gritty turns in superb Australian dramas like The Proposition and Animal Kingdom are simply unforgettable. So why can’t the Academy remember his name the same way Leonard Shelby keeps referring back to Sammy Jankis?

One of our generation’s most riveting and eclectic performers, Pearce should be on the Academy’s radar. He is one of the only actors in movie history to star in back-to-back Best Picture winners, with his brief role at the start of 2009’s The Hurt Locker and his memorable turn as King Edward VIII in The King’s Speech. So, the acting body is definitely familiar with his work. Now, Pearce has to find a role that will connect him with voters – something more along the lines of his acclaimed work on HBO’s Mildred Pierce mini-series and without the empty scenery chewing he brought to Iron Man 3 and Lawless.