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

Alan Rickman

So, Gary Cooper can walk off into the sunset with Grace Kelly, yet Alan Rickman has not yet reached the point in his career where he can walk off with Oscar gold? A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Rickman has brought immense power and gravitas to many big-screen roles. For action movie lovers, villains rarely come better or more lovably tyrannical than his Hans Gruber in Die Hard, while young audiences of this generation know his smooth, growling voice best coming underneath the guise of Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films. Beyond these commercial heights, he has given terrific performances in Sense and Sensibility and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (his duet with Johnny Depp was a delight and highlight of Tim Burton’s musical adaptation. You can check it out below).

Alas, even with a rich career of characters both sharp and sneering, the Academy has never bestowed a nomination upon Rickman. In the meantime, the BAFTAs, the British counterparts to the Oscars, gave him a prize for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and three other nominations. The actor’s propensity to work amidst large ensembles (Harry Potter, Love Actually) and a hit-and-miss gambit with lead roles (CBGB and Nobel Son got a modest, mixed reception) is likely going against him. Still, in his late sixties, Rickman is one of the hardest-working British actors in cinema today. It took Christopher Plummer almost 80 years before he landed his first nod for The Last Station. Here’s hoping the Academy can give Rickman a shot at Oscar gold before he retires. That could be one way he triumphs over John McClaine… his Die Hard co-star Bruce Willis has never been recognized either.