There are a lot of perks with being a movie star. Global fame, money, free clothes,
international platforms, legions of fans, people fawning over you, and you’re
probably already gorgeous so you had that going for you to begin with. However, one of the less-noted pieces
of fame is that you generally have an Oscar-nominated film or two in your
repertoire. In fact, it’s
extremely difficult to come up with a list of genuinely famous actors who have
not been in an Oscar-nominated film (which is what I did below) and more
importantly, it’s going to be a lot harder next year as many of the below
actors are in major motion pictures that could be part of the Oscar
conversation.
You may be thinking that this is a super easy game to play,
but it’s not, as it isn’t just Meryl Streep and George Clooney movies that get
nominated for the Oscars. Adam
Sandler, for example, starred in Click which
was nominated for Best Makeup.
Miley Cyrus was the voice of a little girl in the Oscar-nominated Bolt. Mike Myers had a bit part in Inglourious Basterds. Kevin
James had a role in Monster House. By-and-large, if you’re famous enough
to open a movie, you’re probably famous enough to have been in an
Oscar-nominated film. However, the
ten below actors have never been (through my checking on IMDB) in an
Oscar-nominated film and regularly star in motion pictures. Let’s jump
in and see when they got the closest/and if they have a shot this year!
Jessica Alba
Lifetime Gross: $931 million
Biggest Hit: Fantastic
Four ($154 million)
Highest-Rated (all highest-rated according to Rotten
Tomatoes Freshness Rating): Stretch
Best Shot She Had: I would assume it would be Sin City, which got nominated by the
Sound Editors branch for a Golden Reel Award and received a number of critical
awards from the St. Louis, Washington DC, and San Diego critics groups.
Does She Have a Shot This Year?: Doubtful-if the first Sin City film couldn’t make it, I have
little confidence that its sequel will.
Jennifer Aniston
Lifetime Gross: $1.41 billion
Biggest Hit: Bruce
Almighty ($242 million)
Highest-Rated: The
Iron Giant
Best Shot She Had: Considering that it was in the years
before the Animated Feature category, the reality is that the
critically-celebrated The Iron Giant was
never going to be a genuine player.
However, none of Aniston’s other films came close to being nominated, so
I’m going to go with Iron Giant in
perhaps a writing category (had the Animated Feature category existed at the time, Aniston wouldn't be on this list).
Does She Have a Shot This Year?: As we discussed earlier this month, absolutely; Aniston is, in my opinion, one of the current
frontrunners for Best Actress and could score not only a nomination, but a
nomination for herself with Cake.
Zac Efron
Lifetime Gross: $813 million
Biggest Hit: Dr.
Seuss’ The Lorax ($214 million)
Highest-Rated: Hairspray
Best Shot He Had: If there’s a genuinely surprising person
on this list, it would be Efron, who has been in some films with major shots at
the Oscars. Hairspray and The Paperboy
both got Golden Globe nominations for acting, and Me and Orson Welles scored an acting nod at the BAFTA’s. All-in-all, I think that he’s probably
been the closest of any of these ten actors.
Does He Have a Shot This Year?: Not really-Neighbors was a big hit, but it’s not
Oscar BAIT in the slightest.
Tina Fey
Lifetime Gross: $530 million
Biggest Hit: Megamind ($148
million)
Highest-Rated: Elaine
Stritch: Shoot Me
Best Shot She Had: Megamind
was a contender in a particularly competitive year for Animated Feature,
but that Box Office might have helped it had the year gone five-wide. I would assume, though, that Mean Girls could have been a contender
in Best Screenplay if it had been the phenomenon upon release that it is now,
so I’ll go with that.
Does She Have a Shot This Year?: Yes, kind of. While I don’t 100% know if the Elaine Stritch documentary should count,
she definitely was a key player in Muppets
Most Wanted, which could end up in the Best Original Song category, as that
franchise frequently scores music nods.
A little more Box Office would certainly have helped her odds, though.
Katherine Heigl
Lifetime Gross: $745 million
Biggest Hit: Knocked
Up ($148 million)
Highest-Rated: King of
the Hill (not the hit FOX animated series, but instead an early 1990’s
Steven Soderbergh drama)
Best Shot She Had: I would assume that at some point Judd
Apatow was in contention for a writing award considering the critical acclaim
and box office he typically gets. Knocked Up is the most likely contender
of his films to have gotten some votes in that column.
Does She Have a Shot This Year?: No-Heigl is far more
concerned about the ratings of State of
Affairs, her highly-anticipated return to television than she is getting an
Oscar-nominated film on her résumé this year.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Lifetime Gross: $1.639 billion
Biggest Hit: Fast and Furious 6 ($239 million)
Highest-Rated: Racing Dreams
Best Shot He Had: He's been in a couple of major visual effects feasts, principally The Mummy Returns, which would have been his best shot at a nominated film.
Does He Have a Shot This Year?: No-neither of the two Hercules movies is a film many people will remember a week after they saw it, much less months later for a high honor.
Lindsay Lohan
Lifetime Gross: $492 million
Biggest Hit: Freaky Friday ($110 million)
Highest-Rated: Teenage Paparazzo
Best Shot She Had: Bobby at one point was supposed to be an awards contender, but only got cited by the SAG Awards, and working with Robert Altman usually results in a citation for acting or directing, but A Prairie Home Companion couldn't quite cut it in that regard.
Does She Have a Shot This Year?: No-Lohan doesn't even have a film out this year, I believe, and is far more focused on-well, being a tabloid fixture? Everything she touches lately turns to lead (not even Oprah could save her), so I am assuming this isn't going to happen, and she won't be considered a movie star in the same way the other nine are in a few years.
Kellan Lutz
Lifetime Gross: $1.48 billion
Biggest Hit: The
Twilight Saga: Eclipse ($300 million)
Highest-Rated: Love is
All You Need
Best Shot He Had: You may question Kellan Lutz as a movie
star, but he's headlining films now and has made more box office than most people on this list, so I'm going to stick with him for now.
Probably the only chance he had was during the Twilight series when it came to Best Original Song, as there were a
number of hits from those films that could have been contenders if Oscar had
been willing to look past the glittering vampires.
Does He Have a Shot This Year?: The Legend of Hercules doesn’t really seem Oscar-worthy even by the
low standards of Best Makeup, so no.
Paul Rudd
Lifetime Gross: $1.143 billion
Biggest Hit: Monsters vs.
Aliens ($198 million)
Highest-Rated: Casting
By
Best Shot He Had: Probably either Clueless or The Perks of
Being a Wallflower, both critically-acclaimed, particularly for their
screenplays, but probably left off of the list due to the youth-oriented
aspects of the films.
Does He Have a Shot This Year?: No-his movie with Amy Poehler
They Came Together barely made a blip
on the radar screen (did you know it was released)?
Channing Tatum
Lifetime Gross: $1.721 billion
Biggest Hit: The Lego
Movie ($257 million)
Highest-Rated: Foxcatcher
Best Shot He Had: Honestly, maybe Magic Mike? Matthew
McConaughey easily could have scored a nomination for the film, though if we
don’t count that, than perhaps Public
Enemies (Art Direction) or GI Joe (Visual
Effects).
Does He Have a Shot This Year?: He’ll be off of this list
this year. Tatum not only has the
critically-acclaimed Foxcatcher making
plays for writing, acting, and Best Picture, but he has two animated films that
could factor into the Animated Feature race: The Lego Movie and The Book
of Life.
There are the eight-what are your thoughts? Who gets off this list first? What major actors am I missing? And which actor that I name-checked that does have a nominated film are you most
surprised to see included? Share
in the comments!
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