Last year I threw together a
list of some contemporary screen actors who I feel are more than deserving of an Oscar, but have yet to win. They are all still reasonably young, although the Hollywood shelf life of actresses tends to be much shorter, so Laura Linney and Julianne Moore may come up short despite the 7 nominations between them.
Today I present a second list of screen actors still currently appearing in feature films who are also deserving of an Oscar one day. The nine actors I've listed below have 15 acting nominations between them, but not a single win (well, one has a win for screenplay).
In his 26 years making feature films,
Johnny Depp has provided us with countless indelible characters including the Mad Hatter (
Alice in Wonderland),
Edward Scissorhands, Captain Jack Sparrow in
Pirates of the Caribbean (receiving his first of 3 Oscar nominations for the first
film in that series), Willy Wonka (
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory),
Donnie Brasco, Ichabod Crane (
Sleepy Hollow), Raoul Duke (
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas),
Ed Wood,
Don Juan DeMarco, and
Cry-Baby. He has worked with Tim Burton 7 times, as well as renowned directors such as Terry Gilliam, Mike Newell, Lasse Hallström, Roman Polanski, John Waters and Michael Mann. It's remarkable to me that it took until 2004 for his first nod from the Academy, but not at all surprising that he's since received two more nominations. His roles are often flashy, but still not the kind the Academy tends to reward. I'd expect to see him continue to garner nominations, but not at all surprised if they end up handing him an Honorary Oscar in about 25 years' time.
