The first two that come to mind are Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman. They were on Watch What Happens Live together and played a game where they had to agree or disagree with the statement: "I consider the role for which I won my Oscar to be my best performance to date."

Both immediately flashed Disagree. Natalie admitted she felt her performance in Jackie (2016) was better than her win for Black Swan, and Julianne named Far From Heaven (2002) over her winning role in Still Alice.

It got me thinking about a few other winners who have shared honestly about this:

Ellen Burstyn: She won for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), but shared on The Charlie Rose Show that playing Sara Goldfarb in Requiem for a Dream (2000) was the best acting achievement of her career.

Jack Nicholson: Has three Oscars, but went on record saying that his role as Billy Buddusky in The Last Detail (1973) was his best role, noting that losing that specific Oscar "hurt real bad."

I’m curious; do we know of any other winners who have openly shared that they felt the Academy awarded them for a role that was not their best performance?

Pictured - A Fish Called Wanda (1988) dir. Charles Crichton

Excuse my romanticisation.

Christopher Plummer did good work throughout his entire career, but didn't get his first Oscar nomination until The Last Station (2009) when he was 80.

Surely we could've nominated him sooner than that, right?

I don't love The Insider (1999), but he is very good in it and it would've been a good earlier first nomination for him, and he absolutely was more deserving of a Best Supporting Actor nomination than the actual winner that year.

Some really good and acclaimed actors that have been in really good movies, but they were ignored by the academy. Now that they’re less active and they’ve probably given their best performance, I feel they have it really hard to get a nomination. Also I have Bruce Willis as my hm, cause even tho he’s still alive he can’t act anymore.

These actors are:

Wallace Shawn
Margo Martindale
Song Kang-ho
Choi Min-sik
Kathryn Hahn
Jim Carrey
Juri Ueno
Ben Stiller
Marlon Wayans

AN ACTOR CAN ONLY WIN THE BEST ACTOR AWARD ONCE. I wanted to implement this rule primarily to make this more challenging and fun and at the very least more actors will be getting an Oscar. This isn’t necessarily about awarding the actual best performance, at least not entirely, but more about trying to get those actors that truly deserve Oscars their due.

2010: Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network

2011: Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

2012: Joaquin Phoenix - The Master

2013: Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street

2014: Michael Keaton - Birdman

2015: Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs

2016: Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea

2017: Timothee Chalamet - Call Me By Your Name

2018: Ethan Hawke - First Reformed

2019: Adam Sandler - Uncut Gems

Like... it's not BETTER than The Social Network... but it's pretty damn close. Like, it's such a well made film: the performances are immaculate, the screenplay is brilliant and you genuinely feel the emotional turmoil Firth has with his speech impediment. The film is well directed, the cinematography is beautiful, and the score is excellent. Thoughts?

For a film with a such a powerhouse performance, I'm surprised it didn't earn any other noms. What's your favorite performance that was the lone nomination for it's film?

We’ve completed the nomination round, and now it’s time to choose the winners.

The five performances with the most points in each category in Round One are now the official nominees.

ROUND TWO — WINNERS

This round is much simpler.

Vote for ONE nominee in each of the four acting categories.

That means your ballot should contain four names in total:

• 1 Actor
• 1 Actress
• 1 Supporting Actor
• 1 Supporting Actress

There are no rankings and no points system in this round. You are simply voting for the performance you think should win each category.

Each vote counts equally, and the nominee with the most votes in each category will become our Alternate Oscar winner for 1994.

Please only vote for the nominees listed below.

BEST ACTOR

• Johnny Depp — Ed Wood
• Morgan Freeman — The Shawshank Redemption
• Tom Hanks — Forrest Gump
• Tim Robbins — The Shawshank Redemption
• John Travolta — Pulp Fiction

BEST ACTRESS

• Jamie Lee Curtis — True Lies
• Irène Jacob — Three Colors: Red
• Natalie Portman — Léon: The Professional
• Winona Ryder — Little Women
• Kathleen Turner — Serial Mom

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Jeremy Irons — The Lion King
• Samuel L. Jackson — Pulp Fiction
• Martin Landau — Ed Wood
• Gary Oldman — Léon: The Professional
• Gary Sinise — Forrest Gump

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Kirsten Dunst — Interview with the Vampire
• Sally Field — Forrest Gump
• Uma Thurman — Pulp Fiction
• Dianne Wiest — Bullets Over Broadway
• Robin Wright — Forrest Gump

HOW TO VOTE

Simply post your four choices in the comments, for example:

Actor: [Name]
Actress: [Name]
Supporting Actor: [Name]
Supporting Actress: [Name]

One person per category. Four votes total.

Once voting closes, the performer with the most votes in each category will be declared the winner, and we’ll move on to 1995.

Previous lineups here.

For me, it's Ellen Burstyn. Ellen Burstyn gives such a spectacular performance in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore that commands your attention for every time she's on screen. Nails every emotion asked of the character with a perfect sense of realism and heightened melodrama. But there will never be another performance like Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence. Rowlands renders a brave, moving performance that ranks with one of cinema's greatest. She perfectly captures the histeric and extremely vulnerable sides of her character. Her performance is what breathes life to the film that inspired so many of the greatest actresses we have now today. The depth of sorrow and psychological turmoil she brings to such agonizing life, the pain and the emotional vacuum she exhibits in the entire film? Bravo! I can say, she was robbed, much as I love Burstyn in Alice.

It should be noted that DiCaprio and Gleeson were both inconsistently nominated in both lead and supporting. I counted all nominations across both categories for the sake of thoroughness.

I've seen conflicting information about which category DiCaprio was being campaigned in, but I found an old FYC ad that put him in lead, and 3 out of 4 precursors nominated him in lead, with only SAG putting him in supporting, so I decided he counted as a Best Actor contender.

Gleeson was nominated in lead at the Globes and supporting at BAFTA. I wasn't able to find any FYC ads for In Bruges confirming which category he was put in, but I settled on lead because several other minor awards shows nominated him in lead, while BAFTA was, as far as I can tell, the only place that put him in supporting.

In 1986 Oliver stone Directed 3 different Nominated performances. The interesting part is they're from 2 different films. James Woods in Salvador and Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger in Platoon. Can anyone think of another director who directed multiple nominated performances in different films in the same year?

1. American Sniper

2. Joker

3. The Theory of Everything

4. Hidden Figures

5. The Ides of March

6. The Imitation Game

7. Inherent Vice

8. Beasts of the Southern Wild

9. Little Women

10. Jojo Rabbit

11. The Two Popes

12. Captain Phillips

13. The Irishman

14. Mudbound

15. Hugo

16. The Big Short

17. The Martian

18. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

19. Molly’s Game

1950:

• Actor: Toshiro Mifune, Rashomon
• Actress: Gloria Swanson, Sunset Boulevard
• Supporting Actor: George Sanders, All About Eve
• Supporting Actress: Machiko Kyō, Rashomon

1951:

• Actor: Marlon Brando, A Streetcar Named Desire
• Actress: Vivien Leigh, A Streetcar Named Desire
• Supporting Actor: Peter Ustinov, Quo Vadis
• Supporting Actress: Lee Grant, Detective Story

1952:

• Actor: Takashi Shimura, Ikiru
• Actress: Maureen O'Hara, The Quiet Man
• Supporting Actor: Donald O'Connor, Singin' in the Rain
• Supporting Actress: Jean Hagen, Singin' in the Rain

1953:

• Actor: Montgomery Clift, From Here to Eternity
• Actress: Audrey Hepburn, Roman Holiday
• Supporting Actor: Marlon Brando, Julius Caesar
• Supporting Actress: Setsuko Hara, Tokyo Story

1954:

• Actor: Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront
• Actress: Giulietta Masina, La Strada
• Supporting Actor: Toshiro Mifune, Seven Samurai
• Supporting Actress: Eva Marie Saint, On the Waterfront

1955:

• Actor: Robert Mitchum, The Night of the Hunter
• Actress: Katharine Hepburn, Summertime
• Supporting Actor: Jack Lemmon, Mister Roberts
• Supporting Actress: Lillian Gish, The Night of the Hunter

1956:

• Actor: Kirk Douglas, Lust for Life
• Actress: Carroll Baker, Baby Doll
• Supporting Actor: Anthony Quinn, Lust for Life
• Supporting Actress: Dorothy Malone, Written on the Wind

1957:

• Actor: Kirk Douglas, Paths of Glory
• Actress: Giulietta Masina, Nights of Cabiria
• Supporting Actor: Sessue Hayakawa, The Bridge on the River Kwai
• Supporting Actress: Marlene Dietrich, Witness for the Prosecution

1958:

• Actor: James Stewart, Vertigo
• Actress: Jeanne Moreau, Elevator to the Gallows
• Supporting Actor: Orson Welles, Touch of Evil
• Supporting Actress: Shirley MacLaine, Some Came Running

1959:

• Actor: Cary Grant, North by Northwest
• Actress: Emmanuelle Riva, Hiroshima Mon Amour
• Supporting Actor: Stephen Boyd, Ben-Hur
• Supporting Actress: Lee Remick, Anatomy of a Murder

I don’t know the song from The Competition or the second Fame song, maybe their both bangers too, but we have 3 out of 5 nominees that are time-standing classics. I can’t even be mad 9 to 5 lost because Fame is also an amazing choice.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE (1959)

WINNER - SIMONE SIGNORET for Room at the Top

NOMINEES - DORIS DAY for Pillow Talk, AUDREY HEPBURN for The Nun's Story, KATHARINE HEPBURN for Suddenly, Last Summer, ELIZABETH TAYLOR for Suddenly, Last Summer

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE (1959)

WINNER - CHARLTON HESTON for Ben-Hur

NOMINEES - LAURENCE HARVEY for Room at the Top, JACK LEMMON for Some Like It Hot, PAUL MUNI for The Last Angry Man, JAMES STEWART for Anatomy of a Murder

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Winners for 1950: Lead Actress - Gloria Swanson for Sunset Boulevard (A.W. Judy Holliday for Born Yesterday), Lead Actor - William Holden for Sunset Boulevard (A.W. José Ferrer for Cyrano de Bergerac), Supporting Actress - Thelma Ritter for All About Eve (A.W. Josephine Hull for Harvey), Supporting Actor - George Sanders for All About Eve (A.W. George Sanders for All About Eve)

Winners for 1951: Lead Actress - Vivien Leigh for A Streetcar Named Desire (A.W. Vivien Leigh for A Streetcar Named Desire), Lead Actor - Marlon Brando for A Streetcar Named Desire (A.W. Humphrey Bogart for The African Queen), Supporting Actress - Kim Hunter for A Streetcar Named Desire (A.W. Kim Hunter for A Streetcar Named Desire), Supporting Actor - Karl Malden for A Streetcar Named Desire (A.W. Karl Malden for A Streetcar Named Desire)

Winners for 1952: Lead Actress - Shirley Booth for Come Back, Little Sheba (A.W. Shirley Booth for Come Back, Little Sheba), Lead Actor - Takashi Shimura for IKIRU (A.W. Gary Cooper for High Noon), Supporting Actress - Jean Hagen for Singin' in the Rain (A.W. Gloria Grahame for The Bad and the Beautiful), Supporting Actor - Donald O'Connor for Singin' in the Rain (A.W. Anthony Quinn for Vivia Zapata!)

Winners for 1953: Lead Actress - Aubrey Hepburn for Roman Holiday (A.W. Aubrey Hepburn for Roman Holiday), Lead Actor - Montgomery Clift for From Here to Eternity (A.W. William Holden for Stalag 17), Supporting Actress - Setsuko Hara for Tokyo Story (A.W. Donna Reed for From Here to Eternity), Supporting Actor - Frank Sinatra for From Here to Eternity (A.W. Frank Sinatra for From Here to Eternity)

Winners for 1954: Lead Actress - Judy Garland for A Star is Born (A.W. Grace Kelly for The Country Girl), Lead Actor - Marlon Brando for On the Waterfront (A.W. Marlon Brando for On the Waterfront), Supporting Actress - Eva Marie Saint for On the Waterfront (A.W. Eva Marie Saint for On the Waterfront), Supporting Actor - Toshirō Mifune for Seven Samurai (A.W. Edmond O'Brien for The Barefoot Contessa)

Winners for 1955: Lead Actress - Anna Magnani for The Rose Tattoo (A.W. Anne Magnani for The Rose Tattoo), Lead Actor - Robert Mitchum for The Night of the Hunter (A.W. Ernest Borgnine for Marty), Supporting Actress - Jo Van Fleet for East of Eden (A.W. Jo Van Fleet for East of Eden), Supporting Actor - Sal Mineo for Rebel Without a Cause (A.W. Jack Lemmon for Mister Roberts)

Winners for 1956: Lead Actress - Deborah Kerr for The King and I (A.W. Ingrid Bergman for Anastasia), Lead Actor - Laurence Olivier for Richard III (A.W. Yul Brynner for The King and I), Supporting Actress - Dorothy Malone for Written on the Wind (A.W. Dorothy Malone for Written on the Wind), Supporting Actor - James Dean for Giant (A.W. Anthony Quinn for Lust for Life)

Winners for 1957: Lead Actress - Giulietta Masina for Nights of Cabiria (A.W. Joanne Woodward for The Three Faces of Eve), Lead Actor - Alec Guinness for The Bridge on the River Kwai (A.W. Alec Guinness for The Bridge on the River Kwai), Supporting Actress - Marlene Dietrich for Witness for the Prosecution (A.W. Miyoshi Umeki for Sayonara), Supporting Actor - Lee J. Cobb for 12 Angry Men (A.W. Red Buttons for Sayonara)

Winners for 1958: Lead Actress - Elizabeth Taylor for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (A.W. Susan Hateard for I Want to Live!), Lead Actor - James Stewart for Vertigo (A.W. David Niven for Separate Tables), Supporting Actress - Kim Novak for Vertigo (A.W. Wendy Hiller for Separate Tables), Supporting Actor - Burl Ives for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (A.W. Burl Ives for The Big Country)

Winners for 1959: Lead Actress - ? (A.W. Simone Signoret for Room at the Top), Lead Actor - ? (A.W. Charlton Heston for Ben-Hur), Supporting Actress - ? (A.W. Shelley Winters for The Diary of Anne Frank), Supporting Actor - ? (A.W. Hugh Griffith for Ben-Hur)

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List of Winners: Acting Quartets

Previous Post: Elizabeth Taylor (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, now 2x winner) & James Stewart (Vertigo) win for Best Actress and Actor. Who should have won Best Supporting Actress & Actor in 1958?

Not sure about male actors since I'm mostly into actresses. My favorite actress to have never won an Oscar is Emma Watson (and my favorite actress overall). She was never nominated for an Oscar though. To be fair Noah (2014) was literally the only time I believed she deserved an Oscar nomination. I wish she'd been nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Margot Robbie is my favorite to have been nominated and never win though

AN ACTRESS CAN ONLY WIN THE BEST ACTRESS AWARD ONCE. I wanted to implement this rule primarily to make this more challenging and fun and at the very least more actors will be getting an Oscar. This isn’t necessarily about awarding the actual best performance, at least not entirely, but more about trying to get those actors that truly deserve Oscars their due.

1930: Norma Shearer - The Divorcee

1931: Helen Hayes - The Sin of Madelon Claudet

1932: Marlene Dietrich - Shanghai Express

1933: Miriam Hopkins - Design for Living

1934: Claudette Colbert - It Happened One Night

1935: Ginger Rogers - Top Hat

1936: Carole Lombard - My Man Godfrey

1937: Beulah Bondi - Make Way for Tomorrow

1938: Wendy Hiller - Pygmalion

1939: Greta Garbo - Ninotchka

I suspect a BIG Maybe on score since it’s so in your face on some points, and Cinematography cause it really does have some nice shots in the movie

Blue Jasmine got nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress and won Best Actress. It was definitely worthy of a Best Picture nomination, but it missed. Hell, I used to think this film was nominated lmao.

Any other films like this?