Now that Kate Winslet is an Oscar winner. It got me thinking...who is the best current actor or actress--really in their prime--that can claim the dubious distinction of not being an Academy Award winner.
Is it Leonardo DiCaprio (Winslet and him will always be linked so maybe there's something to him now carrying the mantel)? Is it Tom Cruise (although he still seems too polarizing)? Is it Ed Norton (he's been nominated twice and arguable should have won both of those times). Or is somebody like Don Cheadle, Jude Law or Ryan Gosling.
But after thinking about it...there's no doubt that the most deserving contemporary actor most deserving of having title "Oscar Winning Actor" is now...
...Johnny Depp.
Depp's been nominated three times before. Obviously while he hasn't won, he's been up against some strong competition--Daniel Day Lewis from There Will Be Blood (2008); Jamie Foxx in Ray (2005) and Sean Penn in Mystic River (2004). In retrospect one could make the case for Depp winning in 2004 but the Academy rarely rewards roles in genre pictures (Pirates of the Caribbean). One thing that baffles me are the parts where Depp didn't even garner a nomination. There was no love for his work in Ed Wood (I think his best performance), Donnie Brasco or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
My bet is that he will eventually win an Oscar. And it might similar to how Winslet got hers. The Reader wasn't Winslet's best performance but she was very good in it and it was hard to make a strong case for the other four nominees as none of them really out-shined her. I think she kind of won it by default and I don't have a problem with that because Winslet deserves the distinction of being an "Academy Award winning Actress".
So now Depp can claim the title of best current actor to not have an Academy Award...because I don't think he'll have it long.
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You're spot on. Johnny Depp deserves an Oscar, and I agree that Ed Wood was his best performance (and my favorite Depp movie period). I am glad he didn't win for the worthless Sweeney Todd though. He certainly deserved to win for Jack Sparrow the first time, but he might have had to give it back for making me sit through 2 more (though the flaws were certainly not his fault). Leo deserves one. He always amazes me with his performances. I would have loved to see him win for The Aviator. I hate Tom Cruise, and I know you say he doesn't make bad movies, but he just isn't that great of an actor. I would have been okay with him winning for Magnolia I suppose. Cheadle, Jude Law, and Gosling should have more chances. Let's hope so---they always seem to bring it.
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