Great film stars who have never won an Oscar

For every actor, whether budding or established, winning an Oscar is probably one's biggest career aspiration. There's something so stellar and magical about winning this coveted trophy that only the film stars themselves can define. An Oscar is an actor what an Olympic medal is an athlete or what a World Cup trophy is to a football team.

Thanks to their grand performances in their film roles, many great film stars have relished in the feeling of being an Oscar winner. It has however not been the same case for everyone. There are many actors and actresses who are yet to bag an Oscar in spite of them having brought out an A game in most if not all of their films. Below is a list of three iconic actors and two renown actresses with no Oscars to their name so far:

Johnny Depp

With well-delivered roles in the 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' films and other films like 'Black Mass', one would expect that Johnny Depp would now be having an Oscar or two to display in his memorabilia cabinet. The Oscar award has however eluded the Kentucky-born actor up to now. The biggest awards that the Hollywood sensation has managed to scoop so far are only Golden Globes and SAG awards.

Depp has thrice been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Actor category but has unfortunately not been lucky in any of these. He was in 2004 nominated for 'Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl', an award he would lose to 'Mystic River's' Sean Penn. Depp again had unsuccessful nominations in 2005 and 2007 for 'Finding Neverland' and 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street' respectively.

According to British Channel Channel 4's Greatest Actor Poll, Johnny Depp was voted the Second Greatest Actor (behind Marlon Brando) and the interesting is that Marlon Brando described Depp as one of the greatest actors of his generation

Tom Cruise

Ask any movie fan in any part of the world and they will tell you they know Tom Cruise. The talented American actor has been there, done it and seen it but is yet to hold his own Oscar in his hands. Cruise is best known for films such as 'Top Gun', 'Edge Of Tomorrow', and 'Jerry Maguire' among many others. His performances in various films have always been applauded and he even has three Golden Globe Awards to show for these.

In terms of Academy Awards nominations, he has been nominated three times. He was first nominated in 1990 for the film 'Born On The Fourth Of July' in the Best Actor category. He, however, lost to Daniel Day-Lewis who was up against him with the film 'My Left Foot'. 1997 would again see him nominated in the same category with the film 'Jerry Maguire', an award that would instead go to Geoffrey Rush of 'Shine'. Cruise's third Oscar nomination was in 2000 for the film 'Magnolia'. He, however, lost this Best Supporting Actor award to Michael Caine – 'The Cider House Rules'.

'Awards are wonderful. I've been nominated many times and I've won many awards. But my journey is not towards that. If it happens it will be a blast. If it doesn't, it's still been a blast'

Brad Pitt

It's hard to believe but renown actor Brad Pitt doesn't have any Oscar award. A slight correction here, Pitt has an Oscar award as a producer but none as an actor which is what he is best known for. The 53-year old earned an Oscar with the film '12 Years A Slave' in 2013 in the Best Picture category. He had served as a co-producer in this film that also saw cast members Lupita Nyong'o and Chiwetel Ejiofor bag Academy Awards in the same year.

Pitt has been nominated for the Oscars as an actor three times. These include '12 monkeys' (in 1995 under the Best Supporting Actor category), 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' (in 2008), and 'Moneyball' (in 2011). The latter two nominations were under the Best Actor category.

Brad Pitt talked about the Academy Awards nomination process: 'I've been around long enough to know it's very fickle and it's a cyclical wheel. But I will say this: it's surprisingly fun when your number comes up'

Father of six Pitt is famous for his roles in films such 'Kalifornia', 'Seven', 'Troy', 'Legends of The Fall', 'Ocean's Eleven', 'Mr & Mrs. Smith', 'The Inglorious Basterds', and 'Allied' among much more. He has one Golden Globe Award as an actor and also one Primetime Emmy and one SAG award as an actor too. He also has various other critics' awards.

Amy Adams

Amy Adams is one of the best-known women in Hollywood. She gained massive fame for her role in films like 'Enchanted' and 'American Hustle' alongside others. However, in spite of her many years of hard work and dedication to film, she is yet to lay claim to an Oscar award.

The stunning American actress and singer have been nominated for Oscar Awards more than four times. Her first nomination was in 2006 in the Best Supporting Actress category. She was nominated for her role in the film Junebug but lost to Rachel Weisz of 'The Constant Gardener'. Her other nominations include doubt (2009), 'The Fighter' (2011), 'The Master' (2013), and 'American Hustle' (2014). All these nominations were under the Best Supporting Actress category save for 'American Hustle' with which she lost to Cate Blanchett under the Best Actress category. Blanchett had been nominated for her role in 'Blue Jasmine'.

Her performance in 'Junebug' (2005) was named the sixth best performance of the decade in Paste magazine's 25 Best Movie Performances of the Decade

In regards to her filmography, Adams has one SAG award, two Golden Globe awards, and four Critics' Choice Movie awards. She also has various other awards here and there to show for her years in film.

Naomi Watts

Even though she has great films such as 'King Kong' and 'The Impossible', English Actress Naomi Watts has not been able to win an Oscar award to date. She was nominated for an Oscar award in 2003 and 2012 but failed to win both times. Her first nomination had been in the Best Leading Actress category with the film '21 Grams' while her second nomination was with 'The Impossible' under a similar category.

In terms of accolades, Naomi has one SAG award and several other filmography awards.

Naomi Watts on her Oscar nomination for 'The Impossible' (2012): 'I just want to have a good time and then have a great party afterward. Emmanuelle Riva was the performance of the year, but Jennifer Lawrence did a beautiful job too. And Jessica Chastain. They're all great performances. And - how do you pronounce it? - Quvenzhane (Wallis) was great too'

Other great film stars without Oscars

The aforementioned five film stars aren't the only ones in their lot without an Oscar award in spite of their great acting talent, there are many other actors and actresses who don't have Oscars in spite of their epic screen performances over the years. More examples of such film stars include Will Smith, Bradley Cooper, John Travolta, Robert Downey Jr, Joaquin Phoenix, Edward Norton, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Matt Dillon, Alan Rickman, Glenn Close, and Annette Bening among others.