10 Iconic Performances That Weren't Even Nominated For An Oscar

3. Winona Ryder - Heathers

Heathers is one of the greatest teen films ever made, and it seems unlikely that either of its stars (Winona Ryder and Christian Slater) will ever be able to top the dizzying heights they achieved in that movie. Somehow it makes perfect sense that the natural reaction to the greed and commercialism of the 1980s is a pair of beautiful high school misanthropes who go on a murder spree where they frame their victims as tragic suicides. And while Christian Slater seems like the successor to Jack Nicholson's niche market of sociopaths, Winona Ryder is a vision in the film. There's so much anger, alienation, and vulnerability in her performance as Veronica, a girl who is right on the edge of the in crowd, only to realize that she hates all of her new friends and everything they stand for. She carries so much of the film, and has the tremendous burden of making the audience remain on her side despite all of the awful things that she's doing. It's the best thing that Winona Ryder's ever done, and it's a shame that she wasn't properly rewarded for it.