10 More Actors Who Tried Like Hell To Win An Oscar (But Failed)

Another Clint Eastwood dose of Oscar-bait that just didn't go down in quite the way the director was likely hoping, coming two years before the disappointment that was J. Edgar, the tale centred around Nelson Mandela, Francois Pienaar, and the Springbocks rugby team around the time of the 1995 World Cup in South Africa that was Invictus once again didn't live up to the substantial hype.

And while Eastwood himself was likely let down by his sports drama film not bringing home even as much as an Oscar nod for Best Picture or Director, you have to assume Matt Damon in particular was left wondering what he needed to do to finally add to his Oscar screenplay win for Good Will Hunting all those years ago.

Spending six months trying to nail the South African accent that he likened to "doing gymnastics in your mouth," Damon also confessed to putting himself through it in the gym to get in Springbock captain shape, admitting that he "didn't want to embarrass Francois."

And while Damon certainly didn't and still walked out with a nomination at the ceremony, it still wasn't enough to wrestle the gong away from Inglorious Basterds' Christoph Waltz that year.