12 Actors Who Won Oscars For Completely The Wrong Role

Won For... Syriana

Should Have Won For... The Descendants

It was only a matter of time before George Clooney would win an Oscar. After breaking out of ER and moving away from early troublesome roles like Batman, he has developed into one of Hollywood's most charismatic leading men, well-versed in both disarming charm and emotional vulnerability with a sort of golden age screen presence he likes to defy in job choices.

And while his role in Syriana defies that star appeal more than his work in The Descendants, its intensity distracts from the fact that it just isn't as good a performance. There's a good deal more complexity to his confused take on grieving and repressed loss than there is in Syriana, but it was never the kind of performance that would have stood out enough to win.

He could also have won for the excellent Michael Clayton, which saw him nominated, but his more gentle turn in The Descendants would definitely have been a more worthy winner. And even his more cartoonish role in O Brother, Where Art Thou? wouldn't have been unjustly recognised.