8 Actors Who Should Have Won Oscars (But Never Will)

2. Viggo Mortensen

Why They Should Have Won: Mortensen's portrayal of Aragorn in The Lord Of The Rings films was easily one of the best, most complex performances in the trilogy €“ and with co-stars like Sean Bean, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett and Christopher Lee, that really is saying something.

Aragorn had to be likeable, relatable, mysterious, brave and insecure all at the same time. Sadly, fantasy films have never been particularly celebrated by the Academy, and Mortensen didn't receive a single nomination across the three films. What Mortensen was nominated for was a 2007 film named Eastern Promises, directed by David Cronenberg. Mortensen's performance as Russian gangster Nikolai Luzhin was widely celebrated, and he scooped up a huge number of nominations and accolades, but lost on the Academy Award to Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. Why They Never Will: Ever since then, Mortensen's performances haven't managed to capture that same electricity. While they're still great, most of his releases in recent years €“ The Two Faces Of January, Jauja, Everybody Has A Plan €“ have been critically lukewarm. He also seems to be doing less and less acting, with not a single film starring Mortensen being released in 2015, only two the year before, and again none in 2013. At present, he only has one upcoming project set for 2016.