I was just watching a bit of Mrs. Doubtfire and it made me start thinking of actors, like Johnny Depp listed below, that were honored by a nomination for some films yet did not receive the same recognition for others in which they were perhaps more worthy of a nomination. In some cases, their nominations will speak for themselves, but those that did not get recogniton will also stand out. I may be throwing several of these up between now and Oscar time. BA means a Best Actor nomination and BSA means a Best Supporting Actor nomination. I will also include a win if they had such that year.
So let's look at Robin Williams:
Film he was nominated for:
- Good Morning, Vietnam (BA)
- Dead Poets Society (BA)
- The Fisher King (BA)
- Good Will Hunting (BSA) (won)
And films he was not nominated for:
- The World According to Garp
- Aladdin
- Mrs. Doubtfire
- What Dreams May Come
- Insomnia
- One Hour Photo
Now, the last three on the non-nominated list are suspect. I'll give you that. But the other three are among the finest performances he has ever given. One might even include Moscow On the Hudson in that list. Further, I used to be skeptical of the Good Morning, Vietnam nomination but I have softened my stance on that. But I do think his Dead Poets Society bid should have been for Suporting Actor rather than actor (taking Brando's place for A Dry White Season and making strong competition against Denzel Washington for Glory.) But the biggest robbery of his career was the lack of nomination in 1992 for Aladdin. He would not have won, because by even taking the place of the actual winner (Pacino for Scent of a Woman) he would probably still have lost out to Denzel Washington for Malcolm X, or even Robert Downey, Jr. for Chaplin, but it was a performance that went far beyond simply cartoon. That cartoon character WAS Robin Williams (in so many guises), and he made that genie more lifelike that many of the live performances of that year. Just because it is only voice work does not mean that there is no effort put into it.
So, he won one, got some good nominations, and lost out on several more. I still get chapped about Garp, to be honest. Again - it shows the Academy to be fickle, but the fact that he won for Good Will Hunting proves that they get it right sometimes. That is all.
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