Believe it or not, these 17 stars have never won a Golden Globe

The Golden Globes (and specifically the Hollywood Foreign Press) has certainly come under a lot of fire this year for the way these folks vote for their nominees. But the awards body has always been a wee bit controversial, often completely failing to recognize some of the brightest talent around. Need more proof? Take a look at these renowned, top-earning Hollywood stars. In all their years in the biz, they’ve never once taken home one of those coveted, spherical statues.

Scarlett Johansson

The Black Widow star may be one of the most recognizable faces in the business (not to mention one of the highest-earning female actors), but she’s never taken home one of those famous Globes. Over her career, ScarJo has been nominated, of course. In total she’s nabbed four nominations over the past decade-and-a-half, including nods in 2006 for Match Point, 2020 for Marriage Story, and a double nomination in 2004 for Girl With a Pearl Earring and Lost in Translation.

Will Smith

You’d think that with outstanding performances in movies like Ali, or historic runs on shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Will Smith would have at least one trophy under his belt. Not so. The five-time nominee has never taken home a big W, despite winning over the hearts of millions and millions of viewers.

Mark Wahlberg

A double Golden Globe (and Oscar!) nominee for The Fighter and The Departed, Mark Wahlberg has come a long way from his Marky Mark days. Unfortunately for him and for fans though he still has never secured a win at the Globes, which seems strange given the sheer number of projects that he has starred in and produced over the years.

Laurence Fishburne

No one messes with Morpheus. Well, no one except the Globes, it seems. The notable film and TV actor has been in dozens of acclaimed projects during his career thus far, and he’s been nominated (and won) several times at the Emmys. Yet Laurence Fishburne’s sole Globes nod to this day remains for his part in the 1996 TV movie The Tuskegee Airmen.   

Ava DuVernay

Okay so she’s not an actor, but there are many people who recognize Ava DuVernay as one of the most important storytellers around. That makes it more than a little jaw-dropping to realize that she’s never won a Golden Globe. Not only that but the director and producer has only ever been nominated once, in 2015 for her work on Selma.

Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller fans might want to fix Globes voters with their best Blue Steel gaze, because the Zoolander star is indeed among those who have never actually won a trophy from the awards body. In fact, the Peabody, Emmy, and MTV-nominated star has never even landed a nomination. (Maybe the HFPA has never seen him in a walk-off?)

Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper’s co-stars have gotten lots of Globes love over the years, but despite four career nominations the actor and director has never quite landed that win. Considering Cooper has gotten more into producing and directing recently that could certainly change in near future, but for now, it just seems like a crime that this star hasn’t been born at the Globes.

Harrison Ford

Is your jaw on the floor over the fact that the guy who played Han Solo, Indiana Jones and The Fugitive has never won a Globe? You aren’t the only one. Ford has been nominated a handful of times over the years, but the only actual trophy he took home at the Globes was the honourary Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2002.

Ralph Fiennes

Ralph Fiennes is one of those actors who seems like he’s just been in everything, and in everything he’s done he’s been award-worthy. Yet even though the actor has received Globes nominations for everything from Schindler’s List to The English Patient, to The Duchess, to The Grand Budapest Hotel, he’s never actually won.

Samuel L. Jackson

Sure, Samuel L. Jackson has had some potential missteps in his career (do we need to talk about Snakes on a Plane again?) but overall he’s one of the most ground-breaking and legendary actors in the biz. So the fact that he’s never one a single Globes seems… wrong. In fact, would anyone have really argued if his nominations for Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown or A Time to Kill had landed him a win? We believe not.

Cameron Diaz

She may be retired now, but there was a good stretch of time when Cameron Diaz ruled the box office with comedies like There’s Something About Mary and dramas like Vanilla Sky alike. She was nominated at the Globes for both (along with nods for her performances in Being John Malkovich and Gangs of New York), but voters never went so far as to give her that win.   

Billy Crystal

That’s right—the guy from When Harry Met Sally, City Slickers and Mr. Saturday Night has never actually won a Golden Globe. To be fair he’s never won an Academy Award either, but the fact that he hosted the Oscars for a total of nine times has to count for something, right? Well maybe technically it did, since he won two Primetime Emmys for hosting and writing that show.

Kerry Washington

When Kerry Washington was cast in Scandal, she became the first Black woman since 1974 to helm her own network TV drama. And helm it she did, with several notable scenes that went on to capture all kinds of pop culture chats. And then there are all of her notable film roles, including Django Unchained and Confirmation. Put together, it seems downright silly that she hasn’t been a bigger Golden Globes contender, let alone winner.  

John Cusack

The actor and producer hasn’t done too much film work over the past few years, but back in the day John Cusack was like big screen royalty. His quirky films like Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity were critically acclaimed, people still recreate his famous radio-holding scene from Say Anything, and let’s not forget that he made so many fans believe in serendipity with Serendipity. Yet the only nom he’s ever received was in 2001 for High Fidelity, and he lost out that year to George Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Thou.

Jeff Daniels

The legendary actor has made fans laugh, cry, ponder philosophy and acted dumber than dumb, and so his skills haven’t been completely lost on the Globes voters. The awards body has nominated Jeff Daniels for a total of five times over the years, both for his work on TV (The Newsroom) and on film (The Squid and the Whale). Yet somehow, the HFPA has yet to muster an actual win for the guy.

Melissa McCarthy

Is there any actor with a more prolific film and TV career than Melissa McCarthy? From supporting characters to leading ladies, this actor has played it all over the years, yet somehow she has never taken home a Golden Globe. You’d think her turn in Bridesmaids or St. Vincent would have turned heads, but at the very least she probably deserved some kudos for carrying the show that was Mike & Molly for all of those years.

Steve Martin

Steve Martin’s lack of Golden Globe love is a bit of a head scratcher—after all, doesn’t everyone love The Jerk? Sure the guy has been nominated for a trophy five times now, but like his fellow Oscars host Billy Crystal, this legendary actor has never actually taken home the win.

BEFORE YOU GO: A-list star power to present at this year’s Golden Globes

[video_embed id='2143385']BEFORE YOU GO: A-list star power to present at this year’s Golden Globes[/video_embed]