When looking at Johnny Depp’s filmography, one can easily recognize that he looks like an actor who the Academy would snub multiple times. Talented, versatile, and with no desire to win the coveted trophy, Depp’s incredible performances are a testament to the fact that being the people’s champion is much more valuable than any other award.
Still, the legendary actor has been nominated thrice for the award. His most popular role, Captain Jack Sparrow, got a nod in his first appearance. However, all three nominations were with incredibly talented artists as his fellow nominees, and winning was tough. Sean Penn, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Clint Eastwood were just some of his competitors.
Johnny Depp’s Oscar competitors included Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, and more
Johnny Depp is one of those actors who disappears into a role to an extent where he is unrecognizable. He has donned many disguises that have become iconic over the years and while he is at a slump now after the Amber Heard scandal, he is gearing up for a comeback. Depp’s filmography boasts of some truly versatile characters and he has nailed them all.
The Academy has a habit of honoring the wrong person or at least snubbing the deserving till a point where they eventually win for a weaker performance. It happened with Joaquin Phoenix (he should have won for The Master, fight me!), it happened with Angela Bassett, and it has happened thrice with Johnny Depp.
While it is a travesty that Depp has never won an Oscar, there is a sort of defence for the Academy with this one. Depp has had fierce competitors all three times he has been nominated.
When the actor was nominated for Pirates of the Caribbean, his fellow nominees were Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Bill Murray, and Sean Penn, who won for Mystic River. The second time, Depp was nominated against Clint Eastwood, Don Cheadle, Leonardo DiCaprio (for The Aviator), and Jamie Foxx, who won for Ray.
The third time, he was up against George Clooney, Tommy Lee Jones, Viggo Mortensen, and Daniel Day-Lewis, who won for Lincoln. Looking back, they were all tough years for the versatile star and whoever won certainly gave an incredible performance.
Johnny Depp was just happy to be nominated and did not desire the Oscar win
Several incredible actors and filmmakers have never won the golden statue despite being legends in the field. Some were honored later than required for their contributions, while some were never given the honor. Actors like Angela Bassett and Jackie Chan were given the honorary Oscar for their contributions.
Johnny Depp was nominated thrice for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Finding Neverland, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He never won the award and claimed to be happy with just being nominated.
He echoed his friend and fellow actor Joaquin Phoenix’s sentiment about actors being pitted against each other. He said to Vanity Fair,
I don’t want to win one of those things ever, you know. I don’t want to have to talk. The idea of winning means that you’re in competition with someone and I’m not in competition with anybody. They gave me one of those things, like a nomination, two or three times. A nomination is plenty.
The Academy may have fumbled hard after not even giving Depp an honorary Oscar after his contributions to the industry. He is all set to make a comeback with Day Drinker and hopefully, will finally get the recognition he deserves again. He will still, however, remain the people’s champion.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
