The Oscars sometimes reward brilliant performances in comedy movies, but there are some that didn’t get the Academy Award buzz that they deserved. Modern comedy is in a tricky place, and the era of outright goofball laughs has mostly faded away. In its place has come the proliferation of dramedies, films that are funny but also have dramatic storylines.
As for the Academy Awards, it isn’t unusual to see some comedy movies score multiple nominations, especially if they are in the aforementioned dramedy category. However, comedy is often one of the most difficult tricks to pull off in cinema, and a great comedic performance deserves recognition even if it comes from a sillier movie.
Modern comedy has become a more open and diverse field, and the approaches to the genre have also changed. What hasn’t changed is the frequency of amazing performances that really carry the humorous storylines forward. Many modern comedic actors just don’t get the credit they deserve when award season rolls around.
Daniel Radcliffe – Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
Since leaving the Harry Potter franchise, Daniel Radcliffe has broadened his horizons into other genres. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story lives up to its name, and the parody biopic tells the “true” story of the rise of the legendary spoof musician. Radcliffe’s turn in the тιтle role was unlike anything he had done before, and it was amazing.
Released at the perfect time, the movie hilariously pokes fun at the myriad of music biopics from recent years. Radcliffe absolutely deserved an Oscar for his leading performance, because of how brilliantly he exemplified the movie’s irreverent humor. His performance was itself a spoof of the self-serious drama of other music biopics.
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest H๏τel (2014)
Generally considered one of Wes Anderson’s best movies, The Grand Budapest H๏τel was not without a lot of award attention. Made with Anderson’s usual eccentric style, the quirky comedy also blends elements of mystery and suspense. Headlining the whole thing is Ralph Fiennes, who turned in a powerhouse performance as M. Gustave.
Getting the joke is the key to a memorable comedic performance, and Fiennes’ blunt and serious portrayal stood in stark contrast to the movie’s over-the-top tone. He made an already hilarious movie even funnier, and tied the entire cast together. It received nine Oscar nominations, but it should have gotten a tenth for Fiennes’ performance.
LaKeith Stanfield – Sorry To Bother You (2018)
2018’s Sorry to Bother You was the type of movie that the Oscars love, but it was ignored. Director Boots Riley’s surreal vision is an allegory about being a Black person in the white working world, and it uses sci-fi to get its point across. LaKeith Stanfield stars as Cash Green, and he’s the thing that holds the movie together.
Stanfield is known for turning in understated performances, but Sorry to Bother You is where he really shines. Cash is the only grounded part of the story, and Stanfield does a lot of heavy lifting to preserve the film’s emotional arc. Despite overwhelming acclaim, the entire film was snubbed by the major awards, and Stanfield’s performance went unrecognized.
Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha (2012)
Greta Gerwig is no stranger to Oscar nominations, but her towering performance in Frances Ha came long before the Academy was ready for her. The Noah Baumbach dramedy is the definition of subtle, and is essentially a slice-of-life story about a woman who doesn’t know what she wants. Gerwig’s honest performance was just right for the тιтle role.
Gerwig’s films Lady Bird, Little Women, and Barbie have all been nominated for Oscars.
Gerwig manages to capture a generation’s worth of angst in one 90-minute movie, and Frances is a naturalistic character with no Hollywood gloss. Her acting is real and rough around the edges, which mirrors the movie’s own indie style. It flew under the Oscars’ radar, though Gerwig did snag a Golden Globe nomination among other lesser accolades.
Beanie Feldstein – Booksmart (2019)
Olivia Wilde’s R-rated teen comedy, Booksmart, ended the 2010s with a bang, and it got a ton of amazing reviews. It hearkens back to old school comedies, but with a modern flare that makes it feel both timeless and contemporary. The dynamic duo of Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever play studious high schoolers who let loose for the first time.
While Dever also deserves recognition for her turn, it is Feldstein’s performance as Molly that should have won the film an Oscar. Beneath all the zany raunchiness, Feldstein is raw and honest, and speaks to the experience of many young people who are afraid of growing up. The Academy ignored Booksmart entirely, but Beanie Feldstein’s snub was the biggest oversight.
Kumail Nanjiani – The Big Sick (2017)
After spending years playing off-the-wall supporting characters, Kumail Nanjiani really got to stretch his range in The Big Sick. The Michael Showalter dramedy has touches of romance too, and slowly becomes a gripping character portrait of a conflicted comic. Nanjiani plays a fictionalized version of himself, a role he was obviously born to play.
Shedding a goofy image is really hard for comics, but Nanjiani has no such growing pains. The fictional Kumail grapples with conflicted desires, and he manages to always be the focus despite sharing the screen with powerhouses like Holly Hunter. The movie scored an Oscar nomination for its writing, but Nanjiani’s acting helped put the script over the top.
Rachel Sennott – Shiva Baby (2020)
Rachel Sennott is one of the rising stars in Hollywood, and Shiva Baby can be seen as her big coming out party. The Emma Seligman dark comedy is essentially told in real time as a young woman’s problems converge at family shiva. Sennott plays Danielle, the young woman in question, and her performance perfectly matches the film’s tone.
Shiva Baby is essentially a claustrophobic cringe comedy movie, but it doesn’t trade in its themes for cheap laughs. Most of that is because of Sennott’s down-to-earth performance, and it never overextends into goofball territory. Sennott’s performance is award-worthy, not just because it is brilliant, but because the film would not be the same without her.
Taika Waiтιтi – What We Do In The Shadows (2014)
It’s no surprise that What We Do in the Shadows didn’t get any attention from the major awards, and it was a bit sillier than what the Oscars go for. It chronicles the lives of socially-inept vampires in New Zealand, and is essentially one big laugh. Taika Waiтιтi wrote, directed, and starred, and Viago is the heart of the movie.
Waiтιтi doesn’t have showstopping scenes, but his earnest and hilarious acting is still worth celebrating. A genuinely funny performance is not something seen in modern movies very often, and Waiтιтi is so effective at being humorous, that he’s on par with other actors who excel at drama. The snubbing of the vampire comedy shows cracks in the Academy’s entire system.
Hailee Steinfeld – The Edge Of Seventeen (2016)
Coming-of-age comedies never go out of style, and The Edge of Seventeen was the perfect addition to the genre for the 2010s. Complete with irreverent humor and classic high school tropes, the movie is a comfy and familiar tale of growing up. What sets the movie apart is the starring role of Hailee Steinfeld, who is shockingly brilliant as Nadine.
Despite the heightened sense of reality found in most comedies, Steinfeld is human and real as she navigates Nadine’s growth. Hollywood movies can often make the “awkward teen” cliche seem unconvincing, but Steinfeld completely sells the idea that she’s an odd-ball loner. It was marketed as a disposable teen comedy. Therefore, the Oscars overlooked it and Steinfeld’s performance.
Margot Robbie – Barbie (2023)
Though Barbie was certainly rewarded with enough money, it didn’t get enough attention at the award shows. Director Greta Gerwig crafts an interpretation of the classic toy line that is heartfelt and moving, without losing general appeal. Margot Robbie plays the тιтle character, and she got to have a lot of fun with what was a complex role.
Besides her whip-smart comedic timing, Robbie’s Barbie represents her strength as a performer. She makes Barbie’s arc feel real, and enough cannot be said about how well she crafts the character’s growth. There’s a stunning dramatic performance hidden behind the movie’s cheesy exterior, and Robbie understood the ᴀssignment. The Oscars nominated her co-stars, but Robbie was snubbed.
