Jake Gyllenhaal and the Elusive Oscar | Why He's Never Won 

I still to this day don’t understand why he was snubbed for “Nightcrawler.” He was nominated for every other big award but for some reason didn’t get nominated for the Oscar. His performance was so chilling and dark that nobody could’ve played the role better.

He's such a versatile actor that takes up challenging roles. With his looks, he could have just done action or superhero films but instead goes through serious body and mental transformations. Hopefully he will get it in the end. Also, I'm glad you mentioned Zodiac. The fact it got 0 nominations is criminal.

Jake's best performances have tended to be either in smaller "art house" films (Nightcrawler, Enemy, Nocturnal Animals). Or in films that are well received but don't gain a lock of traction in awards circles due to their subject matter or lack of "political" appeal. Prisoners was a great example of this. In 2014 he wasn't nominated for Night Crawler. But neither was Miles Teller (whiplash), Ralph Fienes (Grand Budapest Hotel), or David Oleyowo (Selma). All of these men would have rightly deserved a nomination if they received one. Some years are just very competitive.

Nightcrawler is a masterpiece of acting from Jake - could not agree more!

While my favorite Gyllenhaal film to date is the brilliant Nocturnal Animals, his best performance imho is in Nightcrawler - one of the best acting leads in recent history. Come to think of it, he’s always great.

He must hate Bradley Cooper who took his Oscar nomination spot AND his lifelong desire to play Leonard Bernstein. He was even developing the film when Bradley popped up with his own project then backed by Steven Spielberg. It has to be frustrating given the fact that Jake is the far better and more charismatic actor but Bradley spends a lot of time hobnobbing with the right people which is what award season is all about. I hope Jake gets his due one day. He deserves it!

finally someone whos talking about this, Jake Gyllenhaal is my favorite actor and the oscars have snubbed him for years.

Now here is an actor who is a real artist. After having seen several of his films since childhood, in school, with family and friends, at home and and in theatres, I never really understood his intelligence and genius as an artist and storyteller. By watching this video I actually came to realize, he was never really that much of a blockbuster actor, even though I thought he was. I guess his movies made that much of an impression on me!

I was shocked he wasn't nominated for 'Nightcrawler'. That was a misstep by the Oscars. He was so good in that movie. End of watch and Nightcrawler are 2 of his best movies.

The Oscars have truly been sleeping on the entire Gyllenhaal family!!!!! Can’t wait for your Amy Adams video

Broke Back is a masterpiece but JG is phenomenal in Nightcrawler. He definitely deserved that Oscar. I am positive he will win in the future.

I'm still sour over the fact American Sniper got so much attention at the Oscars. It kinda came out of nowhere, is based off a controversial figure, and snubbed so many well deserved nominations. Things would have turned out differently if Clint Eastwood's name weren't attached to it

At least I'm not the only one who's still bitter about the Nightcrawler snub.

Prisoners, Nightcrawler, Enemy, Nocturnal Animal, Stronger This man could have won long ago

Nocturnal Animals is the movie that really made me fall in love with Jake Gyllenhaal. Nightcrawler is definitely his best performance. He's so distinct and charismatic and a true character actor. I hope he will get recognized by the Academy some day! He is more than deserving.

Jake Gyllenhaal is one of my favorite actors working today and it baffles me that he only has one Oscar nomination to his name. He should have more than one nomination at this point if not a win. Always giving great performances, working with talented directors and great versatility and range as an actor. To this day, I’m still upset that he was snubbed for Nightcrawler as he was my favorite lead actor performance that year. He should’ve been a lock for a nomination as that was a memorable, committed and transformative performance. Although Keaton and Redmayne were both fantastic in their roles, every time I watch Nightcrawler it upsets me a performance this amazing got snubbed by the Academy. I’m still hoping Gyllenhaal gets another Oscar nomination or chance to win someday as he’s still consistently great.

I was lucky enough to see Jake live onstage in “Sea Wall/A Life” at the Public in 2019. He is even more gorgeous and talented in person if you can possibly believe that. My sister does.not.cry-jake made her cry.

Jarhead, Nightcrawler, Enemy

I like story of a six year old Gyllenhaal hanging around the set of Running on Empty. Gyllenhaal’s mother wrote the movie’s screenplay. Gyllenhaal said, at SXSW, watching the process of River Phoenix and Sydney Lumet made an impression on him.

Couldn't agree more about Nightcrawler and Jake's performance. At the time it just seemed like a forgone conclusion he would be nominated and even may win! He'll get his time on stage because he seems to be well liked and respected. Another great spotlight and just btw, I'm shocked Amy Adams wasn't nominated for Arrival, imo, her best performance ever. Looking forward to that video. And lastly, Happy Pride! I think every gay man remembers where they were when they first saw Brokeback Mountain.

He’s one of the best actors of our generation. Top 3 for me. He should have WON an Oscar for Nightcrawler. Definitely (at least) nominated for Donnie Darko, Enemy, Zodiac, Prisoners and Southpaw.

Just found your channel and now I'm binging all these elusive Oscar videos. They're fantastic: well-researched and extensive, yet still engaging and personal. I can't believe your channel hasn't blown up yet, but I'll be here when it happens.

Just discovered your channel. Glad to know I’m not the only one still mad about the Oscars snubbing Nightcrawler. Jake gave probably the best performance of the decade. Not since Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men had I have a film and performance stay with me like that. He is seriously underrated. I don’t always love his movies but he’s always great, no matter what. He is easily one of the greatest actors of our time.

Jake Gyllenhaal one of the actors have been snubbed by the Academy Awards.. and one of the greatest actors of this generation by far.. a been few Jake Gyllenhaal works that I watch yet I love it.. 'Brokeback Mountain', 'Spider-Man: Far From Home', 'The Day After Tomorrow' and 'Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time'.. Prince Of Persia the film that's introduced me of Jake Gyllenhaal, I was on college days and I noticed he is a great actor but not like in POP:TSOT in somewhere else he will be great that's was my thoughts.. and his undeniably charming charisma pulling into have crush on him and of course the hot body of Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince Of Persia.. and I was right he is one of the greatest actors hard working today

My man should have WON for Nightcrawler! His snub is number one on my list of recent Oscar nomination fuck-ups.

What Jake needs to be recognized in every award shows especially the Oscars is a perfect fit role for him. He has the looks, the charisma, but he also needs to be a box office drawer backed with amazing role similar to Leonardo Dicaprio's Jordan Belfort The Wolf of wall street role. Great role and made a lot of Money.

Simply love Jake in 'Enemy' and 'Demolition' - two of his least known performances, sadly. Also, he's great in 'Prisoners' and 'Nocturnal Animals'.

He should have won for nighcrawler… or at least get a nomination…and also a nomination for Prisoners.

I wanted Jake to get a Oscar for that role too

He should have won for Brokeback Mountain! If it happened later he WOULD have!

You've done it again Brian (a bit like your Kirsten Dunst video), you've made me realise how I've overlooked the incredibly obvious - Jake G has made so many awesome films that I've forgotten about. About to sort a Jake G movie marathon - I've never seen Prisoners, The Guilty or Enemy and I'm about to put that right! Thanks buddy :)

End of watch is such a great movie

Southpaw should have been an Oscar dominator. How Gyllenhaal and Oona Laurence didn’t get nominations is insane.

Amazing! Can't wait for the Amy Adams one.

OMG Brokeback Mountain... I love that movie so much, it is so brilliant. It should have won everything.

In my opinion, 2015 was kind of a weak year for Best Actor. Someone else who was robbed in that category was Ralph Fiennes for his hilarious role in The Grand Budapest Hotel. I think Jake Gyllenhaal joining the MCU in less Oscar bait movies kinda is suggesting he just doesnt care about awards anymore

I'm glad that with Mysterio, the younger generation doesn't only know him as the guy from Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Getting Back Together" 😀

Great video, after seeing prisoners gyllenhal has cemented himself as one of my favourite actors

16:25 I smell an Oscars top ten video.

What about his brilliant work in "The Guilty"? OMG!!! Amazing!!!

Well my partner and I were pleading too for Jake to be up for AND win BEST ACTOR for that amazing performance in what might be my favorite film of that year! Renee too for best supporting - at least a nomination. But I think it was 'too close to the bone' for the massively owned and controlled 'news' which is owned by the same people that own all the studios and pretty much EVERYTHING!

He should have two Oscars right now. Nightcrawler (Redmayne) and Prisoners (Leto).

A Single Man was robbed for cinematography, director, Best Actors, Supporting, you name it. One of my favorite movies of all time. Tom Ford’s 2nd movie Nocturnal Creatures was excellent, and so was Jake, yet I still prefer A Single Man by far.

Please do a list of best performances to NOT get an Oscar nomination (perhaps per decade). Here are some possible names: Amy Adams, Toni Collette, Jake Gyllenhaal, Taron Egerton...

Please do Kate Winslet and Jennifer Connelly win video 😭😍

yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so excited for this :) I think hes such an amazing actor, bugs me that Ryan Gosling and Bradly Cooper. seems to have the career and Oscar noms Jake should have! I keep up dating my comment as I watch the video have so many things to say. always drive me nuts his movies always seem to get forgotten

Oh The Day After Tomorrow is not forgotten by me - it's my all time favorite guilty pleasure movie!!! Haha

before I saw how many subscribers you had I thought you had over 250k subscribers EASILY, i'm surprised that you don't have more subscribers

Yeah I was so surprised cause to 2 movies that's liked impacted me the most that year were definitely Nightcrawler and Whiplash.

He should’ve been nominated for Nocturnal Animals or nightcrawler

Love Jake, not a fan of "Nightcrawler" or "Brokeback mountain" like everyone else is. But he was great on those and should have been nominated. My favorite Gyllenhaal performances: "Zodiac", "Nocturnal Animals" and (please don't come after me) but I love "The day after tomorrow" one of my favorite disaster movies ever 🤗. I think of Jake as the American Christian Bale because of his wide range of performances but without the awards luck 😁. Have you done Bradley Cooper's elusive Oscar episode?

His facial structure reminds me of joacquinn phoenix!

Can you please do Elusive Oscar 8x nominee Glenn Close (Coleman/Cher upset) and 13x nominee Diane Warren?

I know she already has an Oscar but I’d like to see you talking about Kate winslet elusive oscar. Liked the video btw!

Cinderella Man got three Oscar nominations and Lovely And Amazing came out in 2002 in the U.S.

The Academy has ignored him many times for a nomination 😭 he should have been nominated for best actor in Donnie Darko , Enemy, Nightcrawler, Nocturnal Animals , Demolition , Suthpaw ,and Stronger , and should have won for Nightcrawler. Also he should been nominated for best supporting actor for Zodiac, Prisioners, and good girl , and he should have won for Brockeback Mountain.

Can you please do an elusive Oscar video for Saoirse Ronan? I love your videos!

Could Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal possibly have the same Oscar problem. Just popped in my head

Slowly becoming a fan of his despite being a Taylor Swift fan haha. What are your thoughts on Carey Mulligan. I felt she should of won for promising young woman and felt she had a stronger performance than Sandra Bullocks the blind side who she lost for in an education. She has had critically acclaimed role after role and I feel like her winning an Oscar is enivatbale in the future. Also Donnie Darko is my favourite performance from Jake Gylanhall. Great video

That movie, "The Guilty" I swear I've seen the same movie years ago. It was a Swedish movie, I think? I remember it was subtitled and it was that exact story! I loved it, so I might watch the English version too.

One of the Academy's biggest fuckups in history was not giving Brokeback Mountain its Best Picture. Also, everyone loves Prisoners whilst I thought it was alright. Enemy, meanwhile, could hypnotize anyone who actually paid attention when watching for days afterward.

Could you please do one for Debra Winger, Judy Davis , Naomi Watts ,and Gena Rowlands.

American Sniper was 'eh' - especially the fake baby. Was not Bradley's best performance either. He's done much better roles - actually should not have even been nominated!

Have you seen his newest film "The Covenant" by Guy Richie? Again an incredible performance! It's crazy how he still has no nominations...

Please make one for Edward Norton.

Thanx to clint Eastwood that brafley cooper nabbed hake gyllenhaals spot. I think gyllenhaal should be nominatef and even had won for nightcrawler, even the competition was hard with keaton and redmayne.

26:35 it saddens me that the current generation knows Jake Gyllenhall more as the 🧣 guy from the Taylor Swift’s sing than any of his performances over the years

What Im getting its a timing and taste thing. Nightcrawler too gritty with an unlikable character doesnt get nominated but a dark gritty movie with an unlikable charcter like the Joker gets Joaxin Phoenix and nomination and a win. Shrug

Who cares about an Oscar anyhow? Being the outsider, Unpredictable performer is a much better title in my opinion. Winning an Oscar just means you've officially become very commercial

Can you do a video on Toni Collette?

Guess I’m in the minority who didn’t really care for either End of Watch and Prisoners. Jake is a consistent performer but in End of Watch, he was a bit uneven being needlessly unpredictable going from 0-100 with knee jerk reactions or none at all. Hugh would have been great had he and the director dialed his character back. The ironic twist didn’t gain me sympathy given how he was going out of his way to get in the way of the investigation, jeopardizing the children. End of Watch had the chemistry from a tone-deaf premise of a buddy cop movie in the LAPD, a police organization notorious for sparking racial riots of which the “big bads” are stereotyped Latinos that made their crusade less enjoyable given the questionable things they were doing to get justice. The two roles I felt were peak Gyllenhaal performances that should have been nominated were for Stronger and Nightcrawler. The range, power and pathos were all there in Stronger. I felt Tatiana Maslaney, too was overlooked and Miranda Richardson. Nightcrawler for the character study on a person far removed from humanity going above and beyond reasonable avenues to exploit tragedy. Renee was phenomenal and deserved recognition, as well as Rhiz, who THANK GOODNESS, wasn’t denied recognition for his performance in The Sound of Metal. I do hope the right role and time align for Jake, but until then, just have to wait 🤷‍♂️

shocked to learn he only has ONE oscar nom i could have sworn he had moreeee

For me that year - excluding Jake - Benadict should have won. I kinda hate disabled roles - I think Tom should have won over Dustin for Rain Man to be honest!

Can you do one for Johnny Depp? He’s a fantastic actor, my personal favorite.

OK OK I’ll check out Nightcrawler just don’t beat me up

U don't love bubble boy, but its sooooo fun

I thought Amy Adams got a nomination for Arrival?

Please, make an Anne Hathaway video!!!

What tell hell is he holding in the thumbnail?

ME AgainI just worry that when the next nomination comes will promote himself I know that's a big part of it.

Viggo Mortensen Ethan Hawke Edward Norton Woody Harrelson Willem Dafoe BEST ACTORS WHO YET TO WIN A OSCAR

Not nominating Jake for "Nightcrawler" shows just how meaningless the Oscars can be in determing the "Year's Best."

Eddie Redmayne immitating Stephen Hawking -- how riveting, how original (NOT). BORING AND MAUDLIN.

Moonlight Mountain Sorry, i just wanted to see what that looks like

I think he must be secretly disliked behind the scenes or something. I was floored two years in a row after he missed Supporting Actor for Prisoner and Lead Actor for Nightcrawler. I mean, we've all seen far less intense and more forgettable performances nominated and win at the Oscars. It feels like they intentionally overlook him.

Nightcrawler was too obscure for the academy.

His performance in Nightcrawler is one of those which would be more of an honor for the academy to have in their history than to him!

Clickbait title. It's hard to win if you've hardly ever bn nominated.

HE WAS ROBBED

The Oscars is a joke

He's such a nasty human being, he can stay oscarless forever idc

RU-vid algorithm I was just watching interviews by him on graham norton and now this is suggested. i agree with you in this video, and he was great in prisonersss!

Clickbait title. It's hard to win if you've hardly ever bn nominated.