Today's magic number is 31. Can you believe it took Christian Bale 31 movies to win Oscar's love?
He debuted in the Steven Spielberg film Empire of the Sun (1987) which was nominated for six Oscars so they knew of him straight from the get-go. But nothing seemed to do it -- not literary adaptations (Little Women, The Portrait of a Lady), neither relationship dramas (Metroland, Laurel Canyon), nor glam rock epics (Velvet Goldmine). Of course it didn't happen for superheroes or serial killers (Batman, American Psycho) but even war dramas (Empire of the Sun, Rescue Dawn) didn't do it. And then suddenly The Fighter (2010) did. He crushed his competition on the way to a win.
Sometimes not being nominated but being routinely excellent is a good way to build crazy momentum for a win. Which working actor do you think is heading straight to an Oscar win as soon as they're finally nominated?