Jennifer Aniston in the drama 'Cake'

Jennifer Aniston in the drama ‘Cake’

Marion Cotillard, Felicity Jones, Julianne Moore; Reese Witherspoon and Rosamund Pike. But no Jennifer Aniston. This years Oscar nominations for the Best Actress category didn’t include Jennifer Aniston, but why?

Take for example, Amy Adams. She wins the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a comedy or musical but doesn’t get an Oscar nomination, this is an actress that was nominated for Best Supporting role last year for ‘American Hustle’. If an actress of this calibre cannot score an Oscar nod then did Jen-An really stand a chance at all?

Jennifer is in no way a ‘bad actress’ as I think she did well in ‘Cake’ and convinced me to be sympathetic towards her character but it was just that: ‘well’. It wasn’t fantastic and it definitely didn’t make me think ‘that’s her getting an Oscar for sure’. This doesn’t discredit how well she has done in her career and how much hard work she may have put in to this drama. However, a more plausible reason for her getting a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award nomination at all is because we’re so used to seeing her as laughable and witty Jen-An in ‘Friends’ or bargain bin rom coms like ‘The Bounty Hunter’. So when she actually made a film that had substance and a sense of art about it, people went crazy.

Her team have done well to get her this far, marketing her as someone worthy of an Oscar. (Her fiancé Justin Theroux actually pushed her take more gritty roles such as Cake, to boost her career). The Oscars actually employ a tricky ranking system that wheedles out all the stars that don’t deserve ‘the big one’, therefore anyone that got nominated for a SAG, GG or CTA but didn’t get an Oscar is theoretically snubbed. It doesn’t mean they are bad actors or actresses.

Take for instance Leonardo Dicaprio. One of the best actors to be around in the last 30 years, he stunned in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street‘ but he didn’t receive an Oscar. He’s actually become more famous for not receiving Oscars than receiving them, classic twitter quotations from last year include ‘Maybe next year Leo’ and ‘Always a bridesmaid, never a bride’. Either way, lets hope the awards she has been nominated for push her to take more risky roles and maybe even win the Oscar next time. Go on Jen-An, let them eat Cake.