Suggestion: How Evil Is Too Evil for an Oscar? (Suggestions?)

Late in 2025, Variety magazine published an article arguing that Sean Penn, an early favorite for the 2026 Best Supporting Actor Oscar, would have a big obstacle to overcome: "Oscar voters love villains" but not "truly evil ones" unless they have a lot of charm, something that Penn's character in One Battle After Another (2025) was written to lack. The article exemplifies Christoph Waltz's Oscar winning Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009) as "witty and even playful." I was reminded of the creepy but charismatic Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Heath Ledger's fun version of Joker. Below are villains who were widely acclaimed by critics and loved by audiences. The Academy, however, was not completely won over. Some of these performances were nominated but none won the coveted statuette. Of these deserving actors, whose character do you think was, no matter how good the performance, perhaps "too evil" for the Oscar?  

List: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls4154290258/copy/

Poll: TBD

Sources:

Brandt, J.M. "15 Movie Villains Who Should Have Won an Oscar." Screen Rant.  November 3, 2016. Accessed February 10, 2026. 

Davis, Clayton "Why Oscar Voters Love Villains — Just Not Truly Evil Ones." Variety. December 18, 2025. Accessed February 6, 2026.