The BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role is an award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). It has been awarded since the 6th British Academy Film Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film. From 1952 to 1967, there were two Best Actor awards: one for a British actor and another for a foreign actor. In 1968, the two prizes of British and Foreign actor were combined to create a single Best Actor award. Its current title, for Best Actor in a Leading Role, has been used since 1995.
Peter Finch has the most wins in the category with five. The most recent winner of the award is Robert Aramayo for I Swear (2025).
Winners and nominees
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Ralph Richardson was the first recipient of this award-winning for The Sound Barrier (1952)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Marlon Brando won three times for Viva Zapata! (1952), Julius Caesar (1953), and On the Waterfront (1954)|alt=Black and white photo of Marlon Brando in the film, A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[John Gielgud won for Julius Caesar (1953)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Laurence Olivier won for Richard III (1955)]]
thumb|right|120px|upright=.6|[[Ernest Borgnine won for Marty (1955)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Peter Finch won five times in 1956, 1960, 1961, 1971, and 1976|alt=Peter Finch 2.jpg]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Alec Guinness won for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Henry Fonda won for 12 Angry Men (1957)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Sidney Poitier became the first black actor to win for The Defiant Ones (1958)|alt=Black and white photo of Sidney Poitier in 1963]]
thumb|right|120px|upright=.6|[[Peter Sellers won for I'm All Right Jack (1958)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Jack Lemmon won thrice for Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960) and The China Syndrome (1979)|alt=Jack Lemmon - 1968.jpg]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Paul Newman won for The Hustler (1961)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Peter O'Toole won for Lawrence of Arabia (1962)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Burt Lancaster won twice for Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) and Atlantic City (1981)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Marcello Mastroianni won twice in Divorce Italian Style (1963), and Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1964)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Richard Burton won for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold / Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)|alt=Photo of Richard Burton in The Robe, 1953]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Richard Attenborough won for Guns at Batasi / Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1968)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Lee Marvin won for The Killers / Cat Ballou (1965)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Paul Scofield won for A Man for All Seasons (1966)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Rod Steiger won twice for The Pawnbroker (1966) and In the Heat of the Night (1967)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Spencer Tracy won for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (1968)]]
thumbnail|upright=.6|120px|[[Dustin Hoffman won twice for Midnight Cowboy / John and Mary (1969), and Tootsie (1983)|alt=Photo of Dustin Hoffman attending the French premiere of his film, Quartet in 2013]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Robert Redford won for three films in 1970]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Gene Hackman won for The French Connection and The Poseidon Adventure (1972)|alt=GeneHackmanJun08.jpg]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Walter Matthau won for Charley Varrick / Pete 'n' Tillie (1973)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Jack Nicholson won twice for The Last Detail / Chinatown (1974), and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)|alt=Photo of Jack Nicholson attending the Cannes Film Festival in 2002]]
thumbnail|upright=.6|120px|[[Al Pacino won for The Godfather Part II / Dog Day Afternoon (1975)|alt=Photo of Al Pacino attending the Venice Film Festival in 2004]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[John Hurt won for The Elephant Man (1980)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Ben Kingsley won for Gandhi (1982)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Michael Caine won for Educating Rita (1983)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Sean Connery won for The Name of the Rose (1987)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[John Cleese won for A Fish Called Wanda (1988)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|alt=Photo of Daniel Day-Lewis at the 2013 Jaguar Mille Miglia event.|[[Daniel Day-Lewis won four times for My Left Foot (1989), Gangs of New York (2002), There Will Be Blood (2007) and Lincoln (2012)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Anthony Hopkins won thrice for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Remains of the Day (1993) and The Father (2020)|alt=Photo of Sir Anthony Hopkins at the 2009 Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona, Italy]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Robert Downey Jr. won for Chaplin (1992)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Hugh Grant won for Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Geoffrey Rush won for Shine (1996)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Robert Carlyle won for The Full Monty (1997)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Roberto Benigni won for Life Is Beautiful (1998)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Kevin Spacey won for American Beauty (1999)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Jamie Bell won for Billy Elliot (2000)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Russell Crowe won for A Beautiful Mind (2001)|alt=Photo of Crowe at the London film premiere for State of Play, 21 April 2009]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Bill Murray won for Lost in Translation (2003)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Jamie Foxx won for Ray (2004)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Philip Seymour Hoffman won for Capote (2005)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Forest Whitaker won for The Last King of Scotland (2006)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Colin Firth won twice for A Single Man (2009) and The King's Speech (2010)|alt=Photo of Colin Firth at the San Diego Comic-Con International in 2017]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Jean Dujardin won for The Artist (2011)]]
thumb|right|upright=.6|120px|[[Chiwetel Ejiofor won for 12 Years a Slave (2013)|alt=Chiwetel Ejiofor TIFF 2015.jpg]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Eddie Redmayne won for The Theory of Everything (2014)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Leonardo DiCaprio won for The Revenant (2015)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Casey Affleck won for Manchester by the Sea (2016)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Gary Oldman won for Darkest Hour (2017)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Rami Malek won for Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Joaquin Phoenix won for Joker (2019)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Austin Butler won for Elvis (2022)]]
thumb|upright=.6|120px|[[Cillian Murphy won for Oppenheimer (2023)]]
thumb|120px|[[Adrien Brody won for The Brutalist (2024)]]
1950s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Actor
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Films
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Role (s)
!scope="col" style="width:2%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
| rowspan="13"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Ralph Richardson
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Sound Barrier
| style="background:#FAEB86"| John Ridgefield
| rowspan=6|
|-
| Jack Hawkins
| Mandy
| Dick Searle
|-
| James Hayter
| The Pickwick Papers
| Samuel Pickwick
|-
| Laurence Olivier
| Carrie
| George Hurstwood
|-
| Nigel Patrick
| The Sound Barrier
| Tony Garthwaite
|-
| Alastair Sim
| Folly to Be Wise
| Captain William Paris
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Marlon Brando
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Viva Zapata!
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Emiliano Zapata
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Humphrey Bogart †
| The African Queen
| Charlie Allnut
|-
| Pierre Fresnay
| God Needs Men
| Thomas Gourvennec
|-
| Francesco Golisano
| Miracle in Milan
| Totò
|-
| Fredric March
|Death of a Salesman
| Willy Loman
|-
| rowspan="14"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| John Gielgud
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Julius Caesar
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Cassius
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Jack Hawkins
| The Cruel Sea
| George Ericson
|-
| Trevor Howard
| The Heart of the Matter
| Harry Scobie
|-
| Duncan Macrae
| The Kidnappers
| Jim MacKenzie
|-
| Kenneth More
| Genevieve
| Ambrose Claverhouse
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Marlon Brando
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Julius Caesar
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Mark Antony
| rowspan=7|
|-
| Eddie Albert
| Roman Holiday
| Irving Radovich
|-
| Van Heflin
| Shane
| Joe Starrett
|-
| Claude Laydu
| Diary of a Country Priest
| Priest of Ambricourt
|-
| Marcel Mouloudji
| We Are All Murderers
| René Le Guen
|-
| Gregory Peck
| Roman Holiday
| Joe Bradley
|-
| Spencer Tracy
| The Actress
| Clinton Jones
|-
| rowspan="13"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Kenneth More
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Doctor in the House
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Richard Grimsdyke
| rowspan=6|
|-
| Maurice Denham
| The Purple Plain
| Blore
|-
| Robert Donat
| Lease of Life
| Rev. William Thorne
|-
| John Mills
| Hobson's Choice
| Will Mossop
|-
| David Niven
| Carrington V.C.
| Charles "Copper" Carrington
|-
| Donald Wolfit
| Svengali
| Svengali
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Marlon Brando †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| On the Waterfront
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Terry Malloy
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Neville Brand
| Riot in Cell Block 11
| James V. Dunn
|-
| José Ferrer
| The Caine Mutiny
| Barney Greenwald
|-
| Fredric March
| Executive Suite
| Loren Phineas Shaw
|-
| James Stewart
| The Glenn Miller Story
| Glenn Miller
|-
| rowspan="14"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Laurence Olivier
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Richard III
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Richard, Duke of Gloucester
| rowspan=6|
|-
| Alfie Bass
| The Bespoke Overcoat
| Fender
|-
| Alec Guinness
| rowspan="2"|The Prisoner
| The Cardinal
|-
| Jack Hawkins
| The Interrogator
|-
| Kenneth More
| The Deep Blue Sea
| Freddie Page
|-
| Michael Redgrave
| The Night My Number Came Up
| Air Mshl. Hardie
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Ernest Borgnine †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Marty
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Marty Piletti
| rowspan=6|
|-
| James Dean
| East of Eden
| Cal Trask
|-
| Jack Lemmon
| Mister Roberts
| Frank Thurlowe Pulver
|-
| Toshiro Mifune
| rowspan="2"|Seven Samurai
| Kikuchiyo
|-
| Takashi Shimura
| Kambei Shimada
|-
| Frank Sinatra
| Not as a Stranger
| Alfred Boone
|-
| rowspan="13"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Peter Finch
| style="background:#FAEB86"| A Town Like Alice
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Joe Harman
|-
| Jack Hawkins
| The Long Arm
| Tom Halliday
|-
| Kenneth More
| Reach for the Sky
| Douglas Bader
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| François Périer
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Gervaise
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Henri Coupeau
| rowspan=9|
|-
| Gunnar Björnstrand
| Smiles of a Summer Night
| Fredik Egerman
|-
| James Dean
| Rebel Without a Cause
| Jim Stark
|-
| Pierre Fresnay
| The Unfrocked One
| Maurice Morand
|-
| William Holden
| Picnic
| Hal Carter
|-
| Karl Malden
| Baby Doll
| Archie Lee Meighan
|-
| Frank Sinatra
| The Man with the Golden Arm
| Frankie Machine
|-
| Spencer Tracy
| The Mountain
| Zachary Teller
|-
| rowspan="15"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Alec Guinness †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Bridge on the River Kwai
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Cmdr. Nicholson
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Peter Finch
| Windom's Way
| Alec Windom
|-
| Trevor Howard
| Manuela
| James Prothero
|-
| Laurence Olivier
| The Prince and the Showgirl
| Charles, Prince Regent of Carpathia
|-
| Michael Redgrave
| Time Without Pity
| David Graham
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Henry Fonda
| style="background:#FAEB86"| 12 Angry Men
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Juror 8
| rowspan=8|
|-
| Richard Basehart
| Time Limit
| Maj. Harry Cargill
|-
| Pierre Brasseur
| The Gates of Paris
| Juju
|-
| Tony Curtis
| Sweet Smell of Success
| Sidney Falco
|-
| Jean Gabin
| La Traversé de Paris
| Grandgil
|-
| Robert Mitchum
| Heaven Knows, Mr Allison
| Cpl. Allison
|-
| Sidney Poitier
| Edge of the City
| Tommy Tyler
|-
| Ed Wynn
| The Great Man
| Paul Beaseley
|-
| rowspan="19"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Trevor Howard
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Key
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Chris Ford
| rowspan=7|
|-
| Michael Craig
| Sea of Sand
| Captain Tim Cotton
|-
| Laurence Harvey
| Room at the Top
| Joe Lampton
|-
| I. S. Johar
| Harry Black
| Bapu
|-
| Anthony Quayle
| Ice Cold in Alex
| Captain van der Poel / Haupt. Otto Lutz
|-
| Terry-Thomas
| Tom Thumb
| Ivan
|-
| Donald Wolfit
| Room at the Top
| Mr. Brown
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Sidney Poitier
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Defiant Ones
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Noah Cullen
| rowspan=10|
|-
| Marlon Brando
| The Young Lions
| Christian Diestl
|-
| Tony Curtis
| The Defiant Ones
| John "Joker" Jackson
|-
| Glenn Ford
| The Sheepman
| Jason Sweet
|-
| rowspan="2"| Curd Jürgens
| The Enemy Below
| Kapt. von Stolberg
|-
| The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
| Captain Lin Nan
|-
| Charles Laughton
| Witness for the Prosecution
| Sir Wilfrid Robarts
|-
| Paul Newman
| Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
| Brick Pollitt
|-
| Victor Sjöström
| Wild Strawberries
| Prof. Isak Borg
|-
| Spencer Tracy
| The Last Hurrah
| Frank Skeffington
|-
| rowspan="15"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Peter Sellers
| style="background:#FAEB86"| I'm All Right Jack
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Fred Kite
| rowspan=7|
|-
| Stanley Baker
| Yesterday's Enemy
| Captain Langford
|-
| Richard Burton
| Look Back in Anger
| Jimmy Porter
|-
| Peter Finch
| The Nun's Story
| Dr. Fortunati
|-
| Laurence Harvey
| Expresso Bongo
| Johnny Jackson
|-
| Gordon Jackson
| Yesterday's Enemy
| Sgt. MacKenzie
|-
| Laurence Olivier
| The Devil's Disciple
| John Burgoyne
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Jack Lemmon
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Some Like It Hot
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Jerry / "Daphne"
| rowspan=7|
|-
| Jean Desailly
| rowspan="2" |Maigret Sets a Trap
| Marcel Maurin
|-
| Jean Gabin
| Jules Maigret
|-
| Takashi Shimura
| Living
| Kanji Watanabe
|-
| James Stewart
| Anatomy of a Murder
| Paul Biegler
|-
| Zbigniew Cybulski
| Ashes and Diamonds
| Maciek Chelmicki
|}
1960s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Actor
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Film
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Role (s)
!scope="col" style="width:2%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
| rowspan="15"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Peter Finch
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Trials of Oscar Wilde
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Oscar Wilde
| rowspan="6" |
|-
| Alec Guinness
| rowspan="2" |Tunes of Glory
| Maj. Jock Sinclair
|-
| John Mills
| Lt. Col. Basil Barrow
|-
| Richard Attenborough
| The Angry Silence
| Tom Curtis
|-
| John Fraser
| The Trials of Oscar Wilde
| Lord Alfred Douglas
|-
| Laurence Olivier
| The Entertainer
| Archie Rice
|-
| Albert Finney
| Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
| Arthur Seaton
|
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Jack Lemmon
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Apartment
| style="background:#FAEB86"| C. C. Baxter
| rowspan="4" |
|-
| Burt Lancaster †
| Elmer Gantry
| Elmer Gantry
|-
| Fredric March
| Inherit the Wind
| Matthew Harrison Brady
|-
| Spencer Tracy
| Inherit the Wind
| Henry Drummond
|-
| George Hamilton
| Crime and Punishment U.S.A.
| Robert Cole
|
|-
| Yves Montand
| Let's Make Love
| Jean-Marc Clement / Alexander Dumas
|
|-
| rowspan="11"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Peter Finch
| style="background:#FAEB86"| No Love for Johnnie
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Johnnie Byrne
| rowspan=2|
|-
| Dirk Bogarde
| Victim
| Melville Farr
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Paul Newman
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Hustler
| style="background:#FAEB86"| "Fast Eddie" Felson
| rowspan=7|
|-
| Montgomery Clift
| Judgment at Nuremberg
| Rudolph Petersen
|-
| Vladimir Ivashov
| Ballad of a Soldier
| Pvt. Alyosha Skvortsov
|-
| Philippe Leroy
| The Night Watch
| Manu Borelli
|-
| Sidney Poitier
| A Raisin in the Sun
| Walter Lee Younger
|-
| Maximilian Schell †
| Judgment at Nuremberg
| Hans Rolfe
|-
| Alberto Sordi
| The Best of Enemies
| Captain Blasi
|-
| rowspan="16"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Peter O'Toole
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Lawrence of Arabia
| style="background:#FAEB86"| T. E. Lawrence
| rowspan=6|
|-
| Richard Attenborough
| The Dock Brief
| Herbert Fowle
|-
| Alan Bates
| A Kind of Loving
| Victor 'Vic' Brown
|-
| James Mason
| Lolita
| Humbert Humbert
|-
| Laurence Olivier
| Term of Trial
| Graham Weir
|-
| Peter Sellers
| Only Two Can Play
| John Lewis
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Burt Lancaster
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Birdman of Alcatraz
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Robert Stroud
| rowspan="7" |
|-
| Jean-Paul Belmondo
| Léon Morin, Priest
| Léon Morin
|-
| Kirk Douglas
| Lonely are the Brave
| John W. "Jack" Burns
|-
| George Hamilton
| Light in the Piazza
| Fabrizio Naccarelli
|-
| Anthony Quinn
| Lawrence of Arabia
| Auda ibu Tayi
|-
| Robert Ryan
| Billy Budd
| John Claggart
|-
| Georges Wilson
| The Long Absence
| The Tramp
|-
| Charles Laughton
| Advise and Consent
| Sen. Seabright "Seeb" Cooley
|
|-
| rowspan="13"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Dirk Bogarde
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Servant
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Hugo Barrett
| rowspan="4" |
|-
| Albert Finney
| rowspan="2"|Tom Jones
| Tom Jones
|-
| Hugh Griffith
| Squire Western
|-
| Richard Harris
| This Sporting Life
| Frank Machin
|-
| Tom Courtenay
| Billy Liar
| William Terrence 'Billy' Fisher
|
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Marcello Mastroianni
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Divorce Italian Style
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Ferdinando Cefalù
| rowspan=6|
|-
| Franco Citti
| Accattone
| Vittorio "Accattone" Cataldi
|-
| Howard Da Silva
| David and Lisa
| Dr. Swinford
|-
| Jack Lemmon
| Days of Wine and Roses
| Joe Clay
|-
| Paul Newman
| Hud
| Hud Bannon
|-
| Gregory Peck †
| To Kill a Mockingbird
| Atticus Finch
|-
| rowspan="12"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| rowspan=2 style="background:#FAEB86"| Richard Attenborough
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Guns at Batasi
| style="background:#FAEB86"| RSM Lauderdale
| rowspan=6|
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Seance on a Wet Afternoon
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Billy Savage
|-
| rowspan="2" | Peter Sellers
| Dr. Strangelove
| Gp Capt. Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley & Dr. Strangelove
|-
| The Pink Panther
| Inspector Jacques Clouseau
|-
| Tom Courtenay
| King & Country
| Pvt. Arthur Hamp
|-
| Peter O'Toole
| Becket
| King Henry II
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Marcello Mastroianni
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Carmine Sbaratti / Renzo / Augusto Rusconi
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Cary Grant
| Charade
| Peter Joshua
|-
| Sterling Hayden
| Dr. Strangelove
| BG Jack D. Ripper
|-
| Sidney Poitier †
| Lilies of the Field
| Homer Smith
|-
| rowspan="13"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Dirk Bogarde
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Darling
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Robert Gold
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Harry Andrews
| The Hill
| RSM Wilson
|-
| Michael Caine
| The Ipcress File
| Harry Palmer
|-
| Rex Harrison †
| My Fair Lady
| Prof. Henry Higgins
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| rowspan=2 style="background:#FAEB86"| Lee Marvin
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Cat Ballou
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Kid Shelleen & Tim Strawn
| rowspan=7|
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Killers
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Charlie Strom
|-
| rowspan=2| Jack Lemmon
| Good Neighbor Sam
| Sam Bissell
|-
| How to Murder Your Wife
| Stanley Ford
|-
| Anthony Quinn
| Zorba the Greek
| Alexis Zorba
|-
| Innokenty Smoktunovsky
| Hamlet
| Prince Hamlet
|-
| Oskar Werner
| Ship of Fools
| Dr. Wilhelm "Willi" Schumann
|-
| rowspan="13"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| rowspan=2 style="background:#FAEB86"| Richard Burton
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Alec Leamas
| rowspan=7|
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
| style="background:#FAEB86"| George
|-
| rowspan="3" | Ralph Richardson
| Doctor Zhivago
| Alexander "Sasha" Gromeko
|-
| Khartoum
| William Ewart Gladstone
|-
| The Wrong Box
| Joseph Finsbury
|-
| Michael Caine
| Alfie
| Alfred "Alfie" Elkins
|-
| David Warner
| Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment
| Morgan Delt
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Rod Steiger
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Pawnbroker
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Sol Nazerman
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Sidney Poitier
| A Patch of Blue
| Gordon Ralfe
|-
| Jean-Paul Belmondo
| Pierrot le Fou
| Ferdinand Griffon / "Pierrot"
|-
| Oskar Werner
| The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
| Fiedler
|-
| rowspan="11"|
! colspan="4"| Best British Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Paul Scofield †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| A Man for All Seasons
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Sir Thomas More
| rowspan=5|
|-
| rowspan=2| Dirk Bogarde
| Accident
| Stephen
|-
| Our Mother's House
| Charlie Hook
|-
| Richard Burton
| The Taming of the Shrew
| Petruchio
|-
| James Mason
| The Deadly Affair
| Charles Dobbs
|-
! colspan="4"| Best Foreign Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Rod Steiger †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| In the Heat of the Night
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Police Chief Bill Gillespie
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Warren Beatty
| Bonnie and Clyde
| Clyde Barrow
|-
| Sidney Poitier
| In the Heat of the Night
| Detective Virgil Tibbs
|-
| Orson Welles
| Chimes at Midnight
| Sir John Falstaff
|-
| rowspan="5"|
! colspan="4"| Best Actor
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Spencer Tracy
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Matt Drayton
| rowspan="3" |
|-
| Ron Moody
| Oliver!
| Fagin
|-
| Nicol Williamson
| The Bofors Gun
| O'Rourke
|-
| Trevor Howard
| The Charge of the Light Brigade
| Lord Cardigan
|
|-
| rowspan="6"|
| rowspan=2 style="background:#FAEB86"| Dustin Hoffman
| style="background:#FAEB86"| John and Mary
| style="background:#FAEB86"| John
| rowspan=6|
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Midnight Cowboy
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo
|-
| rowspan="2" | Walter Matthau
| Hello, Dolly!
| Horace Vandergelder
|-
| The Secret Life of an American Wife
| The Movie Star
|-
| Alan Bates
| Women in Love
| Rupert Birkin
|-
| Nicol Williamson
| Inadmissible Evidence
| Bill Maitland
|}
1970s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Actor
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Films
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Role (s)
!scope="col" style="width:2%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
| rowspan="7"|
| rowspan=3 style="background:#FAEB86"| Robert Redford
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Sundance Kid
| rowspan="6" |
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Downhill Racer
| style="background:#FAEB86"| David Chappellet
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Deputy Sheriff Christopher Cooper
|-
| rowspan=2| Elliott Gould
| Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
| Ted Henderson
|-
| MASH
| Trapper John McIntyre
|-
| George C. Scott †
| Patton
| George S. Patton
|-
| Paul Newman
| Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
| Butch Cassidy
|
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Peter Finch
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Sunday Bloody Sunday
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Dr. Daniel Hirsh
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Dirk Bogarde
| Death in Venice
| Gustav von Aschenbach
|-
| Albert Finney
| Gumshoe
| Eddie Ginley
|-
| Dustin Hoffman
| Little Big Man
| Jack Crabb
|-
| rowspan="7"|
| rowspan=2 style="background:#FAEB86"| Gene Hackman †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The French Connection †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle
| rowspan=7|
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Poseidon Adventure
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Reverend Frank Scott
|-
| rowspan=2| Marlon Brando †
| The Godfather †
| Vito Corleone
|-
| The Nightcomers
| Peter Quint
|-
| rowspan=2| George C. Scott
| The Hospital
| Dr. Herbert "Herb" Bock
|-
| They Might Be Giants
| Justin Playfair
|-
| Robert Shaw
| Young Winston
| Lord Randolph Churchill
|-
| rowspan="6"|
| rowspan=2 style="background:#FAEB86"| Walter Matthau
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Charley Varrick
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Charley Varrick
| rowspan=6|
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Pete 'n' Tillie
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Pete Seltzer
|-
| rowspan="2" | Donald Sutherland
| Don't Look Now
| John Baxter
|-
| Steelyard Blues
| Jesse Veldini
|-
| Marlon Brando
| Last Tango in Paris
| Paul
|-
| Laurence Olivier
| Sleuth
| Andrew Wyke
|-
| rowspan="5"|
| rowspan=2 style="background:#FAEB86"| Jack Nicholson
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Chinatown
| style="background:#FAEB86"| J.J. "Jake" Gittes
| rowspan=5|
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Last Detail
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Signalman 1st Class Billy "Badass" Buddusky
|-
| Albert Finney
| Murder on the Orient Express
| Hercule Poirot
|-
| Gene Hackman
| The Conversation
| Harry Caul
|-
| Al Pacino
| Serpico
| Frank Serpico
|-
| rowspan="6"|
| rowspan=2 style="background:#FAEB86"| Al Pacino
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Dog Day Afternoon
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Sonny Wortzik
| rowspan=6|
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Godfather Part II
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Michael Corleone
|-
| rowspan="2" | Gene Hackman
| French Connection II
| Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle
|-
| Night Moves
| Harry Moseby
|-
| Richard Dreyfuss
| Jaws
| Matt Hooper
|-
| Dustin Hoffman
| Lenny
| Lenny Bruce
|-
| rowspan="6"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Jack Nicholson †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Randle McMurphy
| rowspan=6|
|-
| rowspan="2" | Dustin Hoffman
| All the President's Men
| Carl Bernstein
|-
| Marathon Man
| Thomas "Babe" Levy
|-
| rowspan="2" | Walter Matthau
| The Bad News Bears
| Morris Buttermaker
|-
| The Sunshine Boys
| Willy Clark
|-
| Robert De Niro
| Taxi Driver
| Travis Bickle
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Peter Finch †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Network
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Howard Beale
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Woody Allen
| Annie Hall
| Alvy "Max" Singer
|-
| William Holden
| Network
| Max Schumacher
|-
| Sylvester Stallone
| Rocky
| Rocky Balboa
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Richard Dreyfuss †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Goodbye Girl
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Elliot Garfield
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Anthony Hopkins
| Magic
| Corky Withers / Fats (voice)
|-
| Brad Davis
| Midnight Express
| Billy Hayes
|-
| Peter Ustinov
| Death on the Nile
| Hercule Poirot
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Jack Lemmon
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The China Syndrome
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Jack Godell
| rowspan="3" |
|-
| Woody Allen
| Manhattan
| Isaac Davis
|-
| Martin Sheen
| Apocalypse Now
| Captain Benjamin L. Willard
|-
| Robert De Niro
| The Deer Hunter
| S/Sgt. Michael "Mike" Vronsky
|
|}
1980s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Actor
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Films
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Role (s)
!scope="col" style="width:2%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| John Hurt
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Elephant Man
| style="background:#FAEB86"| John Merrick
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Dustin Hoffman †
| Kramer vs. Kramer
| Ted Kramer
|-
| Roy Scheider
| All That Jazz
| Joe Gideon
|-
| Peter Sellers
| Being There
| Chance the Gardener
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Burt Lancaster
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Atlantic City
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Lou Pascal
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Robert De Niro †
| Raging Bull
| Jake LaMotta
|-
| Bob Hoskins
| The Long Good Friday
| Harold Shand
|-
| Jeremy Irons
| The French Lieutenant's Woman
| Charles Henry Smithson / Mike
|-
| rowspan="5"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Ben Kingsley †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Gandhi
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Mahatma Gandhi
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Warren Beatty
| Reds
| John Reed
|-
| Albert Finney
| Shoot the Moon
| George Dunlap
|-
| Henry Fonda †
| On Golden Pond
| Norman Thayer Jr.
|-
| Jack Lemmon
| Missing
| Ed Horman
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Michael Caine <small>(TIE)</small>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Educating Rita
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Dr. Frank Bryant
| rowspan=4|
|-
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Dustin Hoffman <small>(TIE)</small>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Tootsie
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels
|-
| Michael Caine
| The Honorary Consul
| Charley Fortnum, Consul
|-
| Robert De Niro
| The King of Comedy
| Rupert Pupkin
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Haing S. Ngor
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Killing Fields
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Dith Pran
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Tom Courtenay
| rowspan="2"| The Dresser
| Norman
|-
| Albert Finney
| Sir
|-
| Sam Waterston
| The Killing Fields
| Sydney Schanberg
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| William Hurt †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Kiss of the Spider Woman
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Luis Molina
| rowspan=4|
|-
| F. Murray Abraham †
| Amadeus
| Antonio Salieri
|-
| Victor Banerjee
| A Passage to India
| Dr. Aziz Ahmed
|-
| Harrison Ford
| Witness
| John Book
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Bob Hoskins
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Mona Lisa
| style="background:#FAEB86"| George
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Woody Allen
| rowspan="2"| Hannah and Her Sisters
| Mickey Sachs
|-
| Michael Caine
| Elliot
|-
| Paul Hogan
| Crocodile Dundee
| Michael "Crocodile" Dundee
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Sean Connery
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Name of the Rose
| style="background:#FAEB86"| William of Baskerville
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Gérard Depardieu
| rowspan="2"| Jean de Florette
| Jean Cadoret / "Jean de Florette"
|-
| Yves Montand
| César Soubeyran / Le Papet
|-
| Gary Oldman
| Prick Up Your Ears
| Joe Orton
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| John Cleese
| style="background:#FAEB86"| A Fish Called Wanda
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Archie Leach
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Michael Douglas
| Fatal Attraction
| Dan Gallagher
|-
| Kevin Kline
| A Fish Called Wanda
| Otto West
|-
| Robin Williams
| Good Morning, Vietnam
| Adrian Cronauer
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Daniel Day-Lewis †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| My Left Foot
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Christy Brown
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Kenneth Branagh
| Henry V
| King Henry V
|-
| Dustin Hoffman †
| Rain Man
| Raymond Babbit
|-
| Robin Williams
| Dead Poets Society
| John Keating
|}
1990s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Actor
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Films
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Role (s)
!scope="col" style="width:2%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Philippe Noiret
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Cinema Paradiso
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Alfredo
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Sean Connery
| The Hunt for Red October
| Captain Marko Ramius
|-
| Tom Cruise
| Born on the Fourth of July
| Ron Kovic
|-
| Robert De Niro
| Goodfellas
| Jimmy Conway
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Anthony Hopkins †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Silence of the Lambs
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Dr. Hannibal Lecter
| rowspan="3" |
|-
| Gérard Depardieu
| Cyrano de Bergerac
| Cyrano de Bergerac
|-
| Alan Rickman
| Truly, Madly, Deeply
| Jamie
|-
| Kevin Costner
| Dances With Wolves
| Lt. John J. Dunbar / Dances with Wolves
|
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Robert Downey Jr.
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Chaplin
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Charlie Chaplin
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Daniel Day-Lewis
| The Last of the Mohicans
| Nathaniel "Hawkeye" Poe
|-
| Stephen Rea
| The Crying Game
| Fergus
|-
| Tim Robbins
| The Player
| Griffin Mill
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Anthony Hopkins
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Remains of the Day
| style="background:#FAEB86"| James Stevens
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Daniel Day-Lewis
| In the Name of the Father
| Gerry Conlon
|-
| Anthony Hopkins
| Shadowlands
| C. S. Lewis
|-
| Liam Neeson
| Schindler's List
| Oskar Schindler
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Hugh Grant
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Four Weddings and a Funeral
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Charles
| rowspan="3" |
|-
| Tom Hanks †
| Forrest Gump
| Forrest Gump
|-
| John Travolta
| Pulp Fiction
| Vincent Vega
|-
| Terence Stamp
| The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
| Bernadette Bassenger
|
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Nigel Hawthorne
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Madness of King George
| style="background:#FAEB86"| King George III
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Nicolas Cage †
| Leaving Las Vegas
| Ben Sanderson
|-
| Jonathan Pryce
| Carrington
| Lytton Strachey
|-
| Massimo Troisi
| Il Postino: The Postman
| Mario Ruoppolo
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Geoffrey Rush †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Shine
| style="background:#FAEB86"| David Helfgott
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Ralph Fiennes
| The English Patient
| Count Laszlo de Almásy
|-
| Ian McKellen
| Richard III
| King Richard III
|-
| Timothy Spall
| Secrets & Lies
| Maurice Purley
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Robert Carlyle
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Full Monty
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Gaz Schofield
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Billy Connolly
| Mrs Brown
| John Brown
|-
| Kevin Spacey
| L.A. Confidential
| Jack Vincennes
|-
| Ray Winstone
| Nil by Mouth
| Ray
|-
| rowspan="4"|
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Roberto Benigni †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Life Is Beautiful
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Guido
| rowspan=4|
|-
| Michael Caine
| Little Voice
| Ray Say
|-
| Joseph Fiennes
| Shakespeare in Love
| William Shakespeare
|-
| Tom Hanks
| Saving Private Ryan
| Captain John H. Miller
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center|1999<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Kevin Spacey †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| American Beauty
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Lester Burnham
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Jim Broadbent
| Topsy-Turvy
| W. S. Gilbert
|-
| Russell Crowe
| The Insider
| Jeffrey Wigand
|-
| Ralph Fiennes
| The End of the Affair
| Maurice Bendrax
|-
| Om Puri
| East is East
| Zahir "George" Khan
|}
2000s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Actor
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Films
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Role (s)
!scope="col" style="width:2%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center| 2000<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Jamie Bell
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Billy Elliot
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Billy Elliot
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Russell Crowe †
| Gladiator
| Maximus Decimus Meridius
|-
| Michael Douglas
| Wonder Boys
| Grady Tripp
|-
| Tom Hanks
| Cast Away
| Chuck Noland
|-
| Geoffrey Rush
| Quills
| Marquis de Sade
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center|2001<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Russell Crowe
| style="background:#FAEB86"| A Beautiful Mind
| style="background:#FAEB86"| John Forbes Nash Jr.
| rowspan="4" |
|-
| Jim Broadbent
| Iris
| John Bayley
|-
| Kevin Spacey
| The Shipping News
| Quoyle
|-
| Tom Wilkinson
| In the Bedroom
| Matt Fowler
|-
| Ian McKellen
| The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
| Gandalf
|
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center| 2002<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Daniel Day-Lewis
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Gangs of New York
| style="background:#FAEB86"| William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Adrien Brody †
| The Pianist
| Władysław Szpilman
|-
| Nicolas Cage
| Adaptation
| Charlie and Donald Kaufman
|-
| Michael Caine
| The Quiet American
| Thomas Fowler
|-
| Jack Nicholson
| About Schmidt
| Warren R. Schmidt
|-
| rowspan="6" align="center" , | 2003<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Bill Murray
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Lost in Translation
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Bob Harris
| rowspan="6" |
|-
| rowspan="2" | Sean Penn †
| 21 Grams
| Paul Rivers
|-
| Mystic River †
| Jimmy Markum
|-
| Benicio del Toro
| 21 Grams
| Jack Jordan
|-
| Jude Law
| Cold Mountain
| William "W.P." Inman
|-
| Johnny Depp
| Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
| Captain Jack Sparrow
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center| 2004<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Jamie Foxx †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Ray
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Ray Charles
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Jim Carrey
| Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
| Joel Barish
|-
| Johnny Depp
| Finding Neverland
| J. M. Barrie
|-
| Leonardo DiCaprio
| The Aviator
| Howard Hughes
|-
| Gael García Bernal
| The Motorcycle Diaries
| Ernesto "Che" Guevara
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center| 2005<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Philip Seymour Hoffman †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Capote
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Truman Capote
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Ralph Fiennes
| The Constant Gardener
| Justin Quayle
|-
| Heath Ledger
| Brokeback Mountain
| Ennis Del Mar
|-
| Joaquin Phoenix
| Walk the Line
| Johnny Cash
|-
| David Strathairn
| Good Night, and Good Luck
| Edward R. Murrow
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center| 2006<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Forest Whitaker †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Last King of Scotland
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Idi Amin
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Daniel Craig
| Casino Royale
| James Bond
|-
| Leonardo DiCaprio
| The Departed
| William "Billy" Costigan Jr.
|-
| Richard Griffiths
| The History Boys
| Hector
|-
| Peter O'Toole
| Venus
| Maurice Russell
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center| 2007<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Daniel Day-Lewis †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| There Will Be Blood
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Daniel Plainview
| rowspan=5|
|-
| George Clooney
| Michael Clayton
| Michael Clayton
|-
| James McAvoy
| Atonement
| Robbie Turner
|-
| Viggo Mortensen
| Eastern Promises
| Nikolai Luzhin
|-
| Ulrich Mühe
| The Lives of Others
| Gerd Wiesler
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center| 2008<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Mickey Rourke
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Wrestler
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Randy "The Ram" Robinson
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Frank Langella
| Frost/Nixon
| Richard Nixon
|-
| Dev Patel
| Slumdog Millionaire
| Jamal Malik
|-
| Sean Penn †
| Milk
| Harvey Milk
|-
| Brad Pitt
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
| Benjamin Button
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center| 2009<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Colin Firth
| style="background:#FAEB86"| A Single Man
| style="background:#FAEB86"| George Falconer
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Jeff Bridges †
| Crazy Heart
| Otis "Bad" Blake
|-
| George Clooney
| Up in the Air
| Ryan Bingham
|-
| Jeremy Renner
| The Hurt Locker
| SFC. William James
|-
| Andy Serkis
| Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
| Ian Dury
|}
2010s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Actor
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Films
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Role (s)
!scope="col" style="width:2%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center|2010<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Colin Firth †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The King's Speech
| style="background:#FAEB86"| King George VI
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Javier Bardem
| Biutiful
| Uxbal
|-
| Jeff Bridges
| True Grit
| Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn
|-
| Jesse Eisenberg
| The Social Network
| Mark Zuckerberg
|-
| James Franco
| 127 Hours
| Aron Ralston
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center|2011<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Jean Dujardin †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Artist
| style="background:#FAEB86"| George Valentin
| rowspan=5|
|-
| George Clooney
| The Descendants
| Matthew "Matt" King
|-
| Michael Fassbender
| Shame
| Brandon Sullivan
|-
| Gary Oldman
| Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
| George Smiley
|-
| Brad Pitt
| Moneyball
| Billy Beane
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center|2012<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Daniel Day-Lewis †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Lincoln
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Abraham Lincoln
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Ben Affleck
| Argo
| Tony Mendez
|-
| Bradley Cooper
| Silver Linings Playbook
| Patrick "Pat" Solitano Jr.
|-
| Hugh Jackman
| Les Misérables
| Jean Valjean
|-
| Joaquin Phoenix
| The Master
| Freddie Quell
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center|2013<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Chiwetel Ejiofor
| style="background:#FAEB86"| 12 Years a Slave
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Solomon Northup
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Christian Bale
| American Hustle
| Irving Rosenfeld
|-
| Bruce Dern
| Nebraska
| Woodrow T. "Woody" Grant
|-
| Leonardo DiCaprio
| The Wolf of Wall Street
| Jordan Belfort
|-
| Tom Hanks
| Captain Phillips
| Captain Richard Phillips
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center|2014<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Eddie Redmayne †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Theory of Everything
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Stephen Hawking
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Benedict Cumberbatch
| The Imitation Game
| Alan Turing
|-
| Ralph Fiennes
| The Grand Budapest Hotel
| Monsieur Gustave H.
|-
| Jake Gyllenhaal
| Nightcrawler
| Louis "Lou" Bloom
|-
| Michael Keaton
| Birdman
| Riggan Thomson
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center|2015<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Leonardo DiCaprio †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Revenant
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Hugh Glass
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Bryan Cranston
| Trumbo
| Dalton Trumbo
|-
| Matt Damon
| The Martian
| Mark Watney
|-
| Michael Fassbender
| Steve Jobs
| Steve Jobs
|-
| Eddie Redmayne
| The Danish Girl
| Lili Elbe / Einar Wegener
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center|2016<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Casey Affleck †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Manchester by the Sea
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Lee Chandler
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Andrew Garfield
| Hacksaw Ridge
| Desmond T. Doss
|-
| Ryan Gosling
| La La Land
| Sebastian Wilder
|-
| Jake Gyllenhaal
| Nocturnal Animals
| Edward Sheffield / Tony Hastings
|-
| Viggo Mortensen
| Captain Fantastic
| Ben Cash
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center|2017<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Gary Oldman †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Darkest Hour
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Winston Churchill
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Jamie Bell
| Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
| Peter Turner
|-
| Timothée Chalamet
| Call Me by Your Name
| Elio Perlman
|-
| Daniel Day-Lewis
| Phantom Thread
| Reynolds Woodcock
|-
| Daniel Kaluuya
| Get Out
| Chris Washington
|-
| rowspan="5", align=center|2018<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Rami Malek †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Bohemian Rhapsody
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Freddie Mercury
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Christian Bale
| Vice
| Dick Cheney
|-
| Steve Coogan
| Stan & Ollie
| Stan Laurel
|-
| Bradley Cooper
| A Star Is Born
| Jackson "Jack" Maine
|-
| Viggo Mortensen
| Green Book
| Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga
|-
|rowspan="5", align=center|2019<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Joaquin Phoenix †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Joker
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Arthur Fleck / Joker
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Leonardo DiCaprio
| Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
| Rick Dalton
|-
| Adam Driver
| Marriage Story
| Charlie Barber
|-
| Taron Egerton
| Rocketman
| Elton John
|-
| Jonathan Pryce
| The Two Popes
| Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio
|}
2020s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Actor
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Films
!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Role (s)
!scope="col" style="width:2%;" class="unsortable"|
|-
| rowspan="6", align=center|2020<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Anthony Hopkins †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| The Father
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Anthony
| rowspan=6, align=center|
|-
| Riz Ahmed
| Sound of Metal
| Ruben Stone
|-
| Chadwick Boseman
| Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
| Levee Green
|-
| Adarsh Gourav
| The White Tiger
| Balram Halwai
|-
| Mads Mikkelsen
| Another Round
| Martin
|-
| Tahar Rahim
| The Mauritanian
| Mohamedou Ould Salahi
|-
| rowspan="6", align=center|2021<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Will Smith †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| King Richard
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Richard Williams
| rowspan=6, align=center|
|-
| Adeel Akhtar
| Ali & Ava
| Ali
|-
| Mahershala Ali
| Swan Song
| Cameron Turner
|-
| Benedict Cumberbatch
| The Power of the Dog
| Phil Burbank
|-
| Leonardo DiCaprio
| Don't Look Up
| Dr. Randall Mindy
|-
| Stephen Graham
| Boiling Point
| Andy Jones
|-
| rowspan="6", align=center|2022<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Austin Butler
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Elvis
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Elvis Presley
| rowspan=6, align=center|
|-
| Colin Farrell
| The Banshees of Inisherin
| Pádraic Súilleabháin
|-
| Brendan Fraser †
| The Whale
| Charlie
|-
| Daryl McCormack
| Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
| Leo Grande / Connor
|-
| Paul Mescal
| Aftersun
| Calum Patterson
|-
| Bill Nighy
| Living
| Mr. Williams
|-
| rowspan="6", align=center|2023<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Cillian Murphy †
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Oppenheimer
| style="background:#FAEB86"| J. Robert Oppenheimer
| rowspan=6, align=center|
|-
| Bradley Cooper
| Maestro
| Leonard Bernstein
|-
| Colman Domingo
| Rustin
| Bayard Rustin
|-
| Paul Giamatti
| The Holdovers
| Paul Hunham
|-
| Barry Keoghan
| Saltburn
| Oliver Quick
|-
| Teo Yoo
| Past Lives
| Hae Sung
|-
| rowspan="6", align=center|2024<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Adrien Brody †
| style="background:#FAEB86"|The Brutalist
| style="background:#FAEB86"| László Tóth
| rowspan=6, align=center|
|-
| Timothée Chalamet
| A Complete Unknown
| Bob Dylan
|-
| Colman Domingo
| Sing Sing
| John "Divine G" Whitfield
|-
| Ralph Fiennes
| Conclave
| Thomas Cardinal Lawrence
|-
| Hugh Grant
| Heretic
| Mr. Reed
|-
| Sebastian Stan
| The Apprentice
| Donald Trump
|-
| rowspan="6" align="center" , |2025<br>
| style="background:#FAEB86"| Robert Aramayo
| style="background:#FAEB86"| I Swear
| style="background:#FAEB86"| John Davidson
| rowspan="6" |
|-
| Timothée Chalamet
| Marty Supreme
| Marty Mauser
|-
| Leonardo DiCaprio
| One Battle After Another
| Bob Ferguson
|-
| Ethan Hawke
| Blue Moon
| Lorenz Hart
|-
| Jesse Plemons
| Bugonia
| Teddy Gatz
|-
| Michael B. Jordan †
| Sinners
| Elijah "Smoke" Moore / Elias "Stack" Moore
|}
Multiple nominations
;7 nominations
- Michael Caine
- Daniel Day-Lewis
- Leonardo DiCaprio
- Peter Finch
- Dustin Hoffman
- Jack Lemmon
- Laurence Olivier
;6 nominations
- Marlon Brando
- Albert Finney
- Sidney Poitier
;5 nominations
- Dirk Bogarde
- Robert De Niro
- Ralph Fiennes
- Anthony Hopkins
- Spencer Tracy
;4 nominations
- Tom Hanks
- Jack Hawkins
- Trevor Howard
- Kenneth More
- Paul Newman
- Peter Sellers
;3 nominations
- Woody Allen
- Richard Attenborough
- Richard Burton
- Timothée Chalamet
- George Clooney
- Bradley Cooper
- Tom Courtenay
- Russell Crowe
- Alec Guinness
- Gene Hackman
- Burt Lancaster
- Fredric March
- Walter Matthau
- Viggo Mortensen
- Jack Nicholson
- Gary Oldman
- Peter O'Toole
- Sean Penn
- Joaquin Phoenix
- Kevin Spacey
;2 nominations
- Christian Bale
- Alan Bates
- Warren Beatty
- Jamie Bell
- Jean-Paul Belmondo
- Jeff Bridges
- Jim Broadbent
- Adrien Brody
- Nicolas Cage
- Sean Connery
- Benedict Cumberbatch
- Tony Curtis
- James Dean
- Gérard Depardieu
- Johnny Depp
- Colman Domingo
- Michael Douglas
- Richard Dreyfuss
- Michael Fassbender
- Colin Firth
- Henry Fonda
- Pierre Fresnay
- Jean Gabin
- John Gielgud
- Hugh Grant
- Jake Gyllenhaal
- George Hamilton
- Laurence Harvey
- William Holden
- Bob Hoskins
- Charles Laughton
- James Mason
- Marcello Mastroianni
- Ian McKellen
- John Mills
- Yves Montand
- Al Pacino
- Gregory Peck
- Brad Pitt
- Jonathan Pryce
- Anthony Quinn
- Michael Redgrave
- Eddie Redmayne
- Ralph Richardson
- Geoffrey Rush
- George C. Scott
- Martin Sheen
- Takashi Shimura
- Frank Sinatra
- Rod Steiger
- James Stewart
- Robin Williams
- Nicol Williamson
- Donald Wolfit
Multiple wins
;5 wins
- Peter Finch (2 consecutive)
;4 wins
- Daniel Day-Lewis
;3 wins
- Marlon Brando (consecutive)
- Anthony Hopkins
- Jack Lemmon (2 consecutive)
;2 wins
- Dirk Bogarde
- Colin Firth (consecutive)
- Dustin Hoffman
- Burt Lancaster
- Marcello Mastroianni (consecutive)
- Jack Nicholson
- Rod Steiger
Superlatives
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! style="width:350px;"|Superlative
! colspan="2" style="width:600px;"|Best Actor
! colspan="2" style="width:600px;"|Best Supporting Actor
! colspan="2" style="width:600px;"|Overall<br />(including Most Promising Newcomer)
|- style="height:4.5em;"
| style="width:350px;"| Actor with most awards
| style="width:500px;"| Peter Finch
| style="width:100px;"| 5
| style="width:500px;"| Denholm Elliott
| style="width:100px;"| 3
| style="width:500px;"| Peter Finch
| style="width:100px;"| 5
|- style="height:4.5em;"
|Actor with most British Actor Awards (until 1967)
| Peter Finch
| 3
| —
| —
| Peter Finch
| 3
|- style="height:4.5em;"
| Actor with most Foreign Actor Awards (until 1967)
| Marlon Brando
| 3
| —
| —
| Marlon Brando
| 3
|- style="height:4.5em;"
| Actor with most nominations
| Daniel Day-Lewis <br /> Dustin Hoffman
| 7
| Denholm Elliott
| 7
| Albert Finney
| 9
|- style="height:4.5em;"
|Actor with most British Actor Award nominations (until 1967)
| Laurence Olivier
| 6
| —
| —
| Laurence Olivier
| 6
|- style="height:4.5em;"
| Actor with most Foreign Actor Award nominations (until 1967)
| Sidney Poitier
| 6
| —
| —
| Sidney Poitier
| 6
|}
See also
- Academy Award for Best Actor
- Actor Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
- Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor
- Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
- Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Performance
Notes
: A: Rules from the 1960s to the 1970s allowed for a performer to receive a single citation which could honor their work in more than one film. Richard Attenborough, Peter Sellers, Lee Marvin, Jack Lemmon, Richard Burton, Dirk Bogarde, Dustin Hoffman, Walter Matthau, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, George C. Scott, Donald Sutherland, Jack Nicholson, and Al Pacino were all nominated for their roles in two different films in the same category, while Ralph Richardson and Robert Redford were both nominated for three films. Matthau received dual nominations three times, with Hackman and Hoffman both accomplishing this feat twice.
: B: Michael Caine and Dustin Hoffman received the same number of votes, resulting in both actors receiving the award, according to Academy rules.
References
External links
- BAFTA Awards Database