The César Award for Best Actor () is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma to recognize the outstanding performance in a leading role of an actor who has worked within the French film industry during the year preceding the ceremony. Nominees and winner are selected via a run-off voting by all the members of the Académie.
Winners and nominees
Following the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma (AATC)'s practice, the films below are listed by year of ceremony, which corresponds to the year following the film's year of release. For example, the César for Best Actor of 2010 was awarded on February 27, 2010 for a performance in a film released between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009.
Actors are selected via a two-round vote: first round to choose the nominees, second round to designate the winner. All the members of the Académie, without regard to their branch, are eligible to vote on both rounds. The number of nominees, initially set to four, was expanded to five in 1984 and then to seven in 2012.
Winners are listed first in bold, followed by the other nominees in alphabetic order.
Winners
1970s
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
|-
!width="100"|Year
!width="300"|Winner
!width="300"|English title
!width="300"|Original title
!width="300"|Role/Character
|-
! rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;" |1976<br />(1st)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Philippe Noiret|| style="background:#eedd82;" |The Old Gun|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Le Vieux Fusil
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Julien Dandieu
|-
|Victor Lanoux||Cousin, Cousin||Cousin, cousine
|Ludovic
|-
|Jean-Pierre Marielle||Cookies||Les Galettes de Pont-Aven
|Henri Serin
|-
|Gérard Depardieu||7 morts sur ordonnance||7 morts sur ordonnance
|Doctor Jean-Pierre Berg
|-
! rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;" |1977<br />(2nd)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Michel Galabru|| style="background:#eedd82;" |The Judge and the Assassin|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Le Juge et l'assassin
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Sgt. Joseph Bouvier
|-
|Alain Delon||Mr. Klein||Monsieur Klein
|Mr. Klein
|-
|Gérard Depardieu||The Last Woman||La Dernière Femme
|Gérard
|-
|Patrick Dewaere||The Best Way to Walk||La Meilleure Façon de marcher
|Marc
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |1978<br />(3rd)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Jean Rochefort|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Drummer-Crab|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Le Crabe-tambour
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Captain
|-
|Alain Delon||Death of a Corrupt Man||Mort d'un pourri
|Xavier 'Xav' Maréchal
|-
|Gérard Depardieu||This Sweet Sickness||Dites-lui que je l'aime
|David Martinaud
|-
|Patrick Dewaere||Judge Fayard Called the Sheriff||Le Juge Fayard dit le Shériff
|Judge Fayard
|-
|Charles Denner||The Man Who Loved Women||L'Homme qui aimait les femmes
|Bertrand Morane
|-
! rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;" |1979<br />(4th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Michel Serrault|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Birds of a Feather|| style="background:#eedd82;" |La Cage aux folles
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Albin Mougeotte/Zaza Napoli
|-
|Claude Brasseur||A Simple Story||Une histoire simple
|Serge
|-
|Jean Carmet|| rowspan="2" |The Sugar|| rowspan="2" |Le Sucre
|Adrien Courtois
|-
|Gérard Depardieu
|Raoul-Renaud Homecourt
|}
1980s
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
|-
!width="100"|Year
!width="300"|Winner
!width="300"|English title
!width="300"|Original title
!width="300"|Role/Character
|-
! rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;" |1980<br />(5th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Claude Brasseur|| style="background:#eedd82;" |The Police War|| style="background:#eedd82;" |La Guerre des polices
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Jacques Fush
|-
|Patrick Dewaere||colspan="2"|Série noire
|Franck Poupart
|-
|Yves Montand||I as in Icarus||I... comme Icare
|Henri Volney
|-
|Jean Rochefort||Courage - Let's Run||Courage fuyons
|Martin Belhomme / Adrien Belhomme
|-
! rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;" |1981<br />(6th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Gérard Depardieu|| style="background:#eedd82;" |The Last Metro|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Le Dernier Métro
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Bernard Granger
|-
|Michel Serrault||colspan="2"|La Cage aux Folles II
|Albin Mougeotte/Zaza Napoli
|-
|Philippe Noiret||Heads or Tails||Pile ou face
|Detective Louis Baroni
|-
|Patrick Dewaere||A Bad Son||Un mauvais fils
|Bruno Calgagni
|-
! rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;" |1982<br />(7th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Michel Serrault|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Under Suspicion|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Garde à vue
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Jérôme Martinaud
|-
|Patrick Dewaere||Stepfather||Beau-père
|Rémi
|-
|Philippe Noiret||Clean Slate||Coup de torchon
|Lucien Cordier
|-
|Michel Piccoli||Strange Affair||Une étrange affaire
|Bertrand Malair
|-
! rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;" |1983<br />(8th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Philippe Léotard|| style="background:#eedd82;" |The Nark|| style="background:#eedd82;" |La Balance
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Dédé Laffont
|-
|Gérard Depardieu||colspan="2"|Danton
|Georges Danton
|-
|Gérard Lanvin||colspan="2"|Tir groupé
|Antoine Béranger
|-
|Lino Ventura||colspan="2"|Les Misérables
|Jean Valjean
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |1984<br />(9th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Michel "Coluche" Colucci|| style="background:#eedd82;" |So Long, Stooge|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Tchao pantin
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Lambert
|-
|Gérard Depardieu||ComDads||Les Compères
|Jean Lucas
|-
|Yves Montand||Waiter!||Garçon!
|Alex
|-
|Michel Serrault||Deadly Run||Mortelle randonnée
|Beauvoir
|-
|Alain Souchon||One Deadly Summer||L'Été meurtrier
|Fiorimonto "Florimond" Montecciari
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |1985<br />(10th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Alain Delon|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Our Story|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Notre histoire
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Robert Avranches
|-
|Gérard Depardieu||colspan="2"|Fort Saganne
|Charles Saganne
|-
|Louis Ducreux||A Sunday in the Country||Un dimanche à la campagne
|Mr. Ladmiral
|-
|Philippe Noiret||My New Partner||Les Ripoux
|René Boirond
|-
|Michel Piccoli||Dangerous Moves||La Diagonale du fou
|Akiva Liebskind
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |1986<br />(11th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Christopher Lambert|| colspan="2" style="background:#eedd82;" |Subway
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Fred
|-
|Gérard Depardieu||colspan="2"|Police
|Louis Vincent Mangin
|-
|Robin Renucci||Staircase C||Escalier C
|Forster
|-
|Michel Serrault||He Died with His Eyes Open||On ne meurt que 2 fois
|Inspector Robert Staniland
|-
|Lambert Wilson||colspan="2"|Rendez-vous
|Quentin
|-
! rowspan="6" style="text-align:center;" |1987<br />(12th)
| rowspan="2" style="background:#eedd82;" |Daniel Auteuil|| colspan="2" style="background:#eedd82;" |Jean de Florette
| rowspan="2" style="background:#eedd82;" |Ugolin
|-
|style="background:#eedd82;"|Jean de Florette II: Manon of the Spring||style="background:#eedd82;"|Manon des sources
|-
|Jean-Hugues Anglade||Betty Blue||37°2 le matin
|Zorg
|-
|Michel Blanc||Ménage||Tenue de soirée
|Antoine
|-
|André Dussollier||colspan="2"|Mélo
|Marcel Blanc
|-
|Christophe Malavoy||The Woman of My Life||La Femme de ma vie
|Simon
|-
! rowspan="6" style="text-align:center;" |1988<br />(13th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Richard Bohringer|| style="background:#eedd82;" |The Grand Highway|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Le Grand Chemin
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Pelo
|-
|Jean Carmet||colspan="2"|Miss Mona
|Miss Mona
|-
|Gérard Depardieu||Under the Sun of Satan||Sous le soleil de Satan
|Abbé Donissan
|-
|Gérard Jugnot||colspan="2"|Tandem
|Rivetot
|-
|Christophe Malavoy||Engagements of the Heart||De guerre lasse
|Charles Sambrat
|-
|Jean Rochefort||colspan="2"|Tandem
|Michel Mortez
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |1989<br />(14th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Jean-Paul Belmondo|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Itinerary of a Spoiled Child|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Sam Lion
|-
|Richard Anconina||Itinerary of a Spoiled Child||Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté
|Albert Duvivier
|-
|Daniel Auteuil||A Few Days with Me||Quelques jours avec moi
|Martial Pasquier
|-
|Jean-Marc Barr||The Big Blue||Le Grand Bleu
|Jacques Mayol
|-
|Gérard Depardieu||colspan="2"|Camille Claudel
|Auguste Rodin
|}
1990s
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
|-
!width="100"|Year
!width="300"|Winner
!width="300"|English title
!width="300"|Original title
!width="300"|Role/Character
|-
! rowspan="6" style="text-align:center;" |1990<br />(15th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Philippe Noiret|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Life and Nothing But|| style="background:#eedd82;" |La Vie et rien d'autre
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Commandant Delaplane
|-
|Jean-Hugues Anglade||Indian Nocturne||Nocturne indien
|Rossignol
|-
|Michel Blanc||Mr. Hire||Monsieur Hire
|Mr. Hire
|-
|Gérard Depardieu||Too Beautiful for You||Trop belle pour toi
|Bernard Barthélémy
|-
|Hippolyte Girardot||Love Without Pity||Un monde sans pitié
|Hippo
|-
|Lambert Wilson||colspan="2"|Hiver 54, l'abbé Pierre
|Abbé Pierre
|-
! rowspan="6" style="text-align:center;" |1991<br />(16th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Gérard Depardieu <br /><small>(nominated for the Academy Award)</small>|| colspan="2" style="background:#eedd82;" |Cyrano de Bergerac
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Cyrano de Bergerac
|-
|Daniel Auteuil||colspan="2"|Lacenaire
|Pierre-François Lacenaire
|-
|Fabrice Luchini||The Discreet||La Discrète
|Antoine
|-
|Michel Piccoli||Milou in May||Milou en Mai
|Milou
|-
|Jean Rochefort||The Hairdresser's Husband||Le Mari de la coiffeuse
|Antoine
|-
|Michel Serrault||Dr. Petiot||Docteur Petiot
|Dr. Petiot
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |1992<br />(17th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Jacques Dutronc|| colspan="2" style="background:#eedd82;" |Van Gogh
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Vincent Van Gogh
|-
|Michel Piccoli||The Beautiful Troublemaker||La Belle Noiseuse
|Édouard Frenhofer
|-
|Hippolyte Girardot||Out of Life||Hors la vie
|Patrick Perrault
|-
|Jean-Pierre Marielle||All the Mornings of the World||Tous les matins du monde
|Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe
|-
|Gérard Jugnot||colspan="2"|Une époque formidable...
|Michel Berthier
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |1993<br />(18th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Claude Rich|| style="background:#eedd82;" |The Supper|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Le Souper
| style="background:#eedd82;" | Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord
|-
|Daniel Auteuil||A Heart in Winter||Un cœur en hiver
|Stéphane
|-
|Claude Brasseur||The Supper||Le Souper
|Joseph Fouché
|-
|Richard Berry||And the Little Prince Said||Le Petit Prince a dit
|Adam Leibovich
|-
|Vincent Lindon||The Crisis||La Crise
|Victor
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |1994<br />(19th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Pierre Arditi|| colspan="2" style="background:#eedd82;" |Smoking/No Smoking
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Toby Teasdale / Miles Coombes / Lionel Hepplewick / Joe Hepplewick
|-
|Daniel Auteuil||My Favorite Season||Ma saison préférée
|Antoine
|-
|Michel Boujenah||colspan="2"|Le Nombril du monde
|Bajou
|-
|Christian Clavier|| rowspan="2" |The Visitors|| rowspan="2" |Les Visiteurs
|Jacquouille
|-
|Jean Reno
|Godefroy de Montmirail
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |1995<br />(20th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Gérard Lanvin|| style="background:#eedd82;" |The Favourite Son|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Le Fils préféré
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Jean-Paul Mantegna
|-
|Daniel Auteuil||The Separation||La Séparation
|Pierre
|-
|Gérard Depardieu||Colonel Chabert||Le Colonel Chabert
|Amédé Chabert
|-
|Jean Reno||colspan="2"|Léon
|Léon
|-
|Jean-Louis Trintignant||Three Colors: Red||Trois couleurs: Rouge
|Joseph Kern
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |1996<br />(21st)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Michel Serrault|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Nelly and Mr. Arnaud|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Pierre Arnaud
|-
|Vincent Cassel||Hate||La Haine
|Vinz
|-
|Alain Chabat||French Twist||Gazon maudit
|Laurent
|-
|François Cluzet||The Apprentices||Les Apprentis
|Antoine
|-
|Jean-Louis Trintignant||Fiesta
|
|Colonel Masagual
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |1997<br />(22nd)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Philippe Torreton|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Captain Conan|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Capitaine Conan
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Captain Conan
|-
|Daniel Auteuil||The Eighth Day||Le Huitième Jour
|Harry
|-
|Charles Berling||colspan="2"|Ridicule
|Baron Grégoire Ponceludon de Malavoy
|-
|Fabrice Luchini||Beaumarchais the Scoundrel||Beaumarchais, l'insolent
|Pierre Beaumarchais
|-
|Patrick Timsit||colspan="2"|Pédale douce
|Adrien Aymar
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |1998<br />(23rd)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |André Dussolier|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Same Old Song|| style="background:#eedd82;" |On connaît la chanson
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Simon
|-
|Daniel Auteuil||On Guard||Le Bossu
|Lagardère
|-
|Charles Berling||Dry Cleaning||Nettoyage à sec
|Jean-Marie Kunstler
|-
|Alain Chabat||colspan="2"|Didier
|Didier Hazanavicus
|-
|Patrick Timsit||colspan="2"|Le Cousin
|Nounours
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |1999<br />(24th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Jacques Villeret|| style="background:#eedd82;" |The Dinner Game|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Le Dîner de cons
| style="background:#eedd82;" |François Pignon
|-
|Charles Berling||colspan="2"|L'Ennui
|Martin
|-
|Antoine de Caunes||Man Is a Woman||L'Homme est une femme comme les autres
|Simon Eskanazy
|-
|Jean-Pierre Darroussin||colspan="2"|Le Poulpe
|Gabriel Lecouvreur
|-
|Pascal Greggory||Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train||Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train
|François
|}
2000s
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
|-
!width="100"|Year
!width="300"|Winner
!width="300"|English title
!width="300"|Original title
!width="300"|Role/Character
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |2000<br />(25th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Daniel Auteuil|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Girl on the Bridge|| style="background:#eedd82;" |La Fille sur le pont
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Gabor
|-
|Jean-Pierre Bacri||Kennedy and I||Kennedy et moi
|Simon Polaris
|-
|Albert Dupontel||Sachs' Disease||La Maladie de Sachs
|Doctor Bruno Sachs
|-
|Vincent Lindon||My Little Business||Ma petite entreprise
|Ivan Lansi
|-
|Philippe Torreton||It All Starts Today||Ça commence aujourd'hui
|Daniel Lefebvre
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |2001<br />(26th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Sergi López|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Harry, He's Here to Help|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Harry
|-
|Jean-Pierre Bacri||The Taste of Others||Le Goût des autres
|Jean-Jacques Castella
|-
|Charles Berling||Sentimental Destinies||Les Destinées sentimentales
|Jean Barnery
|-
|Bernard Giraudeau||A Question of Taste||Une affaire de goût
|Frédéric Delamont
|-
|Pascal Greggory||Confusion of Genders||La Confusion des genres
|Alain Bauman
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |2002<br />(27th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Michel Bouquet|| style="background:#eedd82;" |How I Killed My Father|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Comment j'ai tué mon père
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Maurice
|-
|Eric Caravaca||The Officers' Ward||La Chambre des officiers
|Adrien
|-
|Vincent Cassel||Read My Lips||Sur mes lèvres
|Paul Angeli
|-
|André Dussollier||colspan="2"|Tanguy
|Paul Guetz
|-
|Jacques Dutronc||That's Life||C'est la vie
|Dimitri
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |2003<br />(28th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Adrien Brody<br /><small>(won the Academy Award)</small>|| colspan="2" style="background:#eedd82;" |The Pianist
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Władysław Szpilman
|-
|Daniel Auteuil||The Adversary||L'Adversaire
|Jean-Marc Faure
|-
|François Berléand||Whatever You Say||Mon idole
|Jean-Louis Broustal
|-
|Bernard Campan||Beautiful Memories||Se souvenir des belles choses
|Philippe
|-
|Mathieu Kassovitz||colspan="2"|Amen.
|Riccardo Fontana
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |2004<br />(29th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Omar Sharif|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Monsieur Ibrahim|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Mr. Ibrahim
|-
|Daniel Auteuil||After You...||Après vous...
|Antoine Letoux
|-
|Jean-Pierre Bacri||Feelings||Les Sentiments
|Jacques
|-
|Gad Elmaleh||colspan="2"|Chouchou
|Chouchou
|-
|Bruno Todeschini||His Brother||Son frère
|Thomas
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |2005<br />(30th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Mathieu Amalric|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Kings and Queen|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Rois et reine
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Ismaël Vuillard
|-
|Daniel Auteuil||Department 36||36 Quai des Orfèvres
|Léo Vrinks
|-
|Gérard Jugnot||The Chorus||Les Choristes
|Clement Mathieu
|-
|Benoît Poelvoorde||colspan="2"|Podium
|Bernard Frédéric
|-
|Philippe Torreton||The Light||L'Équipier
|Yvon Le Guen
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |2006<br />(31st)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Michel Bouquet|| style="background:#eedd82;" |The Last Mitterrand|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Le Promeneur du Champ-de-Mars
| style="background:#eedd82;" |The President
|-
|Patrick Chesnais||Not Here to Be Loved||Je ne suis pas là pour être aimé
|Jean-Claude Delsart
|-
|Romain Duris||The Beat That My Heart Skipped||De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté
|Thomas Seyr
|-
|José Garcia||The Axe||Le Couperet
|Bruno Davert
|-
|Benoît Poelvoorde||In His Hands||Entre ses mains
|Laurent Kessler
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |2007<br />(32nd)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |François Cluzet|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Tell No One|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Ne le dis à personne
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Alexandre Beck
|-
|Michel Blanc||You Are So Beautiful||Je vous trouve très beau
|Aymé Pigrenet
|-
|Alain Chabat||Rent a Wife||Prête-moi ta main
|Luis
|-
|Gérard Depardieu||When I Was a Singer (a.k.a. The Singer)||Quand j'étais chanteur
|Alain Moreau
|-
|Jean Dujardin||OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies||OSS 117: Le Caire nid d'espions
|Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath/OSS 117
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |2008<br />(33rd)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Mathieu Amalric|| style="background:#eedd82;" |The Diving Bell and the Butterfly|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Le Scaphandre et le papillon
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Jean-Dominique Bauby
|-
|Michel Blanc||The Witnesses||Les Témoins
|Adrien
|-
|Jean-Pierre Darroussin||Conversations with My Gardener||Dialogue avec mon jardinier
|Dujardin
|-
|Vincent Lindon||Those Who Remain||Ceux qui restent
|Bertrand Liévain
|-
|Jean-Pierre Marielle||Let's Dance||Faut que ça danse!
|Salomon Bellinsky
|-
! rowspan="6" style="text-align:center;" |2009<br />(34th)
| rowspan="2" style="background:#eedd82;" |Vincent Cassel|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Mesrine I: Killer Instinct|| style="background:#eedd82;" |L'Instinct de mort
| rowspan="2" style="background:#eedd82;" |Jacques Mesrine
|-
|style="background:#eedd82;"|Mesrine II: Public Enemy No. 1||style="background:#eedd82;"|L'Ennemi public n°1
|-
|François-Xavier Demaison||colspan="2"|Coluche, l'histoire d'un mec
|Coluche
|-
|Guillaume Depardieu||colspan="2"|Versailles
|Damien
|-
|Albert Dupontel||Love Me No More||Deux jours à tuer
|Antoine Méliot
|-
|Jacques Gamblin||The First Day of the Rest of Your Life||Le Premier Jour du reste de ta vie
|Robert Duval
|}
2010s
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
|-
!width="100"|Year
!width="300"|Winner
!width="300"|English title
!width="300"|Original title
!width="300"|Role/Character
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |2010<br />(35th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Tahar Rahim|| style="background:#eedd82;" |A Prophet|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Un prophète
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Malik El-Djebena
|-
|Yvan Attal||colspan="2"|Rapt
|Stanislas Graff
|-
|Francois Cluzet||In the Beginning||À l'origine
|Paul / Philippe Miller
|-
|Francois Cluzet||The End of the Road||Le Dernier pour la route
|Hervé Chabalier
|-
|Vincent Lindon||colspan="2"|Welcome
|Simon Calmat
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |2011<br />(36th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Éric Elmosnino|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Gainsbourg (vie héroïque)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Serge Gainsbourg
|-
|Gérard Depardieu||colspan="2"|Mammuth
|Serge Pilardosse
|-
|Romain Duris||Heartbreaker||L'Arnacœur
|Alex Lippi
|-
|Jacques Gamblin||The Names of Love||Le Nom des gens
|Arthur Martin
|-
|Lambert Wilson||Of Gods and Men||Des hommes et des dieux
|Christian de Chergé
|-
! rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;" |2012<br />(37th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Omar Sy|| style="background:#eedd82;" |The Intouchables|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Intouchables
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Bakari "Driss" Bassari
|-
|Sami Bouajila||Omar Killed Me||Omar m'a tuer
|Omar Raddad
|-
|François Cluzet||The Intouchables||Intouchables
|Philippe
|-
|Jean Dujardin<br><small>(won the Academy Award)</small>||colspan="2"|The Artist
|Georges Valentin
|-
|Olivier Gourmet||The Minister||L'exercice de l'État
|Bertrand Saint-Jean
|-
|Denis Podalydès||The Conquest||La Conquête
|Nicolas Sarkozy
|-
|Philippe Torreton||colspan="2"|Présumé coupable
|Alain Marécaux
|-
! rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;" |2013<br />(38th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Jean-Louis Trintignant|| colspan="2" style="background:#eedd82;" |Amour
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Georges Laurent
|-
|colspan="2"|Jean-Pierre Bacri||Cherchez Hortense
|Damien Hauer
|-
|Patrick Bruel||What's in a Name?||Le prénom
|Vincent
|-
|Denis Lavant||colspan="2"|Holy Motors
|Mr. Oscar and various other roles
|-
|Vincent Lindon||A Few Hours of Spring||Quelques heures de printemps
|Alain Évrard
|-
|Fabrice Luchini||In the House||Dans la maison
|Germain Germain
|-
|Jérémie Renier||My Way||Cloclo
|Claude François
|-
! rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;" |2014<br />(39th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Guillaume Gallienne|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Me, Myself and Mum|| style="background:#eedd82;" |Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table!
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Guillaume / Mother
|-
|Mathieu Amalric||Venus in Fur||La Vénus à la fourrure
|Thomas Novacheck
|-
|Michel Bouquet||colspan="2"|Renoir
|Auguste Renoir
|-
|Albert Dupontel||9 Month Stretch||Neuf mois ferme
|Robert Nolan
|-
|Grégory Gadebois||One of a Kind||Mon âme par toi guérie
|Frédi
|-
|Fabrice Luchini||Cycling with Moliere||Alceste à bicyclette
|Serge Tanneur
|-
|Mads Mikkelsen||colspan="2"|Michael Kohlhaas
|Michael Kohlhaas
|-
! rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;" |2015<br />(40th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Pierre Niney|| colspan="2" style="background:#eedd82;" |Yves Saint Laurent
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Yves Saint Laurent
|-
|Niels Arestrup||Diplomacy||Diplomatie
|General Dietrich von Cholitz
|-
|Guillaume Canet||Next Time I'll Aim for the Heart||La Prochaine fois je viserai le cœur
|Franck
|-
|François Damiens||The Bélier Family||La Famille Bélier
|Rodolphe Bélier
|-
|Romain Duris||The New Girlfriend||Une nouvelle amie
|David / Virginia
|-
|Vincent Lacoste||Hippocrates||Hippocrate
|Benjamin Barois
|-
|Gaspard Ulliel||colspan="2"|Saint Laurent
|Yves Saint Laurent
|- style="background:#eedd82;"
! rowspan="7" |2016<br />(41st)
|Vincent Lindon||The Measure of a Man || La Loi du marché
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Thierry Taugourdeau
|-
|Jean-Pierre Bacri||The Very Private Life of Mister Sim||La Vie très privée de Monsieur Sim
|François Sim
|-
|Vincent Cassel||colspan="2"|Mon roi
|Georgio
|-
|François Damiens||Cowboys|| Les Cowboys
|Alain Balland
|-
|Gérard Depardieu||colspan="2"|Valley of Love
|Gérard
|-
|Antonythasan Jesuthasan||colspan="2"|Dheepan
|Dheepan/Sivadhasan
|-
|Fabrice Luchini||Courted || L'Hermine
|Michel Racine
|- style="background:#eedd82;"
! rowspan="7" |2017<br />(42nd)
|Gaspard Ulliel||It's Only the End of the World||Juste la fin du monde
|Louis
|-
|François Cluzet||Irreplaceable||Médecin de campagne
|Jean-Pierre Werner
|-
|Pierre Deladonchamps||A Kid||Le Fils de Jean
|Mathieu
|-
|Nicolas Duvauchelle||A Decent Man||Je ne suis pas un salaud
|Eddie
|-
|Fabrice Luchini||Slack Bay||Ma Loute
|André Van Peteghem
|-
|Pierre Niney||colspan="2"|Frantz
|Adrien
|-
|Omar Sy||colspan="2"|Chocolat
|Chocolat
|- style="background:#eedd82;"
! rowspan="7" |2018<br />(43rd)
|Swann Arlaud||Bloody Milk||Petit Paysan
|Pierre Chavanges
|-
|Daniel Auteuil||colspan="2"|Le Brio
|Pierre Mazard
|-
|Jean-Pierre Bacri||C'est la Vie!||La Sens de la Fête
|Max
|-
|Guillaume Canet||colspan="2"|Rock'n Roll
|Guillaume Canet
|-
|Albert Dupontel||See You Up There||Au Revoir Là-Haut
|Albert Maillard
|-
|Louis Garrel||Redoubtable||Le Redoutable
|Jean-Luc Godard
|-
|Reda Kateb||colspan="2"|Django
|Django Reinhardt
|- style="background:#eedd82;"
! rowspan="7" |2019<br />(44th)
|Alex Lutz|| colspan="2" |Guy
|Guy Jamet
|-
|Édouard Baer||Lady J||Mademoiselle de Joncquières
|Marquis des Arcis
|-
|Romain Duris||Our Struggles||Nos batailles
|Olivier
|-
|Vincent Lacoste||colspan="2"|Amanda
|David
|-
|Gilles Lellouche||In Safe Hands||Pupille
|Jean
|-
|Pio Marmaï||The Trouble with You||En liberté !
|Antoine Parent
|-
|Denis Ménochet||Custody||Jusqu'à la garde
|Antoine Besson
|}
2020s
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
|-
!width="100"|Year
!width="300"|Winner
!width="300"|English title
!width="300"|Original title
!width="300"|Role/Character
|-
! rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;" |2020<br />(45th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Roschdy Zem||style="background:#eedd82;"|Oh Mercy!||style="background:#eedd82;"|Roubaix, une lumière
|style="background:#eedd82;"|Daoud
|-
|Daniel Auteuil||colspan="2"|La Belle Époque
|Victor Drumond
|-
|Damien Bonnard||colspan="2"|Les Misérables
|Brigadier Stéphane Ruiz
|-
|Vincent Cassel||rowspan=2|The Specials||rowspan=2|Hors normes
|Bruno Haroche
|-
|Reda Kateb
|Malik
|-
|Jean Dujardin||An Officer and a Spy||J'accuse
|Colonel Georges Picquart
|-
|Melvil Poupaud||By the Grace of God||Grâce à Dieu
|Alexandre Guérin
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |2021<br />(46th)<br />
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Sami Bouajila||style="background:#eedd82;"|A Son||style="background:#eedd82;"|Un fils
|style="background:#eedd82;"|Fares Ben Youssef
|-
| Jonathan Cohen || Enorme || Énorme || Frédéric
|-
| Albert Dupontel || Bye Bye Morons || Adieu les cons || JB
|-
| Niels Schneider || Love Affair(s) || Les Choses qu'on dit, les choses qu'on fait || Maxime
|-
| Lambert Wilson || colspan="2"|De Gaulle || Charles de Gaulle
|-
! rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;" |2022<br />(47th)<br />
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Benoît Magimel||style="background:#eedd82;"|Peaceful||style="background:#eedd82;"|De son vivant||style="background:#eedd82;"|Benjamin Boltanski
|-
|Damien Bonnard || The Restless || Les intranquilles || Damien
|-
|Adam Driver || colspan=2|Annette || Henry McHenry
|-
|Gilles Lellouche || The Stronghold || BAC Nord || Greg Cerva
|-
|Vincent Macaigne || The Night Doctor || Médecin de nuit || Mickaël Kourtchine
|-
|Pio Marmaï || The Divide || La fracture || Yann Caron
|-
|Pierre Niney || Black Box || Boîte noire || Mathieu Vasseur
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |2023<br />(48th)<br />
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Benoît Magimel||style="background:#eedd82;"|Pacifiction||style="background:#eedd82;"|Pacifiction – Tourment sur les îles||style="background:#eedd82;"|De Roller
|-
| Jean Dujardin || November || Novembre || Fred
|-
| Louis Garrel || The Innocent || L'innocent || Abel
|-
| Vincent Macaigne || Diary of a Fleeting Affair || Chronique d'une liaison passagère || Simon
|-
| Denis Ménochet || colspan=2|Peter von Kant || Peter Von Kant
|-
! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" |2024<br />(49th)<br />
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Arieh Worthalter||style="background:#eedd82;"|The Goldman Case||style="background:#eedd82;"|Le procès Goldman||style="background:#eedd82;"|Pierre Goldman
|-
| Romain Duris || The Animal Kingdom || Le règne animal || François
|-
| Benjamin Lavernhe ||Abbé Pierre – A Century of Devotion|| L'abbé Pierre || Abbé Pierre
|-
| Melvil Poupaud || Just the Two of Us || L'amour et les forêts || Grégoire
|-
| Raphaël Quenard || colspan=2|Yannick || Yannick
|-
! rowspan="5" |2025<br />(50th)
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Karim Leklou
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Jim's Story
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Le Roman de Jim
| style="background:#eedd82;" |Aymeric
|-
|François Civil
|Beating Hearts
|L'Amour ouf
|Clotaire
|-
|Benjamin Lavernhe
|The Marching Band
|En Fanfare
|Thibaut Desormeaux
|-
|Pierre Niney
|The Count of Monte Cristo
|Le Comte de Monte-Cristo
|Edmond Dantès / Lord Halifax / Abbé Busoni
|-
|Tahar Rahim
| colspan="2" |Monsieur Aznavour
|Charles Aznavour
|-
! rowspan="5" |2026<br />(51st)
| style="background:#eedd82;" | Laurent Lafitte
| style="background:#eedd82;" | The Richest Woman in the World
| style="background:#eedd82;" | La femme la plus riche du monde
| style="background:#eedd82;" | Pierre-Alain Fantin
|-
| Bastien Bouillon
| Leave One Day
| Partir un jour
| Raphaël
|-
| Benjamin Voisin
| The Stranger
| L'Étranger
| Meursault
|-
| Claes Bang
| The Great Arch
| L'Inconnu de la Grande Arche
| Johan Otto von Spreckelsen
|-
| Pio Marmaï
| The Ties That Bind Us
| L'Attachement
| Alexandre "Alex" Perthuis
|}
History
Superlatives
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! style="width:270px;"|Superlative
! colspan="2" style="width:270px;"|Best Actor
! colspan="2" style="width:270px;"|Best Supporting Actor
! colspan="2" style="width:270px;"|Overall<br />(including Most Promising Actor)
|-
||Actor with most awards
|Michel Serrault
|3
|Niels Arestrup
|3
|Michel Serrault<br>Niels Arestrup<br>André Dussollier<br>Mathieu Amalric
|3
|-
|Actor with most nominations
|Gérard Depardieu
|17
|André Dussollier<br>Fabrice Luchini<br>Guy Marchand<br>Jean-Pierre Marielle
|5
|Gérard Depardieu
|17
|-
|Actor with most nominations<br />without ever winning
|Patrick Dewaere
|5
|Jean-Pierre Marielle
|5
|Jean-Pierre Marielle
|7
|-
|Film with most nominations
|Le Sucre<br>Tandem<br>Itinerary of a Spoiled Child<br>Le Souper<br>Les Visiteurs<br>The Intouchables
|2
|Subway<br>Polisse
|3
|Subway<br>La Haine<br>The Officers' Ward<br>A Prophet
|4
|-
|Oldest winner
|Jean-Louis Trintignant
|83
|Michael Lonsdale
|80
|Jean-Louis Trintignant
|83
|-
|Oldest nominee
|Michel Bouquet
|89
|Jacques Dufilho
|86
|Michel Bouquet
|89
|-
|Youngest winner
|Pierre Niney
|26
||Jacques Villeret
|28
|Pierre Niney
|26
|-
|Youngest nominee
|Vincent Lacoste
|22
||Thomas Langmann
|23
|Milo Machado-Graner
|15
|}
Multiple wins and nominations
The following individuals received two or more Best Actor awards:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! scope="col" width="55" | Wins
! scope="col" | Actor
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 3
| Michel Serrault
|-
| rowspan=6 style="text-align:center" | 2
| Mathieu Amalric
|-
| Daniel Auteuil
|-
| Michel Bouquet
|-
| Gérard Depardieu
|-
| Benoît Magimel
|-
| Philippe Noiret
|-
|}
The following individuals received three or more Best Actor nominations:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! scope="col" width="55" | Nominations
! scope="col" align="center" | Actor
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 17
| Gérard Depardieu
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 14
| Daniel Auteuil
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 7
| Michel Serrault
|-
| rowspan=4 style="text-align:center" | 6
| Jean-Pierre Bacri
|-
| François Cluzet
|-
| Vincent Lindon
|-
| Fabrice Luchini
|-
| rowspan=4 style="text-align:center" | 5
| Vincent Cassel
|-
| Patrick Dewaere
|-
| Romain Duris
|-
| Philippe Noiret
|-
| rowspan=8 style="text-align:center" | 4
| Charles Berling
|-
| Michel Blanc
|-
| Jean Dujardin
|-
| Albert Dupontel
|-
|Pierre Niney
|-
| Michel Piccoli
|-
| Jean Rochefort
|-
| Philippe Torreton
|-
| rowspan=9 style="text-align:center" | 3
| Mathieu Amalric
|-
| Michel Bouquet
|-
| Claude Brasseur
|-
| Alain Chabat
|-
| Alain Delon
|-
| Gérard Jugnot
|-
| Jean-Pierre Marielle
|-
| Jean-Louis Trintignant
|-
| Lambert Wilson
|-
|}
One actor has the record of most consecutive nominations with 4: Gerard Depardieu (1977, 1978, 1979, 1980/ 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986/ 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991)
See also
- Lumière Award for Best Actor
- Magritte Award for Best Actor
- European Film Award for Best Actor
- Academy Award for Best Actor
- BAFTA Award for Best Actor
References
External links
- César Award for Best Actor at AlloCiné