Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor

The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor is an award given out at the annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. The awards are presented by the Critics Choice Association (CCA) and was first presented in 1995. There were no official nominees announced until 2001. Actors Russell Crowe and Daniel Day-Lewis hold the record for most wins in this category with three victories each, followed by Jack Nicholson and Sean Penn with two wins each.

Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor
The 2023 recipient: Paul Giamatti
Awarded for	Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Movie
Location	Los Angeles, California
Presented by	Critics Choice Association
Currently held by	Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers (2023)
Website	www.criticschoice.com

This is the main Critics' Choice Movie Award category for leading performances by a male actor. Previously, two other genre-specific categories were presented: Best Actor in a Comedy (2012–2019) and Best Actor in an Action Movie (2012–2016). Currently, another subsidiary, the Critics' Choice Super Awards, presents awards to actors for genre-specific roles (horror, science fiction/fantasy, action, and superhero). For Critics' Choice Awards for lead performances by male actors in television, see Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy, Drama or Limited Series or Movie Made for Television.

Winners and nominees

Kevin Bacon was the first recipient of this award in 1995

Russell Crowe won thrice consecutively for The Insider (1999), Gladiator (2000), and A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Daniel Day-Lewis won thrice for Gangs of New York (2002), There Will Be Blood (2007), and Lincoln (2012)

Sean Penn won twice for Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008)

Philip Seymour Hoffman won for Capote (2005)

Forest Whitaker won for The Last King of Scotland (2006)

Colin Firth won for The King's Speech (2010)

George Clooney won for The Descendants (2011)

Matthew McConaughey won for Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Michael Keaton won for Birdman (2014)

Leonardo DiCaprio won for The Revenant (2015)

Gary Oldman won for Darkest Hour (2017)

Christian Bale won for Vice (2018)

Joaquin Phoenix won for Joker (2019)

Chadwick Boseman won for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)

Brendan Fraser won for The Whale (2022)

Paul Giamatti won for The Holdovers (2023)

1990s

Year	Actor	Character	Film
1995	Kevin Bacon	Henri Young	Murder in the First
1996	Geoffrey Rush	David Helfgott	Shine
1997	Jack Nicholson	Melvin Udall	As Good as It Gets
1998	Ian McKellen	James Whale	Gods and Monsters
1999	Russell Crowe	Jeffrey Wigand	The Insider

2000s

Year	Actor	Character	Film
2000	Russell Crowe	Maximus Decimus Meridius	Gladiator
2001	Russell Crowe	John Nash	A Beautiful Mind
	Sean Penn	Sam Dawson	I Am Sam
	Will Smith	Muhammad Ali	Ali
2002	Daniel Day-Lewis (TIE)	William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting	Gangs of New York
	Jack Nicholson (TIE)	Warren Schmidt	About Schmidt
	Robin Williams	Seymour "Sy" Parrish	One Hour Photo
2003	Sean Penn	Jimmy Markum	Mystic River
	Russell Crowe	Captain Jack Aubrey	Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
	Johnny Depp	Captain Jack Sparrow	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
	Ben Kingsley	Colonel Massoud Amir Behrani	House of Sand and Fog
	Bill Murray	Bob Harris	Lost in Translation
2004	Jamie Foxx	Ray Charles	Ray
	Javier Bardem	Ramón Sampedro	The Sea Inside
	Don Cheadle	Paul Rusesabagina	Hotel Rwanda
	Johnny Depp	J. M. Barrie	Finding Neverland
	Leonardo DiCaprio	Howard Hughes	The Aviator
	Paul Giamatti	Miles Raymond	Sideways
2005	Philip Seymour Hoffman	Truman Capote	Capote
	Russell Crowe	James J. Braddock	Cinderella Man
	Terrence Howard	DJay	Hustle & Flow
	Heath Ledger	Ennis Del Mar	Brokeback Mountain
	Joaquin Phoenix	Johnny Cash	Walk the Line
	David Strathairn	Edward R. Murrow	Good Night, and Good Luck
2006	Forest Whitaker	Idi Amin	The Last King of Scotland
	Leonardo DiCaprio	Danny Archer	Blood Diamond
	Leonardo DiCaprio	William "Billy" Costigan, Jr.	The Departed
	Ryan Gosling	Dan Dunne	Half Nelson
	Peter O'Toole	Maurice Russell	Venus
	Will Smith	Chris Gardner	The Pursuit of Happyness
2007	Daniel Day-Lewis	Daniel Plainview	There Will Be Blood
	George Clooney	Michael Clayton	Michael Clayton
	Johnny Depp	Benjamin Barker / Sweeney Todd	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
	Ryan Gosling	Lars Lindstrom	Lars and the Real Girl
	Emile Hirsch	Chris McCandless	Into the Wild
	Viggo Mortensen	Nikolai Luzhin	Eastern Promises
2008	Sean Penn	Harvey Milk	Milk
	Clint Eastwood	Walt Kowalski	Gran Torino
	Richard Jenkins	Walter Vale	The Visitor
	Frank Langella	Richard Nixon	Frost/Nixon
	Brad Pitt	Benjamin Button	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
	Mickey Rourke	Randy "The Ram" Robinson	The Wrestler
2009 [1][2]	Jeff Bridges	Otis "Bad" Blake	Crazy Heart
	George Clooney	Ryan Bingham	Up in the Air
	Colin Firth	George Falconer	A Single Man
	Morgan Freeman	Nelson Mandela	Invictus
	Viggo Mortensen	Man	The Road
	Jeremy Renner	Sergeant First Class William James	The Hurt Locker

2010s

Year	Actor	Character	Film
2010 [3][4]	Colin Firth	King George VI	The King's Speech
	Jeff Bridges	Rooster Cogburn	True Grit
	Robert Duvall	Felix Bush	Get Low
	Jesse Eisenberg	Mark Zuckerberg	The Social Network
	James Franco	Aron Ralston	127 Hours
	Ryan Gosling	Dean Pereira	Blue Valentine
2011 [5][6]	George Clooney	Matt King	The Descendants
	Leonardo DiCaprio	J. Edgar Hoover	J. Edgar
	Jean Dujardin	George Valentin	The Artist
	Michael Fassbender	Brandon Sullivan	Shame
	Ryan Gosling	Driver	Drive
	Brad Pitt	Billy Beane	Moneyball
2012 [7][8]	Daniel Day-Lewis	Abraham Lincoln	Lincoln
	Bradley Cooper	Patrizio "Pat" Solitano, Jr.	Silver Linings Playbook
	John Hawkes	Mark O'Brien	The Sessions
	Hugh Jackman	Jean Valjean	Les Misérables
	Joaquin Phoenix	Freddie Quell	The Master
	Denzel Washington	William "Whip" Whitaker, Sr.	Flight
2013 [9][10]	Matthew McConaughey	Ron Woodroof	Dallas Buyers Club
	Christian Bale	Irving Rosenfeld	American Hustle
	Bruce Dern	Woody Grant	Nebraska
	Chiwetel Ejiofor	Solomon Northup	12 Years a Slave
	Tom Hanks	Captain Richard Phillips	Captain Phillips
	Robert Redford	Our Man	All Is Lost
2014 [11][12]	Michael Keaton	Riggan Thomson	Birdman
	Benedict Cumberbatch	Alan Turing	The Imitation Game
	Ralph Fiennes	Monsieur Gustave H.	The Grand Budapest Hotel
	Jake Gyllenhaal	Louis "Lou" Bloom	Nightcrawler
	David Oyelowo	Martin Luther King Jr.	Selma
	Eddie Redmayne	Stephen Hawking	The Theory of Everything
2015 [13][14]	Leonardo DiCaprio	Hugh Glass	The Revenant
	Bryan Cranston	Dalton Trumbo	Trumbo
	Matt Damon	Mark Watney	The Martian
	Johnny Depp	Whitey Bulger	Black Mass
	Michael Fassbender	Steve Jobs	Steve Jobs
	Eddie Redmayne	Lili Elbe / Einar Wegener	The Danish Girl
2016 [15][16]	Casey Affleck	Lee Chandler	Manchester by the Sea
	Joel Edgerton	Richard Loving	Loving
	Andrew Garfield	Desmond T. Doss	Hacksaw Ridge
	Ryan Gosling	Sebastian Wilder	La La Land
	Tom Hanks	Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger	Sully
	Denzel Washington	Troy Maxson	Fences
2017 [17][18]	Gary Oldman	Winston Churchill	Darkest Hour
	Timothée Chalamet	Elio Perlman	Call Me by Your Name
	Daniel Day-Lewis	Reynolds Woodcock	Phantom Thread
	James Franco	Tommy Wiseau	The Disaster Artist
	Jake Gyllenhaal	Jeff Bauman	Stronger
	Tom Hanks	Ben Bradlee	The Post
	Daniel Kaluuya	Chris Washington	Get Out
2018 [19][20]	Christian Bale	Dick Cheney	Vice
	Bradley Cooper	Jackson Maine	A Star Is Born
	Willem Dafoe	Vincent van Gogh	At Eternity's Gate
	Ryan Gosling	Neil Armstrong	First Man
	Ethan Hawke	Reverend Ernst Toller	First Reformed
	Rami Malek	Freddie Mercury	Bohemian Rhapsody
	Viggo Mortensen	Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga	Green Book
2019 [21][22]	Joaquin Phoenix	Arthur Fleck / Joker	Joker
	Antonio Banderas	Salvador Mallo	Pain and Glory
	Robert De Niro	Frank Sheeran	The Irishman
	Leonardo DiCaprio	Rick Dalton	Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
	Adam Driver	Charlie Barber	Marriage Story
	Eddie Murphy	Rudy Ray Moore	Dolemite Is My Name
	Adam Sandler	Howard Ratner	Uncut Gems

2020s

Year	Actor	Character	Film
2020 [23][24]	Chadwick Boseman (posthumous)	Levee Green	Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
	Ben Affleck	Jack Cunningham	The Way Back
	Riz Ahmed	Ruben Stone	Sound of Metal
	Tom Hanks	Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd	News of the World
	Anthony Hopkins	Anthony	The Father
	Delroy Lindo	Paul	Da 5 Bloods
	Gary Oldman	Herman J. Mankiewicz	Mank
	Steven Yeun	Jacob Yi	Minari
2021 [25][26]	Will Smith	Richard Williams	King Richard
	Nicolas Cage	Robin Feld	Pig
	Benedict Cumberbatch	Phil Burbank	The Power of the Dog
	Peter Dinklage	Cyrano de Bergerac	Cyrano
	Andrew Garfield	Jonathan Larson	tick, tick... BOOM!
	Denzel Washington	Lord Macbeth	The Tragedy of Macbeth
2022 [27][28]	Brendan Fraser	Charlie	The Whale
	Austin Butler	Elvis Presley	Elvis
	Tom Cruise	Pete "Maverick" Mitchell	Top Gun: Maverick
	Colin Farrell	Pádraic Súilleabháin	The Banshees of Inisherin
	Paul Mescal	Calum	Aftersun
	Bill Nighy	Mr. Williams	Living
2023	Paul Giamatti	Paul Hunham	The Holdovers
	Bradley Cooper	Leonard Bernstein	Maestro
	Leonardo DiCaprio	Ernest Burkhart	Killers of the Flower Moon
	Colman Domingo	Bayard Rustin	Rustin
	Cillian Murphy	J. Robert Oppenheimer	Oppenheimer
	Jeffrey Wright	Thelonious "Monk" Ellison	American Fiction

Multiple nominees

7 nominations Leonardo DiCaprio 6 nominations Ryan Gosling 5 nominations Russell Crowe 4 nominations Daniel Day-Lewis Johnny Depp Tom Hanks 3 nominations George Clooney Bradley Cooper Viggo Mortensen Sean Penn Joaquin Phoenix Will Smith Denzel Washington

2 nominations Christian Bale Jeff Bridges Benedict Cumberbatch Michael Fassbender Colin Firth James Franco Andrew Garfield Paul Giamatti Jake Gyllenhaal Jack Nicholson Gary Oldman Brad Pitt Eddie Redmayne

Multiple winners

3 wins

• Daniel Day-Lewis
• Russell Crowe (consecutive)

2 wins

• Jack Nicholson
• Sean Penn

See also

• Academy Award for Best Actor
• Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead
• BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
• Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

References

1. Kilday, Gregg (December 14, 2009). "'Basterds,' 'Nine' lead Critics' Choice noms". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
2. Finke, Nikki (January 16, 2010). "Broadcast Film Critics Award 'Hurt Locker'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
3. The Deadline Team (December 13, 2010). "Broadcast Film Critics Favor 'Black Swan,' 'True Grit,' 'The King's Speech,' 'Inception' And 'The Social Network'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
4. The Deadline Team (January 14, 2011). "Critics' Choice Awards Spread The Gold: 'Social Network', Fincher, Firth, Portman". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
5. Hammond, Pete (December 13, 2011). "'Hugo' & 'The Artist' Lead Critics Choice Movie Award Nominations With 11 Each". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
6. The Deadline Team (January 12, 2012). "'The Artist' Best Pic, George Clooney, Viola Davis Top Actors At Critics Choice Awards". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
7. Hammond, Pete (December 11, 2012). "'Lincoln', 'Les Miserables', 'Silver Linings' Top List Of Nominees For 18th Annual Critics Choice Movie Awards". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
8. The Deadline Team (January 10, 2013). "Critics' Choice Movie Awards: 'Argo' Best Picture, Director; Daniel Day-Lewis, Jessica Chastain Take Acting Honors". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
9. Hammond, Pete (December 16, 2013). "'American Hustle', '12 Years A Slave' Lead BFCA's Critics Choice Movie Awards Nominations". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
10. The Deadline Team (January 16, 2014). "Critics' Choice Movie Awards: '12 Years A Slave' Named Best Picture; 'Gravity' Leads Field With 7 Wins". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
11. Hammond, Pete (December 15, 2014). "'Birdman', 'Budapest' And 'Boyhood' Get Key Oscar Boost To Lead Critics' Choice Movie Award Nominations; Jolie Rebounds From Globe Snub". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
12. Pedersen, Erik (January 15, 2015). "Critics' Choice Awards: 'Boyhood' Wins Best Picture; 'Birdman' Leads With 7 Nods". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
13. Hipes, Patrick (December 14, 2015). "Critics' Choice Awards Nominations: 'Mad Max' Leads Film; ABC, HBO, FX Networks & 'Fargo' Top TV". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
14. Hipes, Patrick (January 17, 2016). "Critics' Choice Awards: 'Spotlight' Wins Best Picture; 'Mr. Robot' Best Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
15. Hammond, Pete (December 1, 2016). "'La La Land' Grabs Massive 12 Nominations To Lead All Movies In Critics' Choice Awards". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
16. Lincoln, Ross A.; Grobar, Matt (December 11, 2016). "2016 Critics' Choice Awards: 'La La Land' Leads With 8 Wins Including Best Picture; Donald Glover Unveils Lando Calrissian 'Stache". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
17. Hammond, Pete (December 6, 2017). "Critics' Choice Awards Nominations: 'The Shape Of Water' Leads With 14 Nods; Netflix Tops TV Contenders". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
18. Hayes, Dade; Hipes, Patrick (January 11, 2018). "Critics' Choice Awards: 'The Shape Of Water' Wins Best Picture, 'Big Little Lies' Dominates – Full Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
19. Hammond, Pete (December 10, 2018). "Critics' Choice Awards Nominations: 'The Favourite' Tops With 14, 'Black Panther' A Marvel, 'First Man' Rebounds; 'The Americans' Leads TV Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
20. de Moraes, Lisa; Blyth, Antonia; Hipes, Patrick (January 13, 2019). "Critics' Choice Awards: 'Roma' Wins Best Picture To Lead Night; 'The Americans' & 'Mrs. Maisel' Top TV – The Complete Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
21. Hammond, Pete (December 8, 2019). "'The Irishman', 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' Lead Critics' Choice Nominations; Netflix Dominates With 61 Noms In Movies And TV". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
22. Ramos, Dino-Ray; Boucher, Geoff (January 12, 2020). "Critics' Choice Awards: 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' Wins Best Picture, Netflix And HBO Among Top Honorees – Full Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
23. Hammond, Pete (February 8, 2021). "'Mank', 'Minari' Lead Critics Choice Awards Film Nominations; Netflix Tops Studios; Chadwick Boseman Receives 4". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
24. Ramos, Dino-Ray (March 7, 2021). "Critics Choice Awards: 'Nomadland', 'The Crown' Among Top Honorees – Complete Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
25. Hammond, Pete (December 13, 2021). "Critics Choice Awards Film Nominations Led By 'Belfast' And 'West Side Story'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
26. Jackson, Angelique; Shanfeld, Ethan (March 13, 2022). "Critics Choice Awards 2022: 'The Power of the Dog,' 'Ted Lasso,' 'Succession' Win Big (Full Winners List)". Variety. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
27. Davis, Clayton (December 14, 2022). "Critics Choice Nominations: 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' Leads With 14, Followed by 'The Fabelmans' and 'Babylon'". Variety. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
28. Panaligan, EJ; Earl, William (January 15, 2023). "Critics' Choice Awards 2023 Full Winners List: 'Everything Everywhere All at Once,' 'Abbott Elementary' and 'Better Call Saul' Take Top Honors". Variety. Retrieved January 16, 2023.

External links

• Official website