Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series

The Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series is one of the award categories presented annually by the Critics' Choice Television Awards (BTJA) to recognize the work done by television actors. It was introduced in 2011 when the event was first initiated. The winners are selected by a group of television critics that are part of the Broadcast Television Critics Association. Bob Odenkirk holds the record for most wins in the category with three.

Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series
The 2025 recipient: Hiroyuki Sanada
Country	United States
Presented by	Critics Choice Association
First award	2011
Currently held by	Hiroyuki Sanada – Shōgun (2025)
Website	criticschoice.com

Winners and nominees

  indicates the winner

2010s

Year	Actor	Series	Character	Network
2011 [1]	Jon Hamm	Mad Men	Don Draper	AMC
	Steve Buscemi	Boardwalk Empire	Nucky Thompson	HBO
	Kyle Chandler	Friday Night Lights	Eric Taylor	DirecTV NBC
	Michael C. Hall	Dexter	Dexter Morgan	Showtime
	William H. Macy	Shameless	Frank Gallagher
	Timothy Olyphant	Justified	Raylan Givens	FX
2012 [2]	Bryan Cranston	Breaking Bad	Walter White	AMC
	Kelsey Grammer	Boss	Tom Kane	Starz
	Jon Hamm	Mad Men	Don Draper	AMC
	Charlie Hunnam	Sons of Anarchy	Jax Teller	FX
	Damian Lewis	Homeland	Nicholas Brody	Showtime
	Timothy Olyphant	Justified	Raylan Givens	FX
2013 [3]	Bryan Cranston	Breaking Bad	Walter White	AMC
	Damian Lewis	Homeland	Nicholas Brody	Showtime
	Andrew Lincoln	The Walking Dead	Rick Grimes	AMC
	Timothy Olyphant	Justified	Raylan Givens	FX
	Matthew Rhys	The Americans	Philip Jennings
	Kevin Spacey	House of Cards	Frank Underwood	Netflix
2014 [4]	Matthew McConaughey	True Detective	Rust Cohle	HBO
	Bryan Cranston	Breaking Bad	Walter White	AMC
	Hugh Dancy	Hannibal	Will Graham	NBC
	Freddie Highmore	Bates Motel	Norman Bates	A&E
	Matthew Rhys	The Americans	Philip Jennings	FX
	Michael Sheen	Masters of Sex	William Masters	Showtime
2015 [5]	Bob Odenkirk	Better Call Saul	Jimmy McGill	AMC
	Freddie Highmore	Bates Motel	Norman Bates	A&E
	Charlie Hunnam	Sons of Anarchy	Jax Teller	FX
	Timothy Olyphant	Justified	Raylan Givens
	Matthew Rhys	The Americans	Philip Jennings
	Aden Young	Rectify	Daniel Holden	Sundance TV
2016 (1) [6]	Rami Malek	Mr. Robot	Elliot Alderson	USA Network
	Hugh Dancy	Hannibal	Will Graham	NBC
	Clive Owen	The Knick	Dr. John "Thack" Thackery	Cinemax
	Liev Schreiber	Ray Donovan	Ray Donovan	Showtime
	Justin Theroux	The Leftovers	Kevin Garvey, Jr.	HBO
	Aden Young	Rectify	Daniel Holden	Sundance TV
2016 (2) [7]	Bob Odenkirk	Better Call Saul	Jimmy McGill	AMC
	Sam Heughan	Outlander	Jamie Fraser	Starz
	Rami Malek	Mr. Robot	Elliot Alderson	USA Network
	Matthew Rhys	The Americans	Philip Jennings	FX
	Liev Schreiber	Ray Donovan	Ray Donovan	Showtime
	Kevin Spacey	House of Cards	Frank Underwood	Netflix
2018 [8]	Sterling K. Brown	This Is Us	Randall Pearson	NBC
	Paul Giamatti	Billions	Charles "Chuck" Rhoades Jr.	Showtime
	Freddie Highmore	Bates Motel	Norman Bates	A&E
	Ian McShane	American Gods	Mr. Wednesday	Starz
	Bob Odenkirk	Better Call Saul	Jimmy McGill	AMC
	Liev Schreiber	Ray Donovan	Ray Donovan	Showtime
2019 [9]	Matthew Rhys	The Americans	Philip Jennings	FX
	Freddie Highmore	The Good Doctor	Dr. Shaun Murphy	ABC
	Diego Luna	Narcos: Mexico	Félix Gallardo	Netflix
	Richard Madden	Bodyguard	Sergeant David Budd
	Bob Odenkirk	Better Call Saul	Jimmy McGill	AMC
	Billy Porter	Pose	Pray Tell	FX
	Milo Ventimiglia	This Is Us	Jack Pearson	NBC

2020s

Year	Actor	Series	Character	Network
2020 [10]	Jeremy Strong	Succession	Kendall Roy	HBO
	Sterling K. Brown	This Is Us	Randall Pearson	NBC
	Mike Colter	Evil	David Acosta	CBS
	Paul Giamatti	Billions	Charles "Chuck" Rhoades Jr.	Showtime
	Kit Harington	Game of Thrones	Jon Snow	HBO
	Freddie Highmore	The Good Doctor	Dr. Shaun Murphy	ABC
	Tobias Menzies	The Crown	Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh	Netflix
	Billy Porter	Pose	Pray Tell	FX
2021 [11]	Josh O'Connor	The Crown	Charles, Prince of Wales	Netflix
	Jason Bateman	Ozark	Marty Byrde	Netflix
	Sterling K. Brown	This Is Us	Randall Pearson	NBC
	Jonathan Majors	Lovecraft Country	Atticus "Tic" Freeman	HBO
	Bob Odenkirk	Better Call Saul	Saul Goodman	AMC
	Matthew Rhys	Perry Mason	Perry Mason	HBO
2022 [12]	Lee Jung-jae	Squid Game	Seong Gi-hun	Netflix
	Sterling K. Brown	This Is Us	Randall Pearson	NBC
	Mike Colter	Evil	David Acosta	Paramount+
	Brian Cox	Succession	Logan Roy	HBO
	Billy Porter	Pose	Pray Tell	FX
	Jeremy Strong	Succession	Kendall Roy	HBO
2023 [13]	Bob Odenkirk	Better Call Saul	Saul Goodman	AMC
	Jeff Bridges	The Old Man	Dan Chase	FX
	Sterling K. Brown	This Is Us	Randall Pearson	NBC
	Diego Luna	Andor	Cassian Andor	Disney+
	Adam Scott	Severance	Mark S.	Apple TV+
	Antony Starr	The Boys	Homelander	Amazon Prime Video
2024 [14]	Kieran Culkin	Succession	Roman Roy	HBO
	Tom Hiddleston	Loki	Loki	Disney+
	Timothy Olyphant	Justified: City Primeval	Raylan Givens	FX
	Pedro Pascal	The Last of Us	Joel Miller	HBO
	Ramón Rodríguez	Will Trent	Will Trent	ABC
	Jeremy Strong	Succession	Kendall Roy	HBO
2025 [15]	Hiroyuki Sanada	Shōgun	Yoshii Toranaga	FX / Hulu
	Jeff Bridges	The Old Man	Dan Chase	FX
	Ncuti Gatwa	Doctor Who	Fifteenth Doctor	Disney+
	Eddie Redmayne	The Day of the Jackal	Alexander Duggan / The Jackal	Peacock
	Rufus Sewell	The Diplomat	Hal Wyler	Netflix
	Antony Starr	The Boys	Homelander / John	Amazon Prime Video

Multiple wins

3 wins

• Bob Odenkirk

2 wins

• Bryan Cranston

Multiple nominations

6 nominations

• Bob Odenkirk
• Matthew Rhys

5 nominations

• Sterling K. Brown
• Freddie Highmore
• Timothy Olyphant

3 nominations

• Bryan Cranston
• Billy Porter
• Liev Schreiber
• Jeremy Strong

2 nominations

• Jeff Bridges
• Mike Colter
• Hugh Dancy
• Paul Giamatti
• Jon Hamm
• Charlie Hunnam
• Damian Lewis
• Diego Luna
• Rami Malek
• Kevin Spacey
• Antony Starr
• Aden Young

See also

• TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
• Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series