Best Actor 2025

Here is my top five in alphabetical order. These are the five I would nominate if I were an Academy of one.

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET, Marty Supreme

MICHAEL B. JORDAN, Sinners

DYLAN O'BRIEN, Twinless

VAHID MOBASSERI, Un Simple Accident (یک تصادف ساده) (It Was Just an Accident)

WAGNER MOURA, O Agente Secreto (The Secret Agent)

Also loved:

Will Arnett, Is This Thing On?

Daniel Day-Lewis, Anemone

Joel Edgerton, Train Dreams

Everett Blunck, Griffin in Summer

Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon

Motaz Malhees, The Voice of Hind Rajab (صوت هند رجب)

Paul Mescal, Hamnet

Josh O'Connor, Rebuilding

Brad Pitt, F1

Stellan Skarsgård, Affeksjonsverdi (Sentimental Value)

Channing Tatum, Roofman

Apologies to:

Mahmood Bakri (To a Land Unknown), Gael Garcia Bernal (Magellan), Frank Dillane (Urchin), Colin Farrell (Ballad of a Small Player), Shia LaBeouf (Henry Johnson), Lee Kang-sheng (Blue Sun Palace), Billy Magnussen (Violent Ends), João Pedro Mariano (Baby), Albrecht Schuch (Peacock), Toni Servillo (La Grazia), Denzel Washington (Highest 2 Lowest), Ben Whishaw (Peter Hujar's Day), and Yoshii Ryōsuke (Cloud), whose films I haven't seen yet.

Related:

My Best Actor Picks from previous years (2004-2024)

My Best Actress Picks for 2025

My Best Supporting Actress Picks for 2025

My Best Supporting Actor Picks for 2025

Best Actor 2024

Here is my top five in alphabetical order. These are the five I would nominate if I were an Academy of one.

ADRIEN BRODY, The Brutalist

RALPH FIENNES, Conclave

ANDREW GARFIELD, We Live in Time

RAPHAËL QUENARD, Yannick

MISSAGH ZAREH, The Seed of the Sacred Fig (دانه‌ی انجیر معابد)

Also loved:

Daniel Craig, Queer

Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain

Christian McGaffney, Simón

John Magaro, September 5

Cillian Murphy, Small Things like These

Apologies to:

Patricio Arellano (Since the Last Time We Met), Raúl Briones (La Cocina), Tommy Dewey (Your Monster), Peter Dinklage (The Thicket), Adam Driver (Megalopolis), Jharrel Jerome (Unstoppable), Keith Kupferer (Ghostlight), Gabriel LaBelle (Saturday Night), Jude Law (The Order), Atibon Nazaire (Mountains), Egill Ólafsson (Touch), Théodore Pellerin (Solo), Joaquin Phoenix (Joker: Folie à Deux), Aaron Pierre (Rebel Ridge), Marco Pigossi (High Tide), Tomasso Ragno (Vermiglio), and Vojtech Vodochodský (Waves), whose films I haven't seen yet.

Related:

My Best Actor Picks from previous years (2004-2023)

My Best Actress Picks for 2024

My Best Supporting Actress Picks for 2024

My Best Supporting Actor Picks for 2024

Best Actor 2023

Here is my top five in alphabetical order. These are the five I would nominate if I were an Academy of one.

ELIAS ANTON, Of an Age

BRADLEY COOPER, Maestro

CILLIAN MURPHY, Oppenheimer

ANDREW SCOTT, All of Us Strangers

YOO TEO, Past Lives

Also loved:

Deniz Celiloğlu, Kuru Otlar Üstüne (About Dry Grasses)

Zac Efron, The Iron Claw

Thom Green, Of an Age

Barry Keoghan, Saltburn

Ezra Miller, The Flash

Enzo Vogrincic, La Sociedad de la Nieve (Society of the Snow)

Yakusho Kōji, Perfect Days

Apologies to:

Casey Affleck (Dreamin' Wild), Gael García Bernal (Cassandro), Felipe Ramírez Espitia (A Male), Paul Kircher (Winter Boy), Paul Mescal (Foe), Mads Mikkelsen (The Promised Land), Jonathan Tucker (Palm Trees and Power Lines), Callum Turner (The Boys in the Boat), and Jeremy Allen White (Fremont), whose films I haven't seen yet.

Related:

My Best Actor Picks from previous years (2004-2022)

My Best Actress Picks for 2023

My Best Supporting Actress Picks for 2023

My Best Supporting Actor Picks for 2023

Best Actor 2022

Here is my top five in alphabetical order. These are the five I would nominate if I were an academy of one.

COLIN FARRELL, The Banshees of Inisherin

PAUL MESCAL, Aftersun

KE HUY QUAN, Everything Everywhere All at Once (天馬行空)

FRANZ ROGOWSKI, Große Freiheit (Great Freedom)

SONG KANG-HO, Broker (브로커)

Also loved:

Daniel Giménez Cacho, Bardo: Falsa Crónica de Unas Cuantas Verdades (Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths)

Diego Calva, Babylon

Tom Cruise, Top Gun: Maverick

Paul Dano, The Fabelmans

Bill Nighy, Living

Brad Pitt, Babylon

Apologies to:

Vincent Lindon (Another World), Caleb Landry-Jones (Nitram), Luis Felipe Lozano (Los Conductos), Jeremy Pope (The Inspection), Trevante Rhodes (Bruiser), and Benjamin Voisin (Lost Illusions), whose films I have not yet seen.

Related:

My Best Actor picks from past years (2004-2021)

My Best Actress picks from 2022

My Best Supporting Actress picks from 2022 

My Best Supporting Actor picks from 2022

Best Actor 2021

I used to list my favorite actors of the year in the order I would place them on my Academy ballot if I were allowed to vote. But I can't do that this year because one of my favorites is ineligible and two others are campaigning in the supporting actor category even though they are leads. So... here is my top five in alphabetical order. These are the five I would nominate if I were an academy of one.

JAMIE DORNAN, Belfast

VINCENT LINDON, Titane

YAHYA MAHAYNI, The Man Who Sold His Skin (الرجل الذي باع ظهره)

SIMON REX, Red Rocket

DENZEL WASHINGTON, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Also loved:
Daniels Andersen Lie, Verdens Verste Menneske (The Worst Person in the World)
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick... Boom!
Hidetoshi Nishijima, Drive My Car (ドライブ・マイ・カー)
Joaquin Phoenix, C'mon, C'mon
Tomasz Ziętek, Hiacynt (Operation Hyacinth)

Apologies to:
Riz Ahmed (Encounter), Clifton Collins, Jr. (Jockey), Matthew Fifer (Cicada), Michael Greyeyes (Wild Indian), Oscar Isaac (The Card Counter), Amir Jadidi (A Hero), Caleb Landry-Jones (Nitram), Lee Kang-Sheng (Days), and Tim Roth (Bergman Island), whose films I have not yet seen.

Related:
My Best Actor picks from past years (2004-2020)
My Best Actress picks from 2021
My Best Supporting Actress picks from 2021
My Best Supporting Actor picks from 2021

Best Actor 2020+

My top choices in the order I would place them on my Academy ballot if I were allowed to vote. In other words, this is my top five, but I acknowledge that this list is already influenced by awards buzz. They are not in order of my preference. Instead, the actors whom I think would theoretically benefit the most from my vote are at the top.

LEVAN GELBAKHIANI, And Then We Danced (და ჩვენ ვიცეკვეთ)

ROB MORGAN, Bull

LUCA MARINELLI, Martin Eden

DANIEL KALUUYA, Judas and the Black Messiah

RIZ AHMED, Sound of Metal

Also loved:
Ben Affleck, The Way Back
Bartosz Bielenia, Boże Ciało (Corpus Christi)
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Pierfrancesco Favino, Il Traditore (The Traitor)
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Hu Ge, The Wild Goose Lake (南方車站的聚會)
Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods
Mads Mikkelsen, Druk (Another Round)
Dev Patel, The Personal History of David Copperfield
LaKeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah
Toby Wallace, Babyteeth

Apologies to:
Pete Davidson (The King of Staten Island), Armando Espitia (I Carry You with Me), Jude Law (The Nest), Juan Carlos Maldonado (The Prince), Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine (Farewell Amor), Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian), and Christian Vazquez (I Carry You with Me), whose films I have not yet seen.

Related:
My Best Actor picks from past years (2004-2019)
My Best Actress picks from 2020+
My Best Supporting Actress picks from 2020+
My Best Supporting Actor picks from 2020+

Best Actor 2019

My top choices in the order I would place them on my Academy ballot if I were allowed to vote. In other words, this is my top five, but I acknowledge that this list is already influenced by awards buzz. They are not in order of my preference. Instead, the actors whom I think would theoretically benefit the most from my vote are at the top.

FRANZ ROGOWSKI, Transit

KELVIN HARRISON JR., Waves

SHIA LaBEOUF, Honey Boy

PAUL WALTER HAUSER, Richard Jewell

ADAM SANDLER, Uncut Gems

Also loved:
Roman Griffin Davis, Jojo Rabbit
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once upon a Time... in Hollywood
August Diehl, A Hidden Life
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
George MacKay, 1917
Jonathan Majors, The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Tom Mercier, Synonymes (Synonyms)
Eddie Murphy, Dolemite Is My Name
Robert Pattinson, The Lighthouse
Matthew Rhys, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Apologies to:
Pierre Deladonchamps (Plaire, Aimer et Courir Vite), Jesse Eisenberg (The Art of Self-defense), Michael B. Jordan (Just Mercy), Félix Maritaud (Sauvage), and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (A Million Little Pieces), whose films I have not yet seen.

Related:
My Best Actor picks from past years (2004-2018)
My Best Actress picks from 2019
My Best Supporting Actress picks from 2019
My Best Supporting Actor picks from 2019

Best Actor 2018

My top choices in the order I would place them on my Academy ballot if I were allowed to vote. In other words, this is my top five, but I acknowledge that this list is already influenced by awards buzz. They are not in order of my preference. Instead, the actors whom I think would theoretically benefit the most from my vote are at the top.

CHARLIE PLUMMER, Lean on Pete

TOMASZ KOT, Zimna Wojna (Cold War)

STEPHAN JAMES, If Beale Street Could Talk

JOAQUIN PHOENIX, You Were Never Really Here

BRADLEY COOPER, A Star Is Born

Also loved:
Zain Al Rafeea, Capernaum (کفرناحوم‎)
Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Sam Claflin, Journey's End
Joe Cole, A Prayer before Dawn
Ryan Gosling, First Man
Lucas Hedges, Boy Erased
Tim Kalkhof, Der Kuchenmacher (The Cakemaker) (האופה-מברלין)
Meinhard Neumann, Western
Victor Polster, Girl
Yoo Ah-in Burning (버닝)

Apologies to:
Sam Claflin (Adrift), Lorenzo Ferro (The Angel), Jake Gyllenhaal (Wildlife), McCaul Lombardi (Sollers Point), and Matthias Schoenaerts (Racer and the Jailbird), whose films I have not yet seen.

Related:
My Best Actor picks from past years (2004-2017)
My Best Actress picks from 2018
My Best Supporting Actress picks from 2018
My Best Supporting Actor picks from 2018

Best Actor 2017

My top choices in the order I would place them on my Academy ballot if I were allowed to vote. In other words, this is my top five, but I acknowledge that this list is already influenced by awards buzz. They are not in order of my preference. Instead, the actors whom I think would theoretically benefit the most from my vote are at the top.

HARRIS DICKINSON, Beach Rats

CLAES BANG, The Square

JEREMY RENNER, Wind River

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET, Call Me by Your Name

GARY OLDMAN, Darkest Hour

Also loved:

Märt Avandi, Miekkailija (The Fencer)
Christian Bale, Hostiles
Sam Claflin, Their Finest
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Jake Gyllenhaal, Stronger
Sukollawat Kanarot, Malila: the Farewell Flower (มะลิลา)
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, 120 Battements par Minute (Beats per Minute)
Aleksey Rozin, Loveless (Нелюбовь)
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Apologies to:

Lior Ashkenazi (Foxtrot) and Jamie Bell (Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool), whose films I have not yet seen.

Related:

My Best Actor picks from past years (2004-2016)
My Best Actress picks from 2017
My Best Supporting Actress picks from 2017
My Best Supporting Actor picks from 2017

Best Actor 2016

My top choices in the order I would place them on my Academy ballot if I were allowed to vote. In other words, this is my top five, but I acknowledge that this list is already influenced by awards buzz, and the actors who I think would theoretically benefit the most from my vote are at the top.

HA JUNG-WOO, The Handmaiden (아가씨)

 

VIGGO MORTENSEN, Captain Fantastic

ANDREW GARFIELD, Hacksaw Ridge

DENZEL WASHINGTON, Fences

CASEY AFFLECK, Manchester by the Sea

Also loved:
Cliff Curtis, The Dark Horse
Joel Edgerton, Loving
Colin Farrell, The Lobster
Ralph Fiennes, A Bigger Splash
Ben Foster, The Program
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nocturnal Animals
Shahab Hosseini, The Salesman (فروشنده)

Apologies to:
Gael García Bernal (Neruda), Dave Johns (I, Daniel Blake), and Shia LaBeouf (Man Down), whose films I have not yet seen but will see soon.

Related:
My Best Actor picks from past years (2004-2016)
My Best Actress picks from 2016 (TBA)
My Best Supporting Actress picks from 2016
My Best Supporting Actor picks from 2016