Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor

1990s

• 1995: Nicolas Cage – Leaving Las Vegas as Ben Sanderson †
• 1996: Geoffrey Rush – Shine as David Helfgott †
• 1997: Jack Nicholson – As Good as It Gets as Melvin Udall †
• 1998: Roberto Benigni – Life is Beautiful as Guido Orefice †
• 1999: Kevin Spacey – American Beauty as Lester Burnham †

2000s

2000: Russell Crowe – Gladiator as Maximus Decimus Meridius †

2001: Denzel Washington – Training Day as Alonzo Harris †

• Sean Penn – I Am Sam as Sam Dawson ‡
• Will Smith – Ali as Muhammad Ali ‡
• Russell Crowe – A Beautiful Mind as John Nash ‡

2002: Adrien Brody – The Pianist as Władysław Szpilman †

• Daniel Day-Lewis – Gangs of New York as William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting ‡
• Jack Nicholson – About Schmidt as Warren Schmidt ‡ (TIE)
  
• Robin Williams – One Hour Photo as Seymour "Sy" Parrish

2003: Sean Penn – Mystic River as Jimmy Markum †

• Russell Crowe – Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World as Captain Jack Aubrey
• Johnny Depp – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl as Captain Jack Sparrow ‡
• Ben Kingsley – House of Sand and Fog as Amir Behrani ‡
• Bill Murray – Lost in Translation as Bob Harris ‡

2004: Jamie Foxx – Ray as Ray Charles †

• Javier Bardem – The Sea Inside as Ramón Sampedro
• Don Cheadle – Hotel Rwanda as Paul Rusesabagina ‡
• Johnny Depp – Finding Neverland as J. M. Barrie ‡
• Leonardo DiCaprio – The Aviator as Howard Hughes ‡
• Paul Giamatti – Sideways as Miles Raymond

2005: Philip Seymour Hoffman – Capote as Truman Capote †

• Russell Crowe – Cinderella Man as James J. Braddock
• Terrence Howard – Hustle & Flow as DJay ‡
• Heath Ledger – Brokeback Mountain as Ennis Del Mar ‡
• Joaquin Phoenix – Walk the Line as Johnny Cash ‡
• David Strathairn – Good Night, and Good Luck. as Edward R. Murrow ‡

2006: Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland as Idi Amin †

• Leonardo DiCaprio – Blood Diamond as Danny Archer ‡
• Leonardo DiCaprio – The Departed as William "Billy" Costigan, Jr.
• Ryan Gosling – Half Nelson as Dan Dunne ‡
• Peter O'Toole – Venus as Maurice Russell ‡
• Will Smith – The Pursuit of Happyness as Chris Gardner ‡

2007: Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood as Daniel Plainview †

• George Clooney – Michael Clayton as Michael Clayton ‡
• Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as Benjamin Barker / Sweeney Todd ‡
• Ryan Gosling – Lars and the Real Girl as Lars Lindstrom
• Emile Hirsch – Into the Wild as Christopher McCandless
• Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises as Nikolai Luzhin ‡

2008: Sean Penn – Milk as Harvey Milk †

• Clint Eastwood – Gran Torino as Walt Kowalski
• Richard Jenkins – The Visitor as Walter Vale ‡
• Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon as Richard Nixon ‡
• Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as Benjamin Button ‡
• Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler as Randy "The Ram" Robinson ‡

2009: Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart as Otis "Bad" Blake †

• George Clooney – Up in the Air as Ryan Bingham ‡
• Colin Firth – A Single Man as George Falconer ‡
• Morgan Freeman – Invictus as Nelson Mandela ‡
• Viggo Mortensen – The Road as Man
• Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker as Sergeant First Class William James ‡

2010s

2010: Colin Firth – The King's Speech as King George VI †

• Jeff Bridges – True Grit as Rooster Cogburn ‡
• Robert Duvall – Get Low as Felix Bush
• Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network as Mark Zuckerberg ‡
• James Franco – 127 Hours as Aron Ralston ‡
• Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine as Dean Pereira

2011: George Clooney – The Descendants as Matt King ‡

• Leonardo DiCaprio – J. Edgar as J. Edgar Hoover
• Jean Dujardin – The Artist as George Valentin †
• Michael Fassbender – Shame as Brandon Sullivan
• Ryan Gosling – Drive as Driver
• Brad Pitt – Moneyball as Billy Beane ‡

2012: Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln as Abraham Lincoln †

• Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook as Patrizio "Pat" Solitano, Jr. ‡
• John Hawkes – The Sessions as Mark O'Brien
• Hugh Jackman – Les Misérables as Jean Valjean ‡
• Joaquin Phoenix – The Master as Freddie Quell ‡
• Denzel Washington – Flight as William "Whip" Whitaker, Sr. ‡

2013: Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club as Ron Woodroof †

• Christian Bale – American Hustle as Irving Rosenfeld ‡
• Bruce Dern – Nebraska as Woody Grant ‡
• Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave as Solomon Northup ‡
• Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips as Captain Richard Phillips
• Robert Redford – All Is Lost as Our Man

2014: Michael Keaton – Birdman as Riggan Thomson ‡

• Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game as Alan Turing ‡
• Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel as Monsieur Gustave H.
• Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler as Lou Bloom
• David Oyelowo – Selma as Martin Luther King Jr.
• Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything as Stephen Hawking †

2015: Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant as Hugh Glass †

• Bryan Cranston – Trumbo as Dalton Trumbo ‡
• Matt Damon – The Martian as Mark Watney ‡
• Johnny Depp – Black Mass as Whitey Bulger
• Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs as Steve Jobs ‡
• Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl as Lili Elbe / Einar Wegener ‡

2016: Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea as Lee Chandler †

• Joel Edgerton – Loving as Richard Loving
• Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge as Desmond T. Doss ‡
• Ryan Gosling – La La Land as Sebastian Wilder ‡
• Tom Hanks – Sully as Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger
• Denzel Washington – Fences as Troy Maxson ‡

2017: Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour as Winston Churchill †

• Timothée Chalamet – Call Me by Your Name as Elio Perlman ‡
• Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread as Reynolds Woodcock ‡
• James Franco – The Disaster Artist as Tommy Wiseau
• Jake Gyllenhaal – Stronger as Jeff Bauman
• Tom Hanks – The Post as Ben Bradlee
• Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out as Chris Washington ‡