BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role


Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.

Superlatives

Note: Dustin Hoffman's total of eight nominations, includes his 1968 Most Promising Newcomer nomination for The Graduate.

Winners and nominees

From 1952 to 1967, there were two Best Actor awards: one for a British actor and another for a foreign actor. In 1968, the two prizes of British and Foreign actor were combined to create a single Best Actor award. Its current title, for Best Actor in a Leading Role, has been used since 1995.
won three times from seven nominations for his roles in 1952's Viva Zapata!, 1953's Julius Caesar and 1954's On the Waterfront|alt=Black and white photo of Marlon Brando in the film, A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948
has won five awards from seven nominations for his roles in A Town Like Alice, The Trials of Oscar Wilde, No Love for Johnnie, Sunday Bloody Sunday and Network |alt=Peter Finch 2.jpg
won in 1958 for his performance in The Defiant Ones, thus becoming the first black actor to win in this category|alt=Black and white photo of Sidney Poitier in 1963
won three times for his roles in Some Like It Hot, The Apartment and The China Syndrome |alt=Jack Lemmon - 1968.jpg
won for his performances in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |alt=Photo of Richard Burton in The Robe, 1953
won twice from seven nominations for his performances in Midnight Cowboy and John and Mary, and Tootsie |alt=Photo of Dustin Hoffman attending the French premiere of his film, Quartet in 2013
won for his performances in The French Connection and The Poseidon Adventure |alt=GeneHackmanJun08.jpg
won twice for his performances in 1974's The Last Detail and Chinatown, and 1976's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest|alt=Photo of Jack Nicholson attending the Cannes Film Festival in 2002
won once from four nominations for his performances in 1975's The Godfather Part II and Dog Day Afternoon|alt=Photo of Al Pacino attending the Venice Film Festival in 2004
won for his role in The Goodbye Girl |alt=Richard Dreyfuss Cannes 2013.jpg
won for his portrayal of the title role in Gandhi |alt= Photo of Ben Kingsley at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival
won for his performance in Educating Rita |alt=Michael Caine - Viennale 2012 g.jpg
won for his performance in Kiss of the Spider Woman |alt=William Hurt crop.jpg
is the first actor to win this award four times, in 1989, 2002, 2007, and 2012, for his performances in My Left Foot, Gangs of New York, There Will Be Blood and Lincoln, respectively
won twice from four nominations for his role in 1991's The Silence of the Lambs and 1993's The Remains of the Day|alt=Photo of Sir Anthony Hopkins at the 2009 Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona, Italy
won for his performances as Charlie Chaplin in 1992's Chaplin|alt=Robert Downey Jr 2014 Comic Con.jpg
won for his performance in Four Weddings and a Funeral |alt=Hugh Grant 2014.jpg
won for his performance in Shine |alt=GeoffreyRushTIFFSept2011.jpg
won in 1998 for Life Is Beautiful|alt=Photo of Roberto Benigni in 2006
won for his performance in American Beauty |alt=Kevin Spacey @ San Diego Comic-Con 2008 - b.jpg
became the youngest actor to win in this category for his performance in Billy Elliot |alt=Jamie Bell by Gage Skidmore.jpg
won once from three consecutive nominations for playing John Forbes Nash Jr. in A Beautiful Mind |alt=Photo of Crowe at the London film premiere for State of Play, 21 April 2009
won for his role in Lost in Translation |alt=Bill Murray by Gage Skidmore.jpg
won for his performance as Ray Charles in 2004's Ray|alt=Jamie Foxx by Gage Skidmore.jpg
won for Capote |alt=Photo of Hoffman at Cannes in 2002 promoting Punch-Drunk Love
won for his performance as Idi Amin in the 2006 film, The Last King of Scotland|alt=Photo of Forest Whitakerat the 2013 Cannes Film Festival
won for his performance in The Wrestler |alt=Mickey Rourke Tribeca 2009 Shankbone.jpg
won two consecutive nominations for his performances in 2009's A Single Man and 2010's The King's Speech|alt=Photo of Colin Firth at the San Diego Comic-Con International in 2017
became the first French actor to win this award for his performance in the 2011 film The Artist
became the first black-British actor to win this category for his performance in 12 Years a Slave |alt=Chiwetel Ejiofor TIFF 2015.jpg
won in 2014 for his role as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, and was nominated the next year for his performance as Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl|alt=Photo of Eddie Redmayne in 2014
was nominated for The Aviator, and The Wolf of Wall Street, before winning in 2015 for his portrayal of Hugh Glass in The Revenant|alt=Leonardo DiCaprio
won in 2016 for his performance in Manchester by the Sea|alt=Casey Affleck in 2016
won in 2017 for his performance in Darkest Hour|alt=Gary Oldman in 2017
won in 2018 for his performance in Bohemian Rhapsody|alt=Rami Malek in 2015

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Note: All nominations for multiple performances in a single year from the 1950s to the 1970s count as one nomination. The two mentions for Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins and Sean Penn count as two separate nominations.

Multiple nominations

;7 nominations
;6 nominations
;5 nominations
;4 nominations
;3 nominations
;2 nominations
;5 wins
;4 wins
;3 wins
;2 wins