Best Lead Actor of the Year

Awarded to the actor deemed by Cosmo voters to have achieved the best performance in a leading role in an eligible film from the award year. Voters may use their own discretion in deciding whether to consider a particular role as either leading or supporting. It is possible for an actor to receive Lead Actor nominations for multiple films. It is also possible for an actor to receive both Lead and Supporting Actor nominations for the same film.

Best Lead Actor in a 2001 Film

Winner

  • John Cameron Mitchell – Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
  • Guy Pearce – Memento (2001)

Additional Nominees

  • Russell Crowe – A Beautiful Mind (2001)
  • Ewan McGregor – Moulin Rouge (2001)
  • Billy Bob Thornton – The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
  • Tom Wilkinson – In the Bedroom (2001)

Best Lead Actor in a 2002 Film

Winner

  • Adrien Brody – The Pianist (2002)

Additional Nominees

  • Nicolas Cage – Adaptation (2002)
  • Daniel Day-Lewis – Gangs of New York (2002)
  • Richard Gere – Chicago (2002)
  • Viggo Mortensen – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
  • Elijah Wood – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Best Lead Actor in a 2003 Film

Winner

  • Johnny Depp – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
  • Sean Penn – Mystic River (2003)

Additional Nominees

  • Jude Law – Cold Mountain (2003)
  • Ewan McGregor – Big Fish (2003)
  • Bill Murray – Lost in Translation (2003)
  • Elijah Wood – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Best Lead Actor in a 2004 Film

Winner

  • Jamie Foxx – Ray (2004)

Additional Nominees

  • Zach Braff – Garden State (2004)
  • Don Cheadle – Hotel Rwanda (2004)
  • Johnny Depp – Finding Neverland (2004)
  • Leonardo DiCaprio – The Aviator (2004)
  • Bruno Ganz – The Downfall (Der Untergang) (2004)
  • Paul Giamatti – Sideways (2004)

Best Lead Actor in a 2005 Film

Winner

  • Philip Seymour Hoffman – Capote (2005)

Additional Nominees

  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Mysterious Skin (2005)
  • Heath Ledger – Brokeback Mountain (2005)
  • Joaquin Phoenix – Walk the Line (2005)
  • Sanjay Suri – My Brother Nikhil (2005)

Best Lead Actor in a 2006 Film

Winner

  • Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland (2006)

Additional Nominees

  • Matt Damon – The Good Shepherd (2006)
  • Paul Dawson – Shortbus (2006)
  • Leonardo DiCaprio – The Departed (2006)
  • Johnny Knoxville – Jackass: Number Two (2006)
  • Clive Owen – Children of Men (2006)

Best Lead Actor in a 2010 Film

Winner

  • Colin Firth – The King’s Speech (2010)

Additional Nominees

  • Jeff Bridges – True Grit (2010)
  • Johnny Depp – Alice in Wonderland (2010)
  • Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network (2010)
  • James Franco – 127 Hours (2010)

Best Lead Actor in a 2012 Film

Winner

  • Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln (2012)

Additional Nominees

  • Ben Affleck – Argo (2012)
  • Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
  • Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables (2012)
  • Joaquin Phoenix – The Master (2012)

Best Lead Actor in a 2013 Film

Winner

  • Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave (2013)
  • Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Additional Nominees

  • Christian Bale – American Hustle (2013)
  • Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
  • Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips (2013)
  • Daniel Radcliffe – Kill Your Darlings (2013)

Best Lead Actor in a 2014 Film

Winner

  • Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything (2014)

Additional Nominees

  • Ben Affleck – Gone Girl (2014)
  • Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game (2014)
  • Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler (2014)
  • Michael Keaton – Birdman (2014)
  • Miles Teller – Whiplash (2014)

Best Lead Actor in a 2015 Film

Winner

  • Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant (2015)

Additional Nominees

  • Matt Damon – The Martian (2015)
  • Johnny Depp – Black Mass (2015)
  • Tom Hanks – Bridge of Spies (2015)
  • Ian McKellen – Mr. Holmes (2015)
  • Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl (2015)

Best Lead Actor in a 2016 Film

Winner

  • Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

Additional Nominees

  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Snowden (2016)
  • Ryan Gosling – La La Land (2016)
  • Michael Keaton – The Founder (2016)
  • Ryan Reynolds – Deadpool (2016)
  • Denzel Washington – Fences (2016)

Best Lead Actor in a 2017 Film

Winner

  • Timothée Chalamet – Call Me by Your Name (2017)

Additional Nominees

  • Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread (2017)
  • Ali Fazal – Victoria and Abdul (2017)
  • Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out (2017)
  • James McAvoy – Split (2017)
  • Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour (2017)

Best Lead Actor in a 2018 Film

Winner

  • Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Additional Nominees

  • Christian Bale – Vice (2018)
  • Chadwick Boseman – Black Panther (2018)
  • Bradley Cooper – Ghostbusters (2016)
  • Ethan Hawke – First Reformed (2018)
  • John David Washington – BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Best Lead Actor in a 2019 Film

Winner

  • Joaquin Phoenix – Joker

Additional Nominees

  • Timothée Chalamet – The King
  • Robert De Niro – The Irishman
  • Leonardo DiCaprio – Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood
  • Adam Driver – Marriage Story
  • Taron Egerton – Rocketman

Best Lead Actor in a 2020 Film

Winner

  • Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Additional Nominees

  • Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
  • Tom Hanks – News of the World
  • Gary Oldman – Mank
  • Lakeith Stanfield – Judas and the Black Messiah
  • Steven Yeun – Minari

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