# British Independent Film Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film

The British Independent Film Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film is an annual award given by the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) to recognize the best lead performance by an actor in a British independent film. The award was first presented in the 1998 ceremony with Ray Winstone being the first recipient of the award for his performance as Raymond in Nil by Mouth.
Actors Michael Fassbender, Tom Hardy and Josh O'Connor are the only nominees who have won the award twice while Riz Ahmed holds the record of most nominations in this category with five nominations.
In July 2022, it was announced that the performance categories would be replaced with gender-neutral categories, with both Best Actor and Best Actress merging into the Best Lead Performance category. Additionally, a category named Best Joint Lead Performance was created for "two (or exceptionally three) performances that are the joint focus of the film, especially where performances share a large number of scenes and screen time".

## Winners and nominees
### 1990s

| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
| 1998 (1st) | Ray Winstone | Nil by Mouth | Raymond |
| 1998 (1st) | John Hurt | Love and Death on Long Island | Giles De'Ath |
| 1998 (1st) | Peter Mullan | My Name Is Joe | Joe Kavanagh |
| 1998 (1st) | Jonathan Pryce | Regeneration | William Rivers |
| 1998 (1st) | David Thewlis | Divorcing Jack | Dan Starkey |
| 1999 (2nd) | Ian McKellen | Gods and Monsters | James Whale |
| 1999 (2nd) | Daniel Auteuil | The Lost Son | Xavier Lombard |
| 1999 (2nd) | Michael Caine | Little Voice | Ray Say |
| 1999 (2nd) | Daniel Craig | The Trench | Sgt. Telford Winter |
| 1999 (2nd) | Ray Winstone | The War Zone | Dad |

### 2000s

| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
| 2000 (3rd) | Daniel Craig | Some Voices | Ray |
| 2000 (3rd) | Paul Bettany | Gangster No. 1 | Young Gangster |
| 2000 (3rd) | Jim Broadbent | Topsy-Turvy | W. S. Gilbert |
| 2000 (3rd) | Adrian Lester | Love's Labour's Lost | Dumaine |
| 2000 (3rd) | Peter Mullan | Miss Julie | Jean |
| 2001 (4th) | Ben Kingsley | Sexy Beast | Don Logan |
| 2001 (4th) | Ian Hart | Liam | Dad |
| 2001 (4th) | Timothy Spall | Lucky Break | Cliff Gumbell |
| 2001 (4th) | Ray Winstone | Sexy Beast | Gary "Gal" Dove |
| 2002 (5th) | James Nesbitt | Bloody Sunday | Ivan Cooper |
| 2002 (5th) | Timothy Spall | All or Nothing | Phil |
| 2002 (5th) | Richard Harris | My Kingdom | Sandeman |
| 2002 (5th) | Bill Nighy | Lawless Heart | Dan |
| 2003 (6th) | Chiwetel Ejiofor | Dirty Pretty Things | Okwe |
| 2003 (6th) | Paddy Considine | In America | Johnny Sullivan |
| 2003 (6th) | Ewan McGregor | Young Adam | Joe Taylor |
| 2003 (6th) | Kevin McKidd | 16 Years of Alcohol | Frankie |
| 2003 (6th) | Joaquin Phoenix | Buffalo Soldiers | Spc. Ray Elwood |
| 2004 (7th) | Phil Davis | Vera Drake | Stanley Drake |
| 2004 (7th) | Paddy Considine | Dead Man's Shoes | Richard |
| 2004 (7th) | Daniel Craig | Enduring Love | Joe Rose |
| 2004 (7th) | Ian Hart | Blind Flight | Brian Keenan |
| 2004 (7th) | Geoffrey Rush | The Life and Death of Peter Sellers | Peter Sellers |
| 2005 (8th) | Ralph Fiennes | The Constant Gardener | Justin Quayle |
| 2005 (8th) | Johnny Depp | The Libertine | John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester |
| 2005 (8th) | Chiwetel Ejiofor | Kinky Boots | Lola |
| 2005 (8th) | Bob Hoskins | Mrs Henderson Presents | Vivian Van Damm |
| 2005 (8th) | Matthew Macfadyen | In My Father's Den | Paul Prior |
| 2006 (9th) | Tony Curran | Red Road | Clyde Henderson |
| 2006 (9th) | James McAvoy | The Last King of Scotland | Nicholas Garrigan |
| 2006 (9th) | Forest Whitaker | The Last King of Scotland | Idi Amin |
| 2006 (9th) | Cillian Murphy | The Wind That Shakes the Barley | Damien O'Donovan |
| 2006 (9th) | Peter O'Toole | Venus | Maurice Russell |
| 2007 (10th) | Viggo Mortensen | Eastern Promises | Nikolai Luzhin |
| 2007 (10th) | Jamie Bell | Hallam Foe | Hallam Foe |
| 2007 (10th) | Jim Broadbent | And When Did You Last See Your Father? | Arthur Morrison |
| 2007 (10th) | Cillian Murphy | Sunshine | Robert Capa |
| 2007 (10th) | Sam Riley | Control | Ian Curtis |
| 2008 (11th) | Michael Fassbender | Hunger | Bobby Sands |
| 2008 (11th) | Riz Ahmed | Shifty | Shifty |
| 2008 (11th) | Colin Farrell | In Bruges | Ray |
| 2008 (11th) | Brendan Gleeson | In Bruges | Ken |
| 2008 (11th) | Thomas Turgoose | Somers Town | Tomo |
| 2009 (12th) | Tom Hardy | Bronson | Charles Bronson |
| 2009 (12th) | Peter Capaldi | In the Loop | Malcolm Tucker |
| 2009 (12th) | Aaron Taylor-Johnson | Nowhere Boy | John Lennon |
| 2009 (12th) | Sam Rockwell | Moon | Sam Bell |
| 2009 (12th) | Andy Serkis | Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll | Ian Dury |

### 2010s

| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
| 2010 (13th) | Colin Firth | The King's Speech | King George VI |
| 2010 (13th) | Riz Ahmed | Four Lions | Omar |
| 2010 (13th) | Jim Broadbent | Another Year | Tom Hepple |
| 2010 (13th) | Aidan Gillen | Treacle Jr. | Aidan |
| 2010 (13th) | Scoot McNairy | Monsters | Andrew Kaulder |
| 2011 (14th) | Michael Fassbender | Shame | Brandon Sullivan |
| 2011 (14th) | Brendan Gleeson | The Guard | Sergeant Gerry Boyle |
| 2011 (14th) | Neil Maskell | Kill List | Jay |
| 2011 (14th) | Gary Oldman | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | George Smiley |
| 2011 (14th) | Peter Mullan | Tyrannosaur | Joseph |
| 2012 (15th) | Toby Jones | Berberian Sound Studio | Gilderoy |
| 2012 (15th) | Tim Roth | Broken | Archie Cunningham |
| 2012 (15th) | Terence Stamp | Song for Marion | Arthur |
| 2012 (15th) | Steve Oram | Sightseers | Chris |
| 2012 (15th) | Riz Ahmed | Ill Manors | Aaron |
| 2013 (16th) | James McAvoy | Filth | Bruce Robertson |
| 2013 (16th) | Tom Hardy | Locke | Ivan Locke |
| 2013 (16th) | Steve Coogan | Philomena | Martin Sixsmith |
| 2013 (16th) | Jim Broadbent | Le Week-End | Nick Burrows |
| 2013 (16th) | Jack O'Connell | Starred Up | Eric Love |
| 2014 (17th) | Brendan Gleeson | Calvary | Father James Lavelle |
| 2014 (17th) | Asa Butterfield | X+Y | Nathan Ellis |
| 2014 (17th) | Benedict Cumberbatch | The Imitation Game | Alan Turing |
| 2014 (17th) | Jack O'Connell | '71 | Gary Hook |
| 2014 (17th) | Timothy Spall | Mr. Turner | J. M. W. Turner |
| 2015 (18th) | Tom Hardy | Legend | Ronnie Kray and Reggie Kray |
| 2015 (18th) | Tom Courtenay | 45 Years | Geoff Mercer |
| 2015 (18th) | Colin Farrell | The Lobster | David |
| 2015 (18th) | Michael Fassbender | Macbeth | Macbeth |
| 2015 (18th) | Tom Hiddleston | High-Rise | Dr. Robert Laing |
| 2016 (19th) | Dave Johns | I, Daniel Blake | Daniel Blake |
| 2016 (19th) | Steven Brandon | My Feral Heart | Luke |
| 2016 (19th) | Michael Fassbender | Trespass Against Us | Chad Cutler |
| 2016 (19th) | Shia LaBeouf | American Honey | Jake |
| 2016 (19th) | Max Records | I Am Not a Serial Killer | John Wayne Cleaver |
| 2017 (20th) | Josh O'Connor | God's Own Country | Johnny Saxby |
| 2017 (20th) | Jamie Bell | Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool | Peter Turner |
| 2017 (20th) | Alec Secăreanu | God's Own Country | Gheorghe Ionescu |
| 2017 (20th) | Paddy Considine | Journeyman | Matty Burton |
| 2017 (20th) | Johnny Harris | Jawbone | Jimmy McCabe |
| 2018 (21st) | Joe Cole | A Prayer Before Dawn | Billy Moore |
| 2018 (21st) | Steve Coogan | Stan & Ollie | Stan Laurel |
| 2018 (21st) | Rupert Everett | The Happy Prince | Oscar Wilde |
| 2018 (21st) | Joaquin Phoenix | You Were Never Really Here | Joe |
| 2018 (21st) | Charlie Plummer | Lean on Pete | Charley Thompson |
| 2019 (22nd) | Josh O'Connor | Only You | Jake |
| 2019 (22nd) | Sam Adewunmi | The Last Tree | Femi |
| 2019 (22nd) | Tom Burke | The Souvenir | Anthony |
| 2019 (22nd) | Kris Hitchen | Sorry We Missed You | Ricky Turner |
| 2019 (22nd) | Dev Patel | The Personal History of David Copperfield | David Copperfield |

### 2020s

| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
| 2020 (23rd) | Anthony Hopkins | The Father | Anthony |
| 2020 (23rd) | Riz Ahmed | Mogul Mowgli | Zed |
| 2020 (23rd) | Sope Dirisu | His House | Bol |
| 2020 (23rd) | Amir El-Masry | Limbo | Omarr |
| 2020 (23rd) | Cosmo Jarvis | Calm with Horses | Douglas |
| 2021 (24th) | Adeel Akhtar | Ali & Ava | Ali |
| 2021 (24th) | Riz Ahmed | Encounter | Malik Kahn |
| 2021 (24th) | Stephen Graham | Boiling Point | Andy Jones |
| 2021 (24th) | Jude Law | The Nest | Rory O'Hara |
| 2021 (24th) | James Norton | Nowhere Special | John |