# BET Award for Best Actor

The BET Award for Best Actor is awarded to actors from both television and film. Some nominees have been nominated based on their performances in multiple bodies of work within the eligibility period. Denzel Washington holds the record for most wins in this category with four.

## Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

### 2000s

| Year | Actor | Work |
| 2001 |
| 2001 | Denzel Washington | Remember the Titans |
| 2001 | Omar Epps | Love & Basketball |
| 2001 | Cuba Gooding Jr. | Men of Honor |
| 2001 | Samuel L. Jackson | Rules of Engagement |
| 2002 | | |
| 2002 | Will Smith | Ali |
| 2002 | Morgan Freeman | High Crimes |
| 2002 | Eddie Murphy | Shrek, Dr. Dolittle 2 and Showtime |
| 2002 | Chris Tucker | Rush Hour 2 |
| 2002 | Denzel Washington | Training Day and John Q. |
| 2003 | | |
| 2003 | Derek Luke | Antwone Fisher |
| 2003 | Nick Cannon | Drumline |
| 2003 | Mos Def | Brown Sugar |
| 2003 | Samuel L. Jackson | XXX and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones |
| 2003 | Denzel Washington | Antwone Fisher |
| 2004 | | |
| 2004 | Denzel Washington | Out of Time |
| 2004 | Mos Def | The Italian Job |
| 2004 | Laurence Fishburne | Mystic River, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions |
| 2004 | Morgan Freeman | Bruce Almighty |
| 2004 | Samuel L. Jackson | S.W.A.T. |
| 2004 | Bernie Mac | Bad Santa, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and The Bernie Mac Show |
| 2005 | | |
| 2005 | Jamie Foxx | Ray, Collateral and Breakin' All the Rules |
| 2005 | Don Cheadle | Ocean's Twelve, Hotel Rwanda and After the Sunset |
| 2005 | Morgan Freeman | Million Dollar Baby |
| 2005 | Samuel L. Jackson | The Incredibles and Coach Carter |
| 2005 | Will Smith | I, Robot, Shark Tale and Hitch |
| 2006 | | |
| 2006 | Terrence Howard | Crash, Four Brothers, Get Rich or Die Tryin', Lackawanna Blues and Hustle & Flow |
| 2006 | Don Cheadle | Crash |
| 2006 | Jamie Foxx | Stealth and Miami Vice |
| 2006 | Ludacris | Crash and Hustle & Flow |
| 2006 | Denzel Washington | Inside Man |
| 2007 | | |
| 2007 | Forest Whitaker | The Last King of Scotland |
| 2007 | Idris Elba | Daddy's Little Girls |
| 2007 | Jamie Foxx | Dreamgirls |
| 2007 | Eddie Murphy | Norbit and Dreamgirls |
| 2007 | Will Smith | The Pursuit of Happyness |
| 2008 | | |
| 2008 | Denzel Washington | American Gangster and The Great Debaters |
| 2008 | Anthony Anderson | Transformers and K-Ville |
| 2008 | Don Cheadle | Ocean's Thirteen and Talk to Me |
| 2008 | Idris Elba | American Gangster, This Christmas and 28 Weeks Later |
| 2008 | Terrence Howard | The Brave One and The Perfect Holiday |
| 2009 | | |
| 2009 | Will Smith | Hancock and Seven Pounds |
| 2009 | Common | Wanted and Street Kings |
| 2009 | Idris Elba | RocknRolla and The Unborn |
| 2009 | Samuel L. Jackson | Lakeview Terrace and Soul Men |
| 2009 | Jamal Woolard | Notorious |

### 2010s

| Year | Actor | Work |
| 2010 |
| 2010 | Idris Elba | The Losers |
| 2010 | Quinton Aaron | The Blind Side |
| 2010 | Don Cheadle | Brooklyn's Finest |
| 2010 | Jamie Foxx | Law Abiding Citizen |
| 2010 | Denzel Washington | The Taking of Pelham 123 |
| 2011 | | |
| 2011 | Idris Elba | Takers and Luther |
| 2011 | Laz Alonso | Jumping the Broom |
| 2011 | Chris Brown | Takers |
| 2011 | Don Cheadle | Iron Man 2 |
| 2011 | Jamie Foxx | Due Date |
| 2012 | | |
| 2012 | Kevin Hart | Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain |
| 2012 | Don Cheadle | House of Lies and The Guard |
| 2012 | Common | New Year's Eve and Hell on Wheels |
| 2012 | Idris Elba | Thor, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and Luther |
| 2012 | Denzel Washington | Safe House |
| 2013 | | |
| 2013 | Jamie Foxx | Django Unchained |
| 2013 | Don Cheadle | House of Lies and Flight |
| 2013 | Common | Hell on Wheels, LUV and The Odd Life of Timothy Green |
| 2013 | Samuel L. Jackson | Django Unchained and The Avengers |
| 2013 | Denzel Washington | Flight |
| 2014 | | |
| 2014 | Chiwetel Ejiofor | 12 Years a Slave |
| 2014 | Idris Elba | Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and Thor: The Dark World |
| 2014 | Kevin Hart | Ride Along, Real Husbands of Hollywood and About Last Night |
| 2014 | Michael B. Jordan | Fruitvale Station |
| 2014 | Forest Whitaker | The Butler |
| 2015 | | |
| 2015 | Terrence Howard | Empire, Lullaby, St. Vincent and Sabotage |
| 2015 | Anthony Anderson | Black-ish |
| 2015 | Idris Elba | Luther and No Good Deed |
| 2015 | Kevin Hart | The Wedding Ringer, Think Like a Man Too, Real Husbands of Hollywood and Top Five |
| 2015 | Jussie Smollett | Empire |
| 2016 | | |
| 2016 | Michael B. Jordan | Fantastic Four and Creed |
| 2016 | Anthony Anderson | Black-ish |
| 2016 | Idris Elba | Zootopia, Beasts of No Nation and Luther |
| 2016 | O'Shea Jackson Jr. | Straight Outta Compton |
| 2016 | Courtney B. Vance | American Crime Story |
| 2017 | | |
| 2017 | Mahershala Ali | Luke Cage, Free State of Jones, Kicks, Hidden Figures and Moonlight |
| 2017 | Donald Glover | Atlanta |
| 2017 | Bryshere Y. Gray | Empire and The New Edition Story |
| 2017 | Omari Hardwick | Power |
| 2017 | Denzel Washington | Fences and The Magnificent Seven |
| 2018 |
| 2018 | Chadwick Boseman | Black Panther and Marshall |
| 2018 | Denzel Washington | Roman J. Israel, Esq. |
| 2018 | Sterling K. Brown | Marshall, This Is Us, and Black Panther |
| 2018 | Michael B. Jordan | Black Panther |
| 2018 | Daniel Kaluuya | Get Out and Black Panther |
| 2018 | Donald Glover | Atlanta and Spider-Man: Homecoming |
| 2019 | | |
| 2019 | Michael B. Jordan | Creed II |
| 2019 | Anthony Anderson | Black-ish |
| 2019 | Chadwick Boseman | Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame |
| 2019 | Denzel Washington | The Equalizer 2 |
| 2019 | Mahershala Ali | Green Book |
| 2019 | Omari Hardwick | Power |

### 2020s

| Year | Actor | Work |
| 2020 |
| 2020 | Michael B. Jordan | Just Mercy |
| 2020 | Billy Porter | Pose |
| 2020 | Eddie Murphy | Dolemite Is My Name |
| 2020 | Forest Whitaker | Finding Steve McQueen and Godfather of Harlem |
| 2020 | Jamie Foxx | Just Mercy |
| 2020 | Omari Hardwick | Power |
| 2021 |
| 2021 | Chadwick Boseman (Posthumous) | Da 5 Bloods and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom |
| 2021 | Aldis Hodge | One Night in Miami... |
| 2021 | Damson Idris | Snowfall |
| 2021 | Daniel Kaluuya | Judas and the Black Messiah |
| 2021 | Eddie Murphy | Coming 2 America |
| 2021 | LaKeith Stanfield | Judas and the Black Messiah |
| 2022 |
| 2022 | Will Smith | King Richard |
| 2022 | Adrian Holmes | Bel-Air |
| 2022 | Anthony Anderson | Black-ish |
| 2022 | Damson Idris | Snowfall |
| 2022 | Denzel Washington | The Tragedy of Macbeth |
| 2022 | Forest Whitaker | Godfather of Harlem |
| 2022 | Jabari Banks | Bel-Air |
| 2022 | Sterling K. Brown | This Is Us |
| 2023 |
| 2023 | Damson Idris | Snowfall |
| 2023 | Amin Joseph | Snowfall |
| 2023 | Brian Tyree Henry | Atlanta, Bullet Train, Causeway |
| 2023 | Daniel Kaluuya | Nope |
| 2023 | Demetrius Flenory Jr. | BMF |
| 2023 | Donald Glover | Atlanta |
| 2023 | Michael B. Jordan | Creed III |
| 2024 |
| 2024 | Denzel Washington | The Equalizer 3 |
| 2024 | Anthony Mackie | If You Were the Last, Twisted Metal, We Have a Ghost |
| 2024 | Colman Domingo | Euphoria, Fear the Walking Dead, Rustin, Sing Sing and The Color Purple |
| 2024 | Damson Idris | Snowfall |
| 2024 | Donald Glover | Mr. & Mrs. Smith |
| 2024 | Idris Elba | Hijack, Luther: The Fallen Sun |
| 2024 | Jeffrey Wright | Asteroid City, Atrabilious, American Fiction and Rustin |
| 2024 | LaKeith Stanfield | The Changeling, Haunted Mansion and The Book of Clarence |