# European Film Award for Best Actor

The European Film Award for Best Actor is an award given out at the annual European Film Awards to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film industry. The awards are presented by the European Film Academy (EFA) and was first presented in 1988 to Swedish actor Max von Sydow for his role as Lassefar "Lasse" Karlsson in Pelle the Conqueror.
Daniel Auteuil, Mads Mikkelsen, and Toni Servillo are the only actors who have received this award more than once with two wins each, while Mikkelsen is the most nominated actor in the category with five nominations.

## Winners and nominees
### 1980s

| Year | Winner and nominees | English title | Original title | Character |
| 1988 (1st) | Max von Sydow | Pelle the Conqueror | Pelle erobreren | Lassefar "Lasse" Karlsson |
| 1988 (1st) | Klaus Maria Brandauer | Hanussen | Hanussen | Klaus Schneider / Erik Jan Hanussen |
| 1988 (1st) | Alfredo Landa | El bosque animado | El bosque animado | Malvís / Bandid Fendetestas |
| 1988 (1st) | Udo Samel | Mit meinen heißen Tränen | Mit meinen heißen Tränen | Franz Schubert |
| 1988 (1st) | Dorel Vişan | Iacob | Iacob | Iacob |
| 1989 (2nd) | Philippe Noiret | Life and Nothing But Cinema Paradiso | La vie et rien d'autre Nuovo cinema Paradiso | Commandant Delaplane Alfredo |
| 1989 (2nd) | / Daniel Day-Lewis | My Left Foot | My Left Foot | Christy Brown |
| 1989 (2nd) | Davor Dujmović | Time of the Gypsies | Dom za vesanje | Perhan |
| 1989 (2nd) | Károly Eperjes | Eldorádó | Eldorádó | Sándor Monori |
| 1989 (2nd) | Jozef Króner | Thou, Which Art in Heaven | Ti, koyto si na nebeto | Georg Henih |

### 1990s

| Year | Winner and nominees | English title | Original title | Character |
| 1990 (3rd) | Kenneth Branagh | Henry V | Henry V | King Henry V of England |
| 1990 (3rd) | Gérard Depardieu | Cyrano de Bergerac | Cyrano de Bergerac | Cyrano de Bergerac |
| 1990 (3rd) | Philip Zandén | Skyddsängeln | Skyddsängeln | Jacob |
| 1991 (4th) | Michel Bouquet | Toto the Hero | Toto le héros | Thomas |
| 1991 (4th) | Claudio Amendola | Ultrà | Ultrà | Principe |
| 1991 (4th) | Richard Anconina | Le Petit Criminel | Le Petit Criminel | Gérard |
| 1992 (5th) | Matti Pellonpää | La Vie de Bohème | La Vie de Bohème | Rodolfo |
| 1992 (5th) | Denis Lavant | The Lovers on the Bridge | Les Amants du Pont-Neuf | Alex |
| 1992 (5th) | Enrico Lo Verso | The Stolen Children | Il ladro di bambini | Antonio |
| 1993 (6th) | Daniel Auteuil | Un cœur en hiver | Un cœur en hiver | Stéphane |
| 1993 (6th) | Carlo Cecchi | Morte di un matematico napoletano | Morte di un matematico napoletano | Renato Caccioppoli |
| 1993 (6th) | Jan Decleir | Daens | Daens | Adolf Daens |
| 1994 (7th) | No award given | No award given | No award given | No award given |
| 1995 (8th) | No award given | No award given | No award given | No award given |
| 1996 (9th) | Ian McKellen | Richard III | Richard III | Richard III of England |
| 1997 (10th) | Bob Hoskins | Twenty Four Seven | Twenty Four Seven | Alan Darcy |
| 1997 (10th) | Mario Adorf | Rossini | Rossini | Paolo Rossini |
| 1997 (10th) | Jerzy Stuhr | Love Stories | Historie miłosne | The university teacher / The priest / Col. Jerzy Matałowski / Prisoner Zdzisław Filip / Petent |
| 1997 (10th) | Philippe Torreton | Captain Conan | Capitaine Conan | Conan |
| 1998 (11th) | Roberto Benigni | Life Is Beautiful | La vita è bella | Guido Orefice |
| 1998 (11th) | Javier Bardem | Live Flesh | Carne trémula | David |
| 1998 (11th) | Peter Mullan | My Name Is Joe | My Name Is Joe | Joe Kavanagh |
| 1998 (11th) | Ulrich Thomsen | The Celebration | Festen | Christian Klingenfeldt-Hansen |
| 1999 (12th) | Ralph Fiennes | Sunshine | Sunshine | Ignatz Sonnenschein (Sors) / Adam Sors / Ivan Sors |
| 1999 (12th) | Anders W. Berthelsen | Mifune's Last Song | Mifunes sidste sang | Kresten |
| 1999 (12th) | Rupert Everett | An Ideal Husband | An Ideal Husband | Lord Arthur Goring |
| 1999 (12th) | Götz George | After the Truth | Nichts als die Wahrheit | Josef Mengele |
| 1999 (12th) | Philippe Torreton | Ça commence aujourd'hui | Ça commence aujourd'hui | Daniel Lefebvre |
| 1999 (12th) | Ray Winstone | The War Zone | The War Zone | Dad |

### 2000s

| Year | Winner and nominees | English title | Original title | Character |
| 2000 (13th) | Sergi López | Harry, He's Here to Help | Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien | Harry |
| 2000 (13th) | Jamie Bell | Billy Elliot | Billy Elliot | Billy Elliot |
| 2000 (13th) | Bruno Ganz | Bread and Tulips | Pane e tulipani | Fernando Girasole |
| 2000 (13th) | Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson | Angels of the Universe | Englar alheimsins | Páll |
| 2000 (13th) | Krzysztof Siwczyk | Wojaczek | Wojaczek | Rafal Wojaczek |
| 2000 (13th) | Stellan Skarsgård | Aberdeen | Aberdeen | Tomas Heller |
| 2001 (14th) | Ben Kingsley | Sexy Beast | Sexy Beast | Don Logan |
| 2001 (14th) | Jesper Christensen | The Bench | Bænken | Kaj |
| 2001 (14th) | Branko Đurić | No Man's Land | No Man's Land | Čiki |
| 2001 (14th) | Michael Caine Tom Courtenay David Hemmings Bob Hoskins Ray Winstone (Cast of Last Orders) | Last Orders | Last Orders | Jack Dodds Vic Tucker Lenny Ray Johnson Vince Dodds |
| 2001 (14th) | Michel Piccoli | I'm Going Home | Je rentre à la maison | Gilbert Valence |
| 2001 (14th) | Stellan Skarsgård | Taking Sides | Taking Sides | Wilhelm Furtwängler |
| 2002 (15th) | Sergio Castellitto | Mostly Martha My Mother's Smile | Bella Martha L'ora di religione (Il sorriso di mia madre) | Mario Ernesto Picciafuocco |
| 2002 (15th) | Javier Bardem | Mondays in the Sun | Los lunes al sol | Santa |
| 2002 (15th) | Javier Cámara | Talk to Her | Hable con ella | Benigno Martín |
| 2002 (15th) | Martin Compston | Sweet Sixteen | Sweet Sixteen | Liam |
| 2002 (15th) | Olivier Gourmet | The Son | Le fils | Olivier |
| 2002 (15th) | Markku Peltola | The Man Without a Past | Mies vailla menneisyyttä | M |
| 2002 (15th) | Timothy Spall | All or Nothing | All or Nothing | Phil |
| 2003 (16th) | / Daniel Brühl | Good Bye Lenin! | Good Bye Lenin! | Alexander "Alex" Kerner |
| 2003 (16th) | Chiwetel Ejiofor | Dirty Pretty Things | Dirty Pretty Things | Okwe/Olatokumbo Fadipe |
| 2003 (16th) | / Tómas Lemarquis | Noi the Albino | Nói albinói | Nói |
| 2003 (16th) | Luigi Lo Cascio | The Best of Youth | La meglio gioventù | Nicola Carati |
| 2003 (16th) | Jean Rochefort | The Man on the Train | L'homme du train | Monsieur Manesquier |
| 2003 (16th) | Bruno Todeschini | His Brother | Son frère | Thomas |
| 2004 (17th) | Javier Bardem | The Sea Inside | Mar adentro | Ramón Sampedro |
| 2004 (17th) | / Daniel Brühl | The Edukators | Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei | Jan |
| 2004 (17th) | Bruno Ganz | Downfall | Der Untergang | Adolf Hitler |
| 2004 (17th) | Gérard Jugnot | The Chorus | Les choristes | Clement Mathieu |
| 2004 (17th) | Bogdan Stupka | Our Own | Svoi | Ivan Blinov |
| 2004 (17th) | Birol Ünel | Head-On | Gegen die Wand | Cahit Tomruk |
| 2005 (18th) | Daniel Auteuil | Hidden | Caché | Georges Laurent |
| 2005 (18th) | Romain Duris | The Beat That My Heart Skipped | De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté | Thomas Seyr |
| 2005 (18th) | Henry Hübchen | Go for Zucker | Alles auf Zucker! | Jakob "Jaeckie Zucker" Zuckermann |
| 2005 (18th) | Ulrich Matthes | The Ninth Day | Der neunte Tag | Henri Kremer |
| 2005 (18th) | Jérémie Renier | The Child | L'enfant | Bruno |
| 2005 (18th) | Ulrich Thomsen | Brothers | Brødre | Michael |
| 2006 (19th) | Ulrich Mühe | The Lives of Others | Das Leben der Anderen | Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler |
| 2006 (19th) | Patrick Chesnais | Not Here to Be Loved | Je ne suis pas là pour être aimé | Jean-Claude Delsart |
| 2006 (19th) | Jesper Christensen | Manslaughter | Drabet | Carsten |
| 2006 (19th) | Mads Mikkelsen | After the Wedding | Efter brylluppet | Jacob Petersen |
| 2006 (19th) | Cillian Murphy | The Wind That Shakes the Barley | The Wind That Shakes the Barley | Damien O'Donovan |
| 2006 (19th) | Cillian Murphy | Breakfast on Pluto | Breakfast on Pluto | Patrick/Patricia "Kitten" Braden |
| 2006 (19th) | Silvio Orlando | The Caiman | Il caimano | Bruno Bonomo |
| 2007 (20th) | Sasson Gabai | The Band's Visit | Bikur Ha-Tizmoret | Lieutenant-colonel Tawfiq Zacharya |
| 2007 (20th) | Elio Germano | My Brother is an Only Child | Mio fratello è figlio unico | Accio Benassi |
| 2007 (20th) | Miki Manojlović | Irina Palm | Irina Palm | Miklos |
| 2007 (20th) | James McAvoy | The Last King of Scotland | The Last King of Scotland | Dr. Nicholas Garrigan |
| 2007 (20th) | Michel Piccoli | Belle Toujours | Belle Toujours | Henri Husson |
| 2007 (20th) | Ben Whishaw | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer | Jean-Baptiste Grenouille |
| 2008 (21st) | Toni Servillo | Il Divo Gomorra | Il Divo Gomorra | Giulio Andreotti Franco |
| 2008 (21st) | Michael Fassbender | Hunger | Hunger | Bobby Sands |
| 2008 (21st) | Thure Lindhardt Mads Mikkelsen | Flame & Citron | Flammen & Citronen | Bent Faurschou-Hviid / Flammen Jørgen Haagen Schmith / Citronen |
| 2008 (21st) | James McAvoy | Atonement | Atonement | Robbie Turner |
| 2008 (21st) | Jürgen Vogel | The Wave | Die Welle | Rainer Wenger |
| 2008 (21st) | Elmar Wepper | Cherry Blossoms | Kirschbluten - Hanami | Rudi Angermeier |
| 2009 (22nd) | Tahar Rahim | A Prophet | Un prophète | Malik El-Djebena |
| 2009 (22nd) | Moritz Bleibtreu | The Baader Meinhof Complex | Der Baader Meinhof Komplex | Andreas Baader |
| 2009 (22nd) | Steve Evets | Looking for Eric | Looking for Eric | Eric Bishop |
| 2009 (22nd) | David Kross | The Reader | The Reader | Michael Berg |
| 2009 (22nd) | Dev Patel | Slumdog Millionaire | Slumdog Millionaire | Jamal Malik |
| 2009 (22nd) | Filippo Timi | Vincere | Vincere | Benito Mussolini and Benito Albino Mussolini |

### 2010s

| Year | Winner and nominees | English title | Original title | Character |
| 2010 (23rd) | Ewan McGregor | The Ghost Writer | The Ghost Writer | The Ghost |
| 2010 (23rd) | Jakob Cedergren | Submarino | Submarino | Nick |
| 2010 (23rd) | Elio Germano | Our Life | La nostra vita | Claudio |
| 2010 (23rd) | George Piştereanu | If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle | Eu când vreau să fluier, fluier | Silviu |
| 2010 (23rd) | Luis Tosar | Cell 211 | Celda 211 | Malamadre |
| 2011 (24th) | Colin Firth | The King's Speech | The King's Speech | King George VI |
| 2011 (24th) | Jean Dujardin | The Artist | The Artist | George Valentin |
| 2011 (24th) | Mikael Persbrandt | In a Better World | Hævnen | Anton |
| 2011 (24th) | Michel Piccoli | We Have a Pope | Habemus Papam | Cardinal Melville/The Pope |
| 2011 (24th) | André Wilms | Le Havre | Le Havre | Marcel Marx |
| 2012 (25th) | Jean-Louis Trintignant | Amour | Amour | Georges Laurent |
| 2012 (25th) | François Cluzet Omar Sy | The Intouchables | Intouchables | Philippe Driss Bassary |
| 2012 (25th) | Michael Fassbender | Shame | Shame | Brandon Sullivan |
| 2012 (25th) | Mads Mikkelsen | The Hunt | Jagten | Lucas |
| 2012 (25th) | Gary Oldman | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | George Smiley/"Beggarman" |
| 2013 (26th) | Toni Servillo | The Great Beauty | La grande belleza | Jep Gambardella |
| 2013 (26th) | Jude Law | Anna Karenina | Anna Karenina | Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin |
| 2013 (26th) | Johan Heldenbergh | The Broken Circle Breakdown | The Broken Circle Breakdown | Didier Bontinck |
| 2013 (26th) | Fabrice Luchini | In the House | Dans la maison | Germain Germain |
| 2013 (26th) | Tom Schilling | A Coffee in Berlin | Oh Boy! | Niko Fischer |
| 2014 (27th) | Timothy Spall | Mr. Turner | Mr. Turner | Joseph Mallord William Turner |
| 2014 (27th) | Brendan Gleeson | Calvary | Calvary | Father James |
| 2014 (27th) | Tom Hardy | Locke | Locke | Ivan Locke |
| 2014 (27th) | Aleksei Serebryakov | Leviathan | Левиафан | Kolya Sergeyev |
| 2014 (27th) | Stellan Skarsgård | Nymphomaniac | Nymphomaniac | Seligman |
| 2015 (28th) |
| 2015 (28th) | Michael Caine | Youth | Youth - La giovinezza | Fred Ballinger |
| 2015 (28th) | Tom Courtenay | 45 Years | 45 Years | Geoff Mercer |
| 2015 (28th) | Colin Farrell | The Lobster | The Lobster | David |
| 2015 (28th) | Christian Friedel | 13 Minutes | Elser - Er hätte die Welt verändert | Georg Elser |
| 2015 (28th) | Vincent Lindon | The Measure of a Man | La Loi du marché | Thierry Taugourdeau |
| 2016 (29th) |
| 2016 (29th) | Peter Simonischek | Toni Erdmann | Toni Erdmann | Winfried Conradi / Toni Erdmann |
| 2016 (29th) | Javier Cámara | Truman | Truman | Tomás |
| 2016 (29th) | Hugh Grant | Florence Foster Jenkins | Florence Foster Jenkins | St. Clair Bayfield |
| 2016 (29th) | Dave Johns | I, Daniel Blake | | Daniel Blake |
| 2016 (29th) | Burghart Klaußner | The People vs. Fritz Bauer | Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer | Fritz Bauer |
| 2016 (29th) | Rolf Lassgård | A Man Called Ove | En man som heter Ove | Ove |
| 2017 (30th) |
| 2017 (30th) | Claes Bang | The Square | The Square | Christian |
| 2017 (30th) | Nahuel Pérez Biscayart | BPM (Beats per Minute) | 120 battements par minute | Sean Dalmazo |
| 2017 (30th) | Colin Farrell | The Killing of a Sacred Deer | The Killing of a Sacred Deer | Steven Murphy |
| 2017 (30th) | Josef Hader | Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe | Vor der Morgenröte | Stefan Zweig |
| 2017 (30th) | Jean-Louis Trintignant | Happy End | Happy End | Georges Laurent |
| 2018 (31st) |
| 2018 (31st) | Marcello Fonte | Dogman | Dogman | Marcello |
| 2018 (31st) | / Jakob Cedergren | The Guilty | Den skyldige | Asger Holm |
| 2018 (31st) | Rupert Everett | The Happy Prince | The Happy Prince | Oscar Wilde |
| 2018 (31st) | Sverrir Gudnason | Borg vs McEnroe | Borg | Björn Borg |
| 2018 (31st) | Tomasz Kot | Cold War | Zimna wojna | Wiktor Warski |
| 2018 (31st) | Victor Polster | Girl | Girl | Lara |
| 2019 (32nd) |
| 2019 (32nd) | Antonio Banderas | Pain and Glory | Dolor y gloria | Salvador Mallo |
| 2019 (32nd) | Jean Dujardin | An Officer and a Spy | J'accuse | Picquart |
| 2019 (32nd) | Pierfrancesco Favino | The Traitor | Il traditore | Tommaso Buscetta |
| 2019 (32nd) | Levan Gelbakhiani | And Then We Danced | And Then We Danced | Merab |
| 2019 (32nd) | Alexander Scheer | Gundermann | Gundermann | Gerhard Gundermann |
| 2019 (32nd) | Ingvar E. Sigurdsson | A White, White Day | Hvítur, Hvítur Dagur | Ingimundur |

### 2020s

| Year | Winner and nominees | English title | Original title | Character |
| 2020 (33rd) | Mads Mikkelsen | Another Round | Druk | Martin |
| 2020 (33rd) | Bartosz Bielenia | Corpus Christi | Boże Ciało | Daniel |
| 2020 (33rd) | Goran Bogdan | Father | Otac | Nikola |
| 2020 (33rd) | Elio Germano | Hidden Away | Volevo nascondermi | Antonio Ligabue |
| 2020 (33rd) | Luca Marinelli | Martin Eden | Martin Eden | Martin Eden |
| 2020 (33rd) | / Viggo Mortensen | Falling | Falling | John Petersen |
| 2021 (34th) | / Anthony Hopkins | The Father | The Father | Anthony |
| 2021 (34th) | Yuriy Borisov | Compartment No. 6 | Hytti nro 6 / Купе номер шесть | Vadim |
| 2021 (34th) | Vincent Lindon | Titane | Titane | Vincent |
| 2021 (34th) | / Tahar Rahim | The Mauritanian | The Mauritanian | Mohamedou Ould Slahi |
| 2021 (34th) | Franz Rogowski | Great Freedom | Große Freiheit | Hans Hoffmann |
| 2022 (35th) | / Zlatko Burić | Triangle of Sadness | Triangle of Sadness | Dmitry |
| 2022 (35th) | / Elliott Crosset Hove | Godland | Godland | Lucas |
| 2022 (35th) | Eden Dambrine | Close | Close | Léo |
| 2022 (35th) | Pierfrancesco Favino | Nostalgia | Nostalgia | Felice Lasco |
| 2022 (35th) | Paul Mescal | Aftersun | Aftersun | Calum |
| 2023 (36th) | Mads Mikkelsen | The Promised Land | The Promised Land | Ludvig Kahlen |
| 2023 (36th) | Thomas Schubert | Afire | Afire | Leon |
| 2023 (36th) | Jussi Vatanen | Fallen Leaves | Fallen Leaves | Holappa |
| 2023 (36th) | Josh O'Connor | La chimera | La chimera | Arthur |
| 2023 (36th) | Christian Friedel | The Zone of Interest | The Zone of Interest | Rudolf Höss |
| 2024 (37th) | Abou Sangare | Souleymane's Story | L'Histoire de Souleymane | Souleymane |
| 2024 (37th) | Franz Rogowski | Bird | Bird | Bird |
| 2024 (37th) | Ralph Fiennes | Conclave | Conclave | Thomas Cardinal Lawrence |
| 2024 (37th) | Lars Eidinger | Dying | Sterben | Tom Lunies |
| 2024 (37th) | Daniel Craig | Queer | Queer | William Lee |

## Multiple wins and nominations
### Multiple wins

| Wins | Actor |
| 2 | Daniel Auteuil |
| 2 | Mads Mikkelsen |
| 2 | Toni Servillo |

### Most nominations

| Nominations | Actor |
| 5 | Mads Mikkelsen |
| 3 | Javier Bardem |
| 3 | Elio Germano |
| 3 | Michel Piccoli |
| 3 | Stellan Skarsgård |
| 2 | Daniel Auteuil |
| 2 | / Daniel Brühl |
| 2 | Michael Caine |
| 2 | Javier Cámara |
| 2 | / Jakob Cedergren |
| 2 | Jesper Christensen |
| 2 | Tom Courtenay |
| 2 | Jean Dujardin |
| 2 | Rupert Everett |
| 2 | Colin Farrell |
| 2 | / Michael Fassbender |
| 2 | Pierfrancesco Favino |
| 2 | Ralph Fiennes |
| 2 | Bruno Ganz |
| 2 | Bob Hoskins |
| 2 | Vincent Lindon |
| 2 | James McAvoy |
| 2 | Cillian Murphy |
| 2 | Tahar Rahim |
| 2 | Franz Rogowski |
| 2 | Toni Servillo |
| 2 | Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson |
| 2 | Timothy Spall |
| 2 | Ulrich Thomsen |
| 2 | Philippe Torreton |
| 2 | Jean-Louis Trintignant |
| 2 | Ray Winstone |