# Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor

The Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best (Lead) Actor is one of the annual film awards given by the Boston Society of Film Critics.

## 1980s

| Year | Winner | Film | Role |
| 1980 | Robert De Niro | Raging Bull | Jake LaMotta |
| 1981 | Burt Lancaster | Atlantic City | Lou Pascal |
| 1982 | Dustin Hoffman | Tootsie | Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels |
| 1983 | Eric Roberts | Star 80 | Paul Snider |
| 1984 | Haing S. Ngor | The Killing Fields | Dith Pran |
| 1985 | Jack Nicholson | Prizzi's Honor | Charley Partanna |
| 1986 | Bob Hoskins | Mona Lisa | George |
| 1987 | Albert Brooks | Broadcast News | Aaron Altman |
| 1988 | Daniel Day-Lewis | The Unbearable Lightness of Being | Tomas |
| 1989 | Daniel Day-Lewis | My Left Foot | Christy Brown |

## 1990s

| Year | Winner | Film | Role |
| 1990 | Jeremy Irons | Reversal of Fortune | Claus von Bülow |
| 1991 | Nick Nolte | The Prince of Tides | Tom Wingo |
| 1992 | Denzel Washington | Malcolm X | Malcolm X |
| 1993 | Daniel Day-Lewis | In the Name of the Father | Gerard “Gerry” Conlon |
| 1994 | Albert Finney | The Browning Version | Andrew Crocker-Harris |
| 1995 | Nicolas Cage | Leaving Las Vegas | Ben Sanderson |
| 1996 | Geoffrey Rush | Shine | David Helfgott |
| 1997 | Al Pacino | Donnie Brasco | Benjamin “Lefty” Ruggiero |
| 1998 | Brendan Gleeson | The General | Martin Cahill |
| 1998 | Brendan Gleeson | I Went Down | Bunny Kelly |
| 1999 | Jim Carrey | Man on the Moon | Andy Kaufman / Tony Clifton |

## 2000s

| Year | Winner | Film | Role |
| 2000 | Colin Farrell | Tigerland | Private Roland Bozz |
| 2001 | Brian Cox | L.I.E. | Big John Harrigan |
| 2001 | Denzel Washington | Training Day | Detective Alonzo Harris |
| 2002 | Adrien Brody | The Pianist | Władysław “Wladek” Szpilman |
| 2003 | Bill Murray | Lost in Translation | Bob Harris |
| 2004 | Jamie Foxx | Ray | Ray Charles |
| 2005 | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Capote | Truman Capote |
| 2006 | Forest Whitaker | The Last King of Scotland | Idi Amin |
| 2007 | Frank Langella | Starting Out in the Evening | Leonard Schiller |
| 2008 | Sean Penn | Milk | Harvey Milk |
| 2008 | Mickey Rourke | The Wrestler | Robin Ramzinski |
| 2009 | Jeremy Renner | The Hurt Locker | SFC. William James |

## 2010s

| Year | Winner | Film | Role |
| 2010 | Jesse Eisenberg | The Social Network | Mark Zuckerberg |
| 2011 | Brad Pitt | Moneyball | Billy Beane |
| 2012 | Daniel Day-Lewis | Lincoln | Abraham Lincoln |
| 2013 | Chiwetel Ejiofor | 12 Years a Slave | Solomon Northup |
| 2014 | Michael Keaton | Birdman | Riggan Thomson |
| 2015 | Paul Dano | Love & Mercy | Brian Wilson |
| 2015 | Leonardo DiCaprio | The Revenant | Hugh Glass |
| 2016 | Casey Affleck | Manchester by the Sea | Lee Chandler |
| 2017 | Daniel Kaluuya | Get Out | Chris Washington |
| 2018 | John C. Reilly | Stan & Ollie | Oliver Hardy |
| 2019 | Adam Sandler | Uncut Gems | Howard Ratner |

## 2020s

| Year | Winner | Film | Role |
| 2020 | Anthony Hopkins | The Father | Anthony Evans |
| 2021 | Hidetoshi Nishijima | Drive My Car | Yūsuke Kafuku |
| 2022 | Colin Farrell | The Banshees of Inisherin | Pádraic Súilleabháin |
| 2022 | Colin Farrell | After Yang | Jake |
| 2023 | Paul Giamatti | The Holdovers | Paul Hunham |
| 2024 | Timothée Chalamet | A Complete Unknown | Bob Dylan |

## Multiple winners

* Daniel Day-Lewis - 4
* Colin Farrell - 2
* Denzel Washington - 2