# Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performer

The Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performer is one of the annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. It was first awarded in 1998, with Sonja Sohn and Saul Williams being the first recipients of the award for their roles as Lauren Bell and Ray Joshua in Slam, respectively.
The category was called Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor until 2021.

## Winners and nominees
### 1990s

| Year | Winner and nominees | Film | Role |
| 1998 | Sonja Sohn | Slam | Lauren Bell |
| 1998 | Saul Williams | Slam | Ray Joshua |
| 1998 | Norman Reedus | Six Ways to Sunday | Harold |
| 1998 | Sam Rockwell | Lawn Dogs | Trent Burns |
| 1998 | Robin Tunney | Niagara, Niagara | Marcy |
| 1999 | Dylan Baker | Happiness | Bill Maplewood |
| 1999 | Janet McTeer | Tumbleweeds | Mary Jo Walker |

### 2000s

| Year | Winner and nominees | Film | Role |
| 2000 | Michelle Rodriguez | Girlfight | Diana Guzman |
| 2001 | Yolonda Ross | Stranger Inside | Treasure |
| 2002 | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Secretary | Lee Holloway |
| 2003 | Lee Pace | Soldier's Girl | Calpernia Addams |
| 2003 | Bobby Cannavale | The Station Agent | Joe Oramas |
| 2003 | Jesse Eisenberg | Roger Dodger | Nick |
| 2003 | Judy Marte | Raising Victor Vargas | Judy |
| 2003 | Victor Rasuk | Raising Victor Vargas | Victor |
| 2003 | Paul Schneider | All the Real Girls | Paul |
| 2004 | Catalina Sandino Moreno | Maria Full of Grace | Maria Álvarez |
| 2004 | Mos Def | The Woodsman | Lucas |
| 2004 | Ensemble Cast | Everyday People | Various |
| 2004 | Anthony Mackie | Brother to Brother | Perry |
| 2004 | Dallas Roberts | A Home at the End of the World | Jonathan Glover |
| 2005 | Amy Adams | Junebug | Ashley Johnsten |
| 2005 | Camilla Belle | The Ballad of Jack and Rose | Rose Slavin |
| 2005 | Joseph Gordon-Levitt | Mysterious Skin | Neil McCormick |
| 2005 | Terrence Howard | Hustle & Flow | DJay |
| 2005 | Damian Lewis | Keane | William Keane |
| 2006 | Shareeka Epps | Half Nelson | Drey |
| 2006 | Rinko Kikuchi | Babel | Chieko Wataya |
| 2006 | Abigail Breslin | Little Miss Sunshine | Olive Hoover |
| 2006 | Melinda Page Hamilton | Sleeping Dogs Lie | Amy |
| 2006 | Channing Tatum | A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints | Antonio (young) |
| 2007 | Elliot Page | Juno | Juno MacGuff |
| 2007 | Emile Hirsch | Into the Wild | Chris McCandless |
| 2007 | Kene Holliday | Great World of Sound | Clarence |
| 2007 | Jess Weixler | Teeth | Dawn O'Keefe |
| 2007 | Luisa Williams | Day Night Day Night | She |
| 2008 | Melissa Leo | Frozen River | Ray Eddy |
| 2008 | Pedro Castaneda | August Evening | Jaime |
| 2008 | Rosemarie DeWitt | Rachel Getting Married | Rachel Buchman |
| 2008 | Rebecca Hall | Vicky Cristina Barcelona | Vicky |
| 2008 | Alejandro Polanco | Chop Shop | Alejandro "Ale" |
| 2008 | Micheal J. Smith Sr. | Ballast | Lawrence |
| 2009 | Catalina Saavedra | The Maid | Raquel |
| 2009 | Ben Foster | The Messenger | SSgt. Will Montgomery |
| 2009 | Patton Oswalt | Big Fan | Paul Aufiero |
| 2009 | Jeremy Renner | The Hurt Locker | Sergeant First Class William James |
| 2009 | Souléymane Sy Savané | Goodbye Solo | Solo |

### 2010s

| Year | Winner and nominees | Film | Role | Ref. |
| 2010 | Ronald Bronstein | Daddy Longlegs | Lenny Sokol | |
| 2010 | Prince Adu | Prince of Broadway | Lucky | |
| 2010 | Greta Gerwig | Greenberg | Florence Marr | |
| 2010 | Jennifer Lawrence | Winter's Bone | Ree Dolly | |
| 2010 | John Ortiz | Jack Goes Boating | Clyde | |
| 2011 | Felicity Jones | Like Crazy | Anna Maria Gardner | |
| 2011 | Elizabeth Olsen | Martha Marcy May Marlene | Martha/Marcy May/"Marlene Lewis" | |
| 2011 | Harmony Santana | Gun Hill Road | Michael/Vanessa | |
| 2011 | Shailene Woodley | The Descendants | Alexandra "Alex" King | |
| 2011 | Jacob Wysocki | Terri | Terri Thompson | |
| 2012 | Emayatzy Corinealdi | Middle of Nowhere | Ruby | [16] [17] |
| 2012 | Mike Birbiglia | Sleepwalk with Me | Matt Pandamiglio | [16] [17] |
| 2012 | Thure Lindhardt | Keep the Lights On | Erik Rothman | [16] [17] |
| 2012 | Melanie Lynskey | Hello I Must Be Going | Amy | [16] [17] |
| 2012 | Quvenzhané Wallis | Beasts of the Southern Wild | Hushpuppy | [16] [17] |
| 2013 | Michael B. Jordan | Fruitvale Station | Oscar Grant III | |
| 2013 | Dane DeHaan | Kill Your Darlings | Lucien Carr | |
| 2013 | Kathryn Hahn | Afternoon Delight | Rachel | |
| 2013 | Lupita Nyong'o | 12 Years a Slave | Patsey | |
| 2013 | Robin Weigert | Concussion | Abby Ableman / Eleanor | |
| 2014 | Tessa Thompson | Dear White People | Samantha "Sam" White | |
| 2014 | Riz Ahmed | Nightcrawler | Rick | |
| 2014 | Macon Blair | Blue Ruin | Dwight Evans | |
| 2014 | Ellar Coltrane | Boyhood | Mason Evans Jr. | |
| 2014 | Joey King | Wish I Was Here | Grace Bloom | |
| 2014 | Jenny Slate | Obvious Child | Donna Stern | |
| 2015 | Mya Taylor | Tangerine | Alexandra | |
| 2015 | Rory Culkin | Gabriel | Gabriel | |
| 2015 | Arielle Holmes | Heaven Knows What | Harley | |
| 2015 | Lola Kirke | Mistress America | Tracy Fishko | |
| 2015 | Kitana Kiki Rodriguez | Tangerine | Sin-Dee Rella | |
| 2016 | Anya Taylor-Joy | The Witch | Thomasin | |
| 2016 | Lily Gladstone | Certain Women | Jamie | |
| 2016 | Lucas Hedges | Manchester by the Sea | Patrick Chandler | |
| 2016 | Royalty Hightower | The Fits | Toni | |
| 2016 | Sasha Lane | American Honey | Star | |
| 2017 | Timothée Chalamet | Call Me by Your Name | Elio Perlman | |
| 2017 | Mary J. Blige | Mudbound | Florence Jackson | |
| 2017 | Harris Dickinson | Beach Rats | Frankie | |
| 2017 | Kelvin Harrison Jr. | It Comes at Night | Travis | |
| 2017 | Brooklynn Prince | The Florida Project | Moonee | |
| 2018 | Elsie Fisher | Eighth Grade | Kayla Day | |
| 2018 | Yalitza Aparicio | Roma | Cleodegaria "Cleo" Gutiérrez | |
| 2018 | Helena Howard | Madeline's Madeline | Madeline | |
| 2018 | KiKi Layne | If Beale Street Could Talk | Clementine "Tish" Rivers | |
| 2018 | Thomasin McKenzie | Leave No Trace | Tom | |
| 2019 | Taylor Russell | Waves | Emily Williams | |
| 2019 | Julia Fox | Uncut Gems | Julia Holmes | |
| 2019 | Aisling Franciosi | The Nightingale | Clare Carroll | |
| 2019 | Chris Galust | Give Me Liberty | Vic | |
| 2019 | Noah Jupe | Honey Boy | Young Otis Lort | |
| 2019 | Jonathan Majors | The Last Black Man in San Francisco | Montgomery Allen | |

### 2020s

| Year | Winner and nominees | Film | Role | Ref. |
| 2020 | Kingsley Ben-Adir | One Night in Miami... | Malcolm X | |
| 2020 | Jasmine Batchelor | The Surrogate | Jess Harris | |
| 2020 | Sidney Flanigan | Never Rarely Sometimes Always | Autumn Callahan | |
| 2020 | Orion Lee | First Cow | King-Lu | |
| 2020 | Kelly O'Sullivan | Saint Frances | Bridget | |
| 2021 | Emilia Jones | CODA | Ruby Rossi | [26] [27] |
| 2021 | Natalie Morales | Language Lessons | Cariño | [26] [27] |
| 2021 | Rachel Sennott | Shiva Baby | Danielle | [26] [27] |
| 2021 | Suzanna Son | Red Rocket | Strawberry | [26] [27] |
| 2021 | Amalia Ulman | El Planeta | Leonor Jimenez | [26] [27] |
| 2022 | Gracija Filipović | Murina | Julija | |
| 2022 | Anna Cobb | We're All Going to the World's Fair | Casey | |
| 2022 | Frankie Corio | Aftersun | Sophie | |
| 2022 | Anna Diop | Nanny | Aisha | |
| 2022 | Kali Reis | Catch the Fair One | Kaylee | |
| 2023 | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | |
| 2024 | Brandon Wilson | Nickel Boys | Turner | |
| 2024 | Lily Collias | Good One | Sam | |
| 2024 | Ryan Destiny | The Fire Inside | Claressa "T-Rex" Shields | |
| 2024 | Maisy Stella | My Old Ass | Elliott | |
| 2024 | Izaac Wang | Dìdi | Chris Wang | |