# AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role

The AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), a non-profit organisation whose aim is to "identify, award, promote and celebrate Australia's greatest achievements in film and television." The award is presented at the annual AACTA Awards, which hand out accolades for achievements in feature film, television, documentaries and short films. From 1971 to 2010, the category was presented by the Australian Film Institute (AFI), the Academy's parent organisation, at the annual Australian Film Institute Awards (known as the AFI Awards). When the AFI launched the Academy in 2011, it changed the annual ceremony to the AACTA Awards, with the current award being a continuation of the AFI Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
From 1971 up until 1975, the awards for Best Actor and Best Actress were awarded in a single category for Best Performance. In 1971 the prize was given to Monica Maughan over fellow nominee Peter Cummins, who received a special mention for his performances in the films Some Regrets, The Hot Centre of the World (1971 short film), Bonjour Balwyn and Carson's Watermelons. From 1972 to 1975, the single award was handed out to the best actor and actress of the respective award giving years, with honourable mentions made to supporting casts. From 1976 to the present, the accolade has been handed out as a separate award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Candidates for this award must be human and male, and cannot be nominated for the same role in the supporting actor category.

## Winners & nominations

| Year | Actor | Film | Role |
| 1970s ||||
| 1972 | Bruce Spence | Stork | Graham 'Stork' Wallace |
| 1973 | Robert McDarra | 27A | Bill |
| 1974 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1975 | Jack Thompson | Sunday Too Far Away | Foley |
| 1975 | Martin Vaughan | Billy and Percy | Billy Hughes |
| 1976 | Simon Burke | The Devil's Playground | Tom Allen |
| 1976 | Nick Tate | The Devil's Playground | Brother Victor |
| 1976 | Arthur Dignam | The Devil's Playground | Brother Francine |
| 1976 | George Mallaby | End Play | Robert Gifford |
| 1977 | John Meillon | The Fourth Wish | Casey |
| 1977 | Noel Ferrier | Eliza Fraser | Captain James Fraser |
| 1977 | David Gulpilil | Storm Boy | Fingerbone Bill |
| 1977 | John Meillon | The Picture Show Man | Mr. Pym |
| 1978 | Bill Hunter | Newsfront | Len Maguire |
| 1978 | Richard Chamberlain | The Last Wave | David Burton |
| 1978 | Robert Helpmann | The Mango Tree | The Professor |
| 1978 | John Waters | Weekend of Shadows | Rabbit |
| 1979 | Mel Gibson | Tim | Tim Melville |
| 1979 | Alan Cassell | Cathy's Child | Dick Wordley |
| 1979 | Richard Moir | In Search of Anna | Tony |
| 1979 | Michael Preston | The Last of the Knucklemen | Pansy |
| 1980s ||||
| 1980 | Jack Thompson | Breaker Morant | Capt. Alfred Taylor |
| 1980 | Bryan Brown | Stir | China Jackson |
| 1980 | Max Phipps | Stir | Norton |
| 1980 | Edward Woodward | Breaker Morant | Lt. Harry "Breaker" Morant |
| 1981 | Mel Gibson | Gallipoli | Frank Dunne |
| 1981 | John Hargreaves | Hoodwink | Martin Stang |
| 1981 | Graham Kennedy | The Club | Ted Parker |
| 1981 | Mark Lee | Gallipoli | Archy Hamilton |
| 1982 | Ray Barrett | Goodbye Paradise | Michael Stacy |
| 1982 | Vince Colosimo | Moving Out | Gino |
| 1982 | Norman Kaye | Lonely Hearts | Peter Thompson |
| 1982 | William Henry Kerr | Dusty | Tom Lincoln |
| 1983 | Norman Kaye | Man of Flowers | Charles Bremer |
| 1983 | Mel Gibson | The Year of Living Dangerously | Guy Hamilton |
| 1983 | Nicholas Gledhill | Careful, He Might Hear You | PS |
| 1983 | Martin Vaughan | Phar Lap | Harry Telford |
| 1984 | John Hargreaves | My First Wife | John |
| 1984 | Drew Forsythe | Annie's Coming Out | David |
| 1984 | Chris Haywood | Strikebound | Wattie Doig |
| 1984 | Ivar Kants | Silver City | Julian |
| 1985 | Chris Haywood | A Street to Die | Colin Turner |
| 1985 | John Clayton | Unfinished Business | Geoff |
| 1985 | Richard Moir | An Indecent Obsession | Luce Daggett |
| 1985 | Barry Otto | Bliss | Harry Joy |
| 1986 | Colin Friels | Malcolm | Malcolm Hughes |
| 1986 | Reb Brown | Death of a Soldier | Pvt. Edward J. Leonski |
| 1986 | Robert Menzies | Cactus | Robert |
| 1986 | Barry Otto | The More Things Change... | Lex |
| 1987 | Leo McKern | Travelling North | Frank |
| 1987 | Bryan Brown | The Umbrella Woman | Sonny Hills |
| 1987 | Colin Friels | Ground Zero | Harvey Denton |
| 1987 | Noah Taylor | The Year My Voice Broke | Danny |
| 1988 | John Waters | Boulevard of Broken Dreams | Tom Garfield |
| 1988 | Mark Lee | The Everlasting Secret Family | Youth |
| 1988 | Hamish McFarlane | The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey | Griffin |
| 1988 | Sean Scully | Phobia | David Simmons |
| 1989 | Sam Neill | Evil Angels | Michael Chamberlain |
| 1989 | Mike Bishop | Ghosts… of the Civil Dead | David Yale |
| 1989 | John Hargreaves | Emerald City | Colin |
| 1989 | Chris Haywood | Island | Janis |
| 1990s ||||
| 1990 | Max von Sydow | Father | Joe Muller |
| 1990 | Russell Crowe | The Crossing | Johnny |
| 1990 | Frankie J. Holden | Return Home | Steve |
| 1990 | Ben Mendelsohn | The Big Steal | Danny Clark |
| 1991 | Hugo Weaving | Proof | Martin |
| 1991 | Colin Friels | Dingo | John Anderson |
| 1991 | Ben Mendelsohn | Spotswood | Carey |
| 1991 | Sam Neill | Death in Brunswick | Carl Fitzgerald |
| 1992 | Russell Crowe | Romper Stomper | Hando |
| 1992 | Lothaire Bluteau | Black Robe | LaForgue |
| 1992 | Bruno Ganz | The Last Days of Chez Nous | JP |
| 1992 | Paul Mercurio | Strictly Ballroom | Scott Hastings |
| 1993 | Harvey Keitel | The Piano | George Baines |
| 1993 | Matthew Ferguson | On My Own | Simon Henderson |
| 1993 | Anthony LaPaglia | The Custodian | Det. Sgt. James Quinlan |
| 1993 | John Moore | Blackfellas | Doug Dooligan |
| 1994 | Nicholas Hope | Bad Boy Bubby | Bubby |
| 1994 | John Hargreaves | Country Life | Jack Dickens |
| 1994 | Terence Stamp | The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | Ralph Waite/Bernadette Bassinger |
| 1994 | Hugo Weaving | The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | Anthony "Tick" Belrose/Mitzi Del Bra |
| 1995 | John Lynch | Angel Baby | Harry |
| 1995 | John Jarratt | All Men Are Liars | Barry |
| 1995 | John Moore | The Life of Harry Dare | Harry Dare |
| 1995 | Aden Young | Metal Skin | Joe |
| 1996 | Geoffrey Rush | Shine | Adult David Helfgott |
| 1996 | John Brumpton | Life | Des |
| 1996 | Noah Taylor | Shine | Adolescent David Helfgott |
| 1996 | Aden Young | River Street | Ben Egan |
| 1997 | Richard Roxburgh | Doing Time for Patsy Cline | Boyd |
| 1997 | Michael Caton | The Castle | Darryl Kerrigan |
| 1997 | Matt Day | Kiss or Kill | Al Fletcher |
| 1997 | Jeremy Sims | Idiot Box | Mick |
| 1998 | Hugo Weaving | The Interview | Eddie Rodney Fleming |
| 1998 | Ray Barrett | In the Winter Dark | Maurice Stubbs |
| 1998 | Alex Dimitriades | Head On | Ari |
| 1998 | David Wenham | The Boys | Brett Sprague |
| 1999 | Russell Dykstra | Soft Fruit | Bo |
| 1999 | Hugh Jackman | Erskineville Kings | Wace |
| 1999 | Heath Ledger | Two Hands | Jimmy |
| 1999 | Richard Roxburgh | Passion | Percy Grainger |
| 2000s ||||
| 2000 | Eric Bana | Chopper | Mark "Chopper" Read |
| 2000 | Steve Bastoni | 15 Amore | Alfredo |
| 2000 | David Wenham | Better Than Sex | Josh |
| 2000 | Sam Worthington | Bootmen | Mitchell Okden |
| 2001 | Anthony LaPaglia | Lantana | Leon Zat |
| 2001 | Ewan McGregor | Moulin Rouge! | Christian |
| 2001 | Ben Mendelsohn | Mullet | Eddie 'Mullet' Maloney |
| 2001 | David Wenham | The Bank | Jim Doyle |
| 2002 | David Gulpilil | The Tracker | The Tracker |
| 2002 | Vince Colosimo | Walking on Water | Charlie |
| 2002 | Geoffrey Rush | Swimming Upstream | Harold Fingleton |
| 2002 | David Wenham | Molokai | Father Damien |
| 2003 | David Wenham | Gettin' Square | Johnny Francis 'Spit' Spitieri |
| 2003 | Heath Ledger | Ned Kelly | Ned Kelly |
| 2003 | Timothy Spall | Gettin' Square | Darren 'Dabba' Barrington |
| 2003 | Gotaro Tsunashima | Japanese Story | Hiromitsu Tachibana |
| 2004 | Sam Worthington | Somersault | Joe |
| 2004 | Colin Friels | Tom White | Tom White |
| 2004 | Kevin Harrington | The Honourable Wally Norman | Wally Norman |
| 2004 | Dan Spielman | One Perfect Day | Tommy Matisse |
| 2005 | Hugo Weaving | Little Fish | Lionel Dawson |
| 2005 | William McInnes | Look Both Ways | Nick |
| 2005 | Guy Pearce | The Proposition | Charlie Burns |
| 2005 | Ray Winstone | The Proposition | Captain Morris Stanley |
| 2006 | Shane Jacobson | Kenny | Kenny Smyth |
| 2006 | Gabriel Byrne | Jindabyne | Stewart |
| 2006 | Heath Ledger | Candy | Dan |
| 2006 | Steve Le Marquand | Last Train to Freo | The tall thug |
| 2007 | Eric Bana | Romulus, My Father | Romulus |
| 2007 | Brendan Cowell | Noise | Graham McGahan |
| 2007 | Qi Yuwu | The Home Song Stories | Joe |
| 2007 | Kodi Smit-McPhee | Romulus, My Father | Raimond |
| 2008 | William McInnes | Unfinished Sky | John Woldring |
| 2008 | Guy Pearce | Death Defying Acts | Harry Houdini |
| 2008 | David Roberts | The Square | Raymond Yale |
| 2008 | Rhys Wakefield | The Black Balloon | Thomas Mollison |
| 2009 | Anthony LaPaglia | Balibo | Roger East |
| 2009 | Rowan McNamara | Samson and Delilah | Samson |
| 2009 | Ben Mendelsohn | Beautiful Kate | Ned Kendall |
| 2009 | Hugo Weaving | Last Ride | Kev |
| 2010s ||||
| 2010 | Ben Mendelsohn | Animal Kingdom | Andrew 'Pope' Cody |
| 2010 | Brendan Cowell | Beneath Hill 60 | Oliver Woodward |
| 2010 | James Frecheville | Animal Kingdom | Joshua 'J' Cody |
| 2010 | Clive Owen | The Boys Are Back | Joe Warr |
| AACTA Awards ||||
| 2011 (1st) | Daniel Henshall | Snowtown | John Bunting |
| 2011 (1st) | Willem Dafoe | The Hunter | Martin David |
| 2011 (1st) | Geoffrey Rush | The Eye of the Storm | Basil Hunter |
| 2011 (1st) | David Wenham | Oranges and Sunshine | Len |
| 2012 (2nd) | Chris O'Dowd | The Sapphires | Dave Lovelace |
| 2012 (2nd) | Joel Edgerton | Wish You Were Here | Dave Flannery |
| 2012 (2nd) | Matthew Goode | Burning Man | Tom |
| 2012 (2nd) | Guy Pearce | 33 Postcards | Dean Randall |
| 2013 (3rd) | Leonardo DiCaprio | The Great Gatsby | Jay Gatsby |
| 2013 (3rd) | Sitthiphon Disamoe | The Rocket | Ahlo |
| 2013 (3rd) | Ewen Leslie | Dead Europe | Isaac |
| 2013 (3rd) | Hugo Weaving | The Turning | Bob Lang |
| 2014 (4th) | David Gulpilil | Charlie's Country | Charlie |
| 2014 (4th) | Russell Crowe | The Water Diviner | Joshua Connor |
| 2014 (4th) | Damon Herriman | The Little Death | Dan |
| 2014 (4th) | Guy Pearce | The Rover | Eric |
| 2015 (5th) | Michael Caton | Last Cab to Darwin | Rex |
| 2015 (5th) | Patrick Brammall | Ruben Guthrie | Ruben Guthrie |
| 2015 (5th) | Ryan Corr | Holding the Man | Timothy Conigrave |
| 2015 (5th) | Sullivan Stapleton | Cut Snake | Pommie |
| 2016 (6th) | Andrew Garfield | Hacksaw Ridge | Desmond Doss |
| 2016 (6th) | John Brumpton | Pawno | Les Underwood |
| 2016 (6th) | Damian Hill | Pawno | Danny Williamson |
| 2016 (6th) | Ewen Leslie | The Daughter | Oliver |
| 2017 (7th) | Sunny Pawar | Lion | Young Saroo Brierley |
| 2017 (7th) | Stephen Curry | Hounds of Love | John White |
| 2017 (7th) | Ewen Leslie | The Butterfly Tree | Al |
| 2017 (7th) | Osamah Sami | Ali's Wedding | Ali |
| 2018 (8th) |
| 2018 (8th) | Hamilton Morris | Sweet Country | Sam Kelly |
| 2018 (8th) | Ryan Corr | 1% | President Paddo |
| 2018 (8th) | Lucas Hedges | Boy Erased | Jared Eamons |
| 2018 (8th) | Damian Hill | West of Sunshine | Jim |
| 2018 (8th) | Daniel Monks | Pulse | Olly |
| 2019 (9th) | Damon Herriman | Judy and Punch | Punch |
| 2019 (9th) | Timothée Chalamet | The King | King Henry V |
| 2019 (9th) | Baykali Ganambarr | The Nightingale | "Billy" Mangala |
| 2019 (9th) | Dev Patel | Hotel Mumbai | Arjun |
| 2019 (9th) | Hugo Weaving | Hearts and Bones | Dan Fisher |
| 2020s ||||
| 2020 (10th) | Toby Wallace | Babyteeth | Moses |
| 2020 (10th) | George MacKay | True History of the Kelly Gang | Ned Kelly |
| 2020 (10th) | Sam Neill | Rams | Colin |
| 2020 (10th) | Richard Roxburgh | H is for Happiness | Jim Phee |
| 2020 (10th) | Hugo Weaving | Measure for Measure | Duke |
| 2021 (11th) | Caleb Landry Jones | Nitram | Nitram |
| 2021 (11th) | Simon Baker | High Ground | Travis |
| 2021 (11th) | Eric Bana | The Dry | Aaron Falk |
| 2021 (11th) | Ahmed Malek | The Furnace | Hanif |
| 2021 (11th) | Jacob Junior Nayinggul | High Ground | Gutjuk |
| 2022 (12th) | Austin Butler | Elvis | Elvis Presley |
| 2022 (12th) | Rob Collins | The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson | Yadaka |
| 2022 (12th) | Joel Edgerton | The Stranger | Mark Frame |
| 2022 (12th) | Idris Elba | Three Thousand Years of Longing | The Djinn |
| 2022 (12th) | Damon Herriman | Nude Tuesday | Bruno |