# NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

This article lists the winners and nominees for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.

## Winners and nominees

For each year in the tables below, the winner is listed first and highlighted in bold.

### 1960s

| Year | Actor | Film | Ref |
| 1969 | Raymond St. Jacques | Change of Mind | |

### 1970s

| Year | Actor | Film | Ref |
| 1970 | Jim Brown | El Condor | |
| 1971 | Donald Sutherland | Klute | |
| 1971 | Bill Cosby | Man and Boy | |
| 1971 | Louis Gossett Jr. | Skin Game | |
| 1971 | Moses Gunn | Shaft | |
| 1971 | Tom Laughlin | Billy Jack | |
| 1971 | Sidney Poitier | The Organization | |
| 1971 | Richard Roundtree | Shaft | |
| 1971 | Woody Strode | Black Jesus | |
| 1972 | Billy Dee Williams | Lady Sings the Blues | |
| 1973 | No award was given | — | — |
| 1974 | Bernie Casey | Maurie | |
| 1974 | Carl Anderson | Jesus Christ Superstar | |
| 1974 | Lawrence Cook | The Spook Who Sat by the Door | |
| 1974 | Sidney Poitier | A Warm December | |
| 1974 | Bo Svenson | Maurie | |
| 1975 | James Earl Jones | Claudine | |
| 1975 | Bill Cosby | Uptown Saturday Night | |
| 1975 | Leonard Jackson | Five on the Black Hand Side | |
| 1975 | Roger Robinson | Newman's Law | |
| 1975 | Jon Voight | Conrack | |
| 1976 | Bill Cosby | Let's Do It Again | |
| 1977 | Billy Dee Williams | The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings | |
| 1978 | Paul Winfield | A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich | |
| 1979 | Michael Jackson | The Wiz | |

### 1980s

| Year | Actor | Film |
| 1980 | LeVar Burton | The Hunter |
| 1981 | Richard Pryor | Bustin' Loose |
| 1982 | Louis Gossett Jr. | An Officer and a Gentleman |
| 1983 | Eddie Murphy | Trading Places |
| 1984 | Prince | Purple Rain |
| 1985 | Adolph Caesar | A Soldier's Story |
| 1986 | Gregory Hines | Running Scared |
| 1987 | Danny Glover | Lethal Weapon |
| 1987 | Robert Guillaume | Wanted: Dead or Alive |
| 1987 | Dexter Gordon | 'Round Midnight |
| 1987 | Robert Townsend | Hollywood Shuffle |
| 1987 | Eddie Murphy | Beverly Hills Cop II |
| 1988 | Denzel Washington | Cry Freedom |
| 1988 | Gregory Hines | Off Limits |
| 1988 | Eddie Murphy | Coming to America |
| 1988 | Sidney Poitier | Shoot to Kill |
| 1988 | Carl Weathers | Action Jackson |
| 1989 | Morgan Freeman | Lean on Me |
| 1989 | Spike Lee | Do the Right Thing |
| 1989 | Denzel Washington | The Mighty Quinn |
| 1989 | Gregory Hines | Tap |
| 1989 | Danny Glover | Lethal Weapon 2 |

### 1990s

| Year | Actor | Film | Ref |
| 1990 | Morgan Freeman | Driving Miss Daisy | |
| 1991 | N/A | N/A | |
| 1992 | Wesley Snipes | New Jack City | |
| 1992 | Cuba Gooding, Jr. | Boyz n the Hood | |
| 1992 | Ice Cube | Boyz n the Hood | |
| 1992 | Laurence Fishburne | Boyz n the Hood | |
| 1992 | Danny Glover | To Sleep with Anger | |
| 1993 | Denzel Washington | Mississippi Masala | |
| 1993 | Eddie Murphy | Boomerang | |
| 1993 | Laurence Fishburne | Deep Cover | |
| 1993 | Wesley Snipes | White Men Can't Jump | |
| 1993 | Danny Glover | Grand Canyon | |
| 1994 | Denzel Washington | Malcolm X | |
| 1994 | Laurence Fishburne | What's Love Got to Do with It | |
| 1994 | Danny Glover | Bopha! | |
| 1994 | Sidney Poitier | Sneakers | |
| 1994 | Tupac Shakur | Poetic Justice | |
| 1995 | No award was given | — | — |
| 1996 | Denzel Washington | Crimson Tide | |
| 1996 | Laurence Fishburne | Othello | |
| 1996 | Morgan Freeman | Se7en | |
| 1996 | Gregory Hines | Waiting to Exhale | |
| 1996 | James Earl Jones | Cry, the Beloved Country | |
| 1997 | Denzel Washington | Courage Under Fire | |
| 1997 | Ossie Davis | Get on the Bus | |
| 1997 | Cuba Gooding, Jr. | Jerry Maguire | |
| 1997 | Samuel L. Jackson | The Long Kiss Goodnight | |
| 1997 | Eddie Murphy | The Nutty Professor | |
| 1998 | Djimon Hounsou | Amistad | |
| 1998 | Laurence Fishburne | Hoodlum | |
| 1998 | Samuel L. Jackson | Eve's Bayou | |
| 1998 | Ving Rhames | Rosewood | |
| 1998 | Larenz Tate | Love Jones | |
| 1999 | Danny Glover | Beloved | |
| 1999 | Samuel L. Jackson | The Negotiator | |
| 1999 | Will Smith | Enemy of the State | |
| 1999 | Chris Tucker | Rush Hour | |
| 1999 | Denzel Washington | He Got Game | |

### 2000s

| Year | Actor | Film |
| 2000 | Denzel Washington | The Hurricane |
| 2000 | Morris Chestnut | The Best Man |
| 2000 | Taye Diggs | The Best Man |
| 2000 | Michael Clarke Duncan | The Green Mile |
| 2000 | Laurence Fishburne | The Matrix |
| 2001 | Denzel Washington | Remember the Titans |
| 2001 | Omar Epps | Love & Basketball |
| 2001 | Cuba Gooding Jr. | Men of Honor |
| 2001 | Samuel L. Jackson | Shaft |
| 2001 | Will Smith | The Legend of Bagger Vance |
| 2002 | Denzel Washington | Training Day |
| 2002 | Morgan Freeman | Along Came a Spider |
| 2002 | Will Smith | Ali |
| 2002 | Chris Tucker | Rush Hour 2 |
| 2002 | Tyrese | Baby Boy |
| 2003 | Denzel Washington | John Q |
| 2003 | Taye Diggs | Brown Sugar |
| 2003 | Morgan Freeman | High Crimes |
| 2003 | Ice Cube | Barbershop |
| 2003 | Samuel L. Jackson | Changing Lanes |
| 2004 | Cuba Gooding Jr. | Radio |
| 2004 | Laurence Fishburne | The Matrix Revolutions |
| 2004 | Samuel L. Jackson | S.W.A.T. |
| 2004 | Will Smith | Bad Boys II |
| 2004 | Denzel Washington | Out of Time |
| 2005 | Jamie Foxx | Ray |
| 2005 | Don Cheadle | Hotel Rwanda |
| 2005 | Will Smith | I, Robot |
| 2005 | Mario Van Peebles | Baadasssss! |
| 2005 | Denzel Washington | Man on Fire |
| 2006 | Samuel L. Jackson | Coach Carter |
| 2006 | Laurence Fishburne | Assault on Precinct 13 |
| 2006 | Terrence Howard | Hustle & Flow |
| 2006 | Shemar Moore | Diary of a Mad Black Woman |
| 2006 | Will Smith | Hitch |
| 2007 | Forest Whitaker | The Last King of Scotland |
| 2007 | Laurence Fishburne | Akeelah and the Bee |
| 2007 | Jamie Foxx | Dreamgirls |
| 2007 | Will Smith | The Pursuit of Happyness |
| 2007 | Denzel Washington | Inside Man |
| 2008 | Denzel Washington | The Great Debaters |
| 2008 | Don Cheadle | Talk to Me |
| 2008 | Terrence Howard | Pride |
| 2008 | Columbus Short | Stomp the Yard |
| 2008 | Will Smith | I Am Legend |
| 2009 | Will Smith | Seven Pounds |
| 2009 | Rob Brown | The Express: The Ernie Davis Story |
| 2009 | Don Cheadle | Traitor |
| 2009 | Derek Luke | Miracle at St. Anna |
| 2009 | Jeffrey Wright | Cadillac Records |

### 2010s

| Year | Actor | Film |
| 2010 | Morgan Freeman | Invictus |
| 2010 | Quinton Aaron | The Blind Side |
| 2010 | Idris Elba | Obsessed |
| 2010 | Jamie Foxx | Law Abiding Citizen |
| 2010 | Denzel Washington | The Taking of Pelham 123 |
| 2011 | Denzel Washington | The Book of Eli |
| 2011 | Common | Just Wright |
| 2011 | Morgan Freeman | RED |
| 2011 | Anthony Mackie | Night Catches Us |
| 2011 | Jaden Smith | The Karate Kid |
| 2012 | Laz Alonso | Jumping the Broom |
| 2012 | Vin Diesel | Fast Five |
| 2012 | Laurence Fishburne | Contagion |
| 2012 | Oliver Litondo | The First Grader |
| 2012 | Eddie Murphy | Tower Heist |
| 2013 | Denzel Washington | Flight |
| 2013 | Jamie Foxx | Django Unchained |
| 2013 | Morgan Freeman | The Magic of Belle Isle |
| 2013 | Tyler Perry | Alex Cross |
| 2013 | Suraj Sharma | Life of Pi |
| 2014 | Forest Whitaker | Lee Daniels' The Butler |
| 2014 | Chadwick Boseman | 42 |
| 2014 | Chiwetel Ejiofor | 12 Years a Slave |
| 2014 | Idris Elba | Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom |
| 2014 | Michael B. Jordan | Fruitvale Station |
| 2015 | David Oyelowo | Selma |
| 2015 | Chadwick Boseman | Get On Up |
| 2015 | Idris Elba | No Good Deed |
| 2015 | Nate Parker | Beyond the Lights |
| 2015 | Denzel Washington | The Equalizer |
| 2016 | Michael B. Jordan | Creed |
| 2016 | Abraham Attah | Beasts of No Nation |
| 2016 | Michael Ealy | The Perfect Guy |
| 2016 | Chiwetel Ejiofor | Secret in Their Eyes |
| 2016 | Will Smith | Concussion |
| 2017 | Denzel Washington | Fences |
| 2017 | Don Cheadle | Miles Ahead |
| 2017 | Stephan James | Race |
| 2017 | Nate Parker | The Birth of a Nation |
| 2017 | Will Smith | Collateral Beauty |
| 2018 | Daniel Kaluuya | Get Out |
| 2018 | Chadwick Boseman | Marshall |
| 2018 | Idris Elba | The Mountain Between Us |
| 2018 | Algee Smith | Detroit |
| 2018 | Denzel Washington | Roman J. Israel, Esq. |
| 2019 | Chadwick Boseman | Black Panther |
| 2019 | Stephan James | If Beale Street Could Talk |
| 2019 | Michael B. Jordan | Creed II |
| 2019 | Denzel Washington | The Equalizer 2 |
| 2019 | John David Washington | BlacKkKlansman |

### 2020s

| Year | Actor | Film |
| 2020 | Michael B. Jordan | Just Mercy |
| 2020 | Chadwick Boseman | 21 Bridges |
| 2020 | Winston Duke | Us |
| 2020 | Daniel Kaluuya | Queen & Slim |
| 2020 | Eddie Murphy | Dolemite Is My Name |
| 2021 | Chadwick Boseman | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom |
| 2021 | Anthony Mackie | The Banker |
| 2021 | Delroy Lindo | Da 5 Bloods |
| 2021 | Forest Whitaker | Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey |
| 2021 | Will Smith | Bad Boys for Life |
| 2022 | Will Smith | King Richard |
| 2022 | Denzel Washington | The Tragedy of Macbeth |
| 2022 | Jonathan Majors | The Harder They Fall |
| 2022 | Lakeith Stanfield | Judas and the Black Messiah |
| 2022 | Mahershala Ali | Swan Song |
| 2023 | Will Smith | Emancipation |
| 2023 | Joshua Boone | A Jazzman's Blues |
| 2023 | Sterling K. Brown | Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. |
| 2023 | Daniel Kaluuya | Nope |
| 2023 | Jonathan Majors | Devotion |
| 2024 | Colman Domingo | Rustin |
| 2024 | John Boyega | They Cloned Tyrone |
| 2024 | Jamie Foxx | The Burial |
| 2024 | Denzel Washington | The Equalizer 3 |
| 2024 | Jeffrey Wright | American Fiction |
| 2025 | Martin Lawrence | Bad Boys: Ride or Die |
| 2025 | André Holland | Exhibiting Forgiveness |
| 2025 | Colman Domingo | Sing Sing |
| 2025 | John David Washington | The Piano Lesson |
| 2025 | Kingsley Ben-Adir | Bob Marley: One Love |