# Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture is an award presented annually by the Screen Actors Guild. It has been presented since the 1st Screen Actors Guild Awards in 1995 to a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year.
The award has been presented 30 times, and 28 actors have won the award. Tom Hanks was the award's first winner for Forrest Gump (1994). The most recent winner is Timothée Chalamet who won for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown (2024). Daniel Day-Lewis has won the award three times; no other actor has won it more than once. Denzel Washington has the most nominations with six. Chalamet and Washington are the youngest and oldest winners of this category.

## Winners and nominees

Table key :
| | Indicates the winner |
| † | Indicates a posthumous winner |
| † | Indicates a posthumous nominee |
| ‡ | Indicates the Academy Award winner |

### 1990s

| Year | Actor | Film | Role(s) |
| 1994 (1st) | Tom Hanks ‡ | Forrest Gump | Forrest Gump |
| 1994 (1st) | Morgan Freeman | The Shawshank Redemption | Ellis "Red" Redding |
| 1994 (1st) | Paul Newman | Nobody's Fool | Donald "Sully" Sullivan |
| 1994 (1st) | Tim Robbins | The Shawshank Redemption | Andy Dufresne |
| 1994 (1st) | John Travolta | Pulp Fiction | Vincent Vega |
| 1995 (2nd) | Nicolas Cage ‡ | Leaving Las Vegas | Ben Sanderson |
| 1995 (2nd) | Anthony Hopkins | Nixon | Richard Nixon |
| 1995 (2nd) | James Earl Jones | Cry, the Beloved Country | Rev. Stephen Kumalo |
| 1995 (2nd) | Sean Penn | Dead Man Walking | Matthew Poncelet |
| 1995 (2nd) | Massimo Troisi † | Il Postino: The Postman | Mario Ruoppolo |
| 1996 (3rd) | Geoffrey Rush ‡ | Shine | David Helfgott |
| 1996 (3rd) | Tom Cruise | Jerry Maguire | Jerry Maguire |
| 1996 (3rd) | Ralph Fiennes | The English Patient | László Almásy |
| 1996 (3rd) | Woody Harrelson | The People vs. Larry Flynt | Larry Flynt |
| 1996 (3rd) | Billy Bob Thornton | Sling Blade | Karl Childers |
| 1997 (4th) | Jack Nicholson ‡ | As Good as It Gets | Melvin Udall |
| 1997 (4th) | Matt Damon | Good Will Hunting | Will Hunting |
| 1997 (4th) | Robert Duvall | The Apostle | Euliss "Sonny" Dewey |
| 1997 (4th) | Peter Fonda | Ulee's Gold | Ulysses "Ulee" Jackson |
| 1997 (4th) | Dustin Hoffman | Wag the Dog | Stanley Motss |
| 1998 (5th) | Roberto Benigni ‡ | Life Is Beautiful (La vita è bella) | Guido Orefice |
| 1998 (5th) | Joseph Fiennes | Shakespeare in Love | William Shakespeare |
| 1998 (5th) | Tom Hanks | Saving Private Ryan | Capt. John H. Miller |
| 1998 (5th) | Ian McKellen | Gods and Monsters | James Whale |
| 1998 (5th) | Nick Nolte | Affliction | Wade Whitehouse |
| 1999 (6th) | Kevin Spacey ‡ | American Beauty | Lester Burnham |
| 1999 (6th) | Jim Carrey | Man on the Moon | Andy Kaufman |
| 1999 (6th) | Russell Crowe | The Insider | Jeffrey Wigand |
| 1999 (6th) | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Flawless | Rusty |
| 1999 (6th) | Denzel Washington | The Hurricane | Rubin "Hurricane" Carter |

### 2000s

| Year | Actor | Film | Role(s) |
| 2000 (7th) | Benicio del Toro ‡ won Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor | Traffic | Javier Rodriguez |
| 2000 (7th) | Jamie Bell | Billy Elliot | Billy Elliot |
| 2000 (7th) | Russell Crowe ‡ | Gladiator | Maximus Decimus Meridius |
| 2000 (7th) | Tom Hanks | Cast Away | Chuck Noland |
| 2000 (7th) | Geoffrey Rush | Quills | Marquis de Sade |
| 2001 (8th) | Russell Crowe | A Beautiful Mind | John Forbes Nash Jr. |
| 2001 (8th) | Kevin Kline | Life as a House | George Monroe |
| 2001 (8th) | Sean Penn | I Am Sam | Sam Dawson |
| 2001 (8th) | Denzel Washington ‡ | Training Day | Alonzo Harris |
| 2001 (8th) | Tom Wilkinson | In the Bedroom | Matt Fowler |
| 2002 (9th) | Daniel Day-Lewis | Gangs of New York | William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting |
| 2002 (9th) | Adrien Brody ‡ | The Pianist | Władysław "Wladek" Szpilman |
| 2002 (9th) | Nicolas Cage | Adaptation. | Charlie Kaufman / Donald Kaufman |
| 2002 (9th) | Richard Gere | Chicago | Billy Flynn |
| 2002 (9th) | Jack Nicholson | About Schmidt | Warren Schmidt |
| 2003 (10th) | Johnny Depp | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | Captain Jack Sparrow |
| 2003 (10th) | Peter Dinklage | The Station Agent | Finbar McBride |
| 2003 (10th) | Ben Kingsley | House of Sand and Fog | Colonel Massoud Amir Behrani |
| 2003 (10th) | Bill Murray | Lost in Translation | Bob Harris |
| 2003 (10th) | Sean Penn ‡ | Mystic River | Jimmy Markum |
| 2004 (11th) | Jamie Foxx ‡ | Ray | Ray Charles |
| 2004 (11th) | Don Cheadle | Hotel Rwanda | Paul Rusesabagina |
| 2004 (11th) | Johnny Depp | Finding Neverland | J. M. Barrie |
| 2004 (11th) | Leonardo DiCaprio | The Aviator | Howard Hughes |
| 2004 (11th) | Paul Giamatti | Sideways | Miles Raymond |
| 2005 (12th) | Philip Seymour Hoffman ‡ | Capote | Truman Capote |
| 2005 (12th) | Russell Crowe | Cinderella Man | Jim Braddock |
| 2005 (12th) | Heath Ledger | Brokeback Mountain | Ennis Del Mar |
| 2005 (12th) | Joaquin Phoenix | Walk the Line | Johnny Cash |
| 2005 (12th) | David Strathairn | Good Night, and Good Luck. | Edward R. Murrow |
| 2006 (13th) | Forest Whitaker ‡ | The Last King of Scotland | Idi Amin |
| 2006 (13th) | Leonardo DiCaprio | Blood Diamond | Danny Archer |
| 2006 (13th) | Ryan Gosling | Half Nelson | Dan Dunne |
| 2006 (13th) | Peter O'Toole | Venus | Maurice Russell |
| 2006 (13th) | Will Smith | The Pursuit of Happyness | Chris Gardner |
| 2007 (14th) | Daniel Day-Lewis ‡ | There Will Be Blood | Daniel Plainview |
| 2007 (14th) | George Clooney | Michael Clayton | Michael Clayton |
| 2007 (14th) | Ryan Gosling | Lars and the Real Girl | Lars Lindstrom |
| 2007 (14th) | Emile Hirsch | Into the Wild | Christopher McCandless |
| 2007 (14th) | Viggo Mortensen | Eastern Promises | Nikolai Luzhin |
| 2008 (15th) | Sean Penn ‡ | Milk | Harvey Milk |
| 2008 (15th) | Richard Jenkins | The Visitor | Walter Vale |
| 2008 (15th) | Frank Langella | Frost/Nixon | Richard Nixon |
| 2008 (15th) | Brad Pitt | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Benjamin Button |
| 2008 (15th) | Mickey Rourke | The Wrestler | Randy "The Ram" Robinson |
| 2009 (16th) | Jeff Bridges ‡ | Crazy Heart | Otis "Bad" Blake |
| 2009 (16th) | George Clooney | Up in the Air | Ryan Bingham |
| 2009 (16th) | Colin Firth | A Single Man | George Falconer |
| 2009 (16th) | Morgan Freeman | Invictus | Nelson Mandela |
| 2009 (16th) | Jeremy Renner | The Hurt Locker | Staff Sgt. First Class William James |

### 2010s

| Year | Actor | Film | Role(s) |
| 2010 (17th) | Colin Firth ‡ | The King's Speech | King George VI |
| 2010 (17th) | Jeff Bridges | True Grit | Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn |
| 2010 (17th) | Robert Duvall | Get Low | Felix Bush |
| 2010 (17th) | Jesse Eisenberg | The Social Network | Mark Zuckerberg |
| 2010 (17th) | James Franco | 127 Hours | Aron Ralston |
| 2011 (18th) | Jean Dujardin ‡ | The Artist | George Valentin |
| 2011 (18th) | Demián Bichir | A Better Life | Carlos Galindo |
| 2011 (18th) | George Clooney | The Descendants | Matt King |
| 2011 (18th) | Leonardo DiCaprio | J. Edgar | J. Edgar Hoover |
| 2011 (18th) | Brad Pitt | Moneyball | Billy Beane |
| 2012 (19th) | Daniel Day-Lewis ‡ | Lincoln | Abraham Lincoln |
| 2012 (19th) | Bradley Cooper | Silver Linings Playbook | Patrizio "Pat" Solitano, Jr. |
| 2012 (19th) | John Hawkes | The Sessions | Mark O'Brien |
| 2012 (19th) | Hugh Jackman | Les Misérables | Jean Valjean |
| 2012 (19th) | Denzel Washington | Flight | William "Whip" Whitaker, Sr. |
| 2013 (20th) | Matthew McConaughey ‡ | Dallas Buyers Club | Ron Woodroof |
| 2013 (20th) | Bruce Dern | Nebraska | Woodrow "Woody" Grant |
| 2013 (20th) | Chiwetel Ejiofor | 12 Years a Slave | Solomon Northup |
| 2013 (20th) | Tom Hanks | Captain Phillips | Richard Phillips |
| 2013 (20th) | Forest Whitaker | The Butler | Cecil Gaines |
| 2014 (21st) | Eddie Redmayne ‡ | The Theory of Everything | Stephen Hawking |
| 2014 (21st) | Steve Carell | Foxcatcher | John Eleuthère du Pont |
| 2014 (21st) | Benedict Cumberbatch | The Imitation Game | Alan Turing |
| 2014 (21st) | Jake Gyllenhaal | Nightcrawler | Louis "Lou" Bloom |
| 2014 (21st) | Michael Keaton | Birdman | Riggan Thomson |
| 2015 (22nd) | Leonardo DiCaprio ‡ | The Revenant | Hugh Glass |
| 2015 (22nd) | Bryan Cranston | Trumbo | Dalton Trumbo |
| 2015 (22nd) | Johnny Depp | Black Mass | Whitey Bulger |
| 2015 (22nd) | Michael Fassbender | Steve Jobs | Steve Jobs |
| 2015 (22nd) | Eddie Redmayne | The Danish Girl | Lili Elbe / Einar Wegener |
| 2016 (23rd) | Denzel Washington | Fences | Troy Maxson |
| 2016 (23rd) | Casey Affleck ‡ | Manchester by the Sea | Lee Chandler |
| 2016 (23rd) | Ryan Gosling | La La Land | Sebastian Wilder |
| 2016 (23rd) | Andrew Garfield | Hacksaw Ridge | Desmond T. Doss |
| 2016 (23rd) | Viggo Mortensen | Captain Fantastic | Ben Cash |
| 2017 (24th) | Gary Oldman ‡ | Darkest Hour | Winston Churchill |
| 2017 (24th) | Timothée Chalamet | Call Me by Your Name | Elio Perlman |
| 2017 (24th) | James Franco | The Disaster Artist | Tommy Wiseau |
| 2017 (24th) | Daniel Kaluuya | Get Out | Chris Washington |
| 2017 (24th) | Denzel Washington | Roman J. Israel, Esq. | Roman J. Israel |
| 2018 (25th) | Rami Malek ‡ | Bohemian Rhapsody | Freddie Mercury |
| 2018 (25th) | Christian Bale | Vice | Dick Cheney |
| 2018 (25th) | Bradley Cooper | A Star Is Born | Jackson Maine |
| 2018 (25th) | Viggo Mortensen | Green Book | Tony Lip |
| 2018 (25th) | John David Washington | BlacKkKlansman | Ron Stallworth |
| 2019 (26th) | Joaquin Phoenix ‡ | Joker | Arthur Fleck / Joker |
| 2019 (26th) | Christian Bale | Ford v Ferrari | Ken Miles |
| 2019 (26th) | Leonardo DiCaprio | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Rick Dalton |
| 2019 (26th) | Adam Driver | Marriage Story | Charlie Barber |
| 2019 (26th) | Taron Egerton | Rocketman | Elton John |

### 2020s

| Year | Actor | Film | Role(s) |
| 2020 (27th) | Chadwick Boseman † | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Levee Green |
| 2020 (27th) | Riz Ahmed | Sound of Metal | Ruben Stone |
| 2020 (27th) | Anthony Hopkins ‡ | The Father | Anthony |
| 2020 (27th) | Gary Oldman | Mank | Herman J. Mankiewicz |
| 2020 (27th) | Steven Yeun | Minari | Jacob Yi |
| 2021 (28th) | Will Smith ‡ | King Richard | Richard Williams |
| 2021 (28th) | Javier Bardem | Being the Ricardos | Desi Arnaz |
| 2021 (28th) | Benedict Cumberbatch | The Power of the Dog | Phil Burbank |
| 2021 (28th) | Andrew Garfield | Tick, Tick...Boom! | Jonathan Larson |
| 2021 (28th) | Denzel Washington | The Tragedy of Macbeth | Lord Macbeth |
| 2022 (29th) | Brendan Fraser ‡ | The Whale | Charlie |
| 2022 (29th) | Austin Butler | Elvis | Elvis Presley |
| 2022 (29th) | Colin Farrell | The Banshees of Inisherin | Pádraic Súilleabháin |
| 2022 (29th) | Bill Nighy | Living | Mr. Williams |
| 2022 (29th) | Adam Sandler | Hustle | Stanley Sugerman |
| 2023 (30th) | Cillian Murphy ‡ | Oppenheimer | J. Robert Oppenheimer |
| 2023 (30th) | Bradley Cooper | Maestro | Leonard Bernstein |
| 2023 (30th) | Colman Domingo | Rustin | Bayard Rustin |
| 2023 (30th) | Paul Giamatti | The Holdovers | Paul Hunham |
| 2023 (30th) | Jeffrey Wright | American Fiction | Thelonious "Monk" Ellison |
| 2024 (31st) | Timothée Chalamet | A Complete Unknown | Bob Dylan |
| 2024 (31st) | Adrien Brody ‡ | The Brutalist | László Tóth |
| 2024 (31st) | Daniel Craig | Queer | William Lee |
| 2024 (31st) | Colman Domingo | Sing Sing | John "Divine G" Whitfield |
| 2024 (31st) | Ralph Fiennes | Conclave | Thomas Cardinal Lawrence |

## Superlatives

| Superlative | Leading Actor | Leading Actor | Supporting Actor | Supporting Actor | Overall | Overall |
| Actor with most awards | Daniel Day-Lewis | 3 | Mahershala Ali | 2 | Daniel Day-Lewis | 3 |
| Actor with most nominations | Denzel Washington | 6 | Chris Cooper, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto | 3 | Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington | 6 |
| Actor with most nominations without ever winning | George Clooney, Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling, Viggo Mortensen | 3 | Chris Cooper, Willem Dafoe | 3 | George Clooney | 4 |
| Film with most nominations | The Shawshank Redemption | 2 | The Banshees of Inisherin, The Birdcage, The Contender, Crash, The Irishman, No Country for Old Men, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri | 2 | The Banshees of Inisherin | 3 |
| Oldest Winner | Denzel Washington (Fences, 2017) | 62 | Christopher Plummer (Beginners, 2012) | 82 | Christopher Plummer (Beginners, 2012) | 82 |
| Oldest Nominee | Anthony Hopkins (The Father, 2021) | 83 | Robert Duvall (The Judge, 2015) | 83 | Robert Duvall (The Judge, 2015) | 83 |
| Youngest Winner | Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown, 2025) | 29 | Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight, 2009) | 28 | Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight, 2009) | 28 |
| Youngest Nominee | Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, 2001) | 14 | Jacob Tremblay (Room, 2016) | 9 | Jacob Tremblay (Room, 2016) | 9 |

## Multiple winners
### Three wins

* Daniel Day-Lewis (2002, 2007, 2012)

## Multiple nominees

Note: Winners are indicated in bold type.

### Two nominations

* Christian Bale (Vice (2018), Ford v Ferrari (2019))
* Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart (2009), True Grit (2010))
* Adrien Brody (The Pianist (2002), The Brutalist (2024))
* Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas (1995), Adaptation. (2002))
* Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name (2017), A Complete Unknown (2024))
* Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game (2014), The Power of the Dog (2021))
* Colman Domingo (Rustin (2023), Sing Sing (2024))
* Robert Duvall (The Apostle (1997), Get Low (2010))
* Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient (1996), Conclave (2024))
* Colin Firth (A Single Man (2009), The King's Speech (2010))
* James Franco (127 Hours (2010), The Disaster Artist (2017))
* Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Invictus (2009))
* Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge (2016), Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021))
* Paul Giamatti (Sideways (2004), The Holdovers (2023))
* Philip Seymour Hoffman (Flawless (1999), Capote (2005))
* Anthony Hopkins (Nixon (1995), The Father (2020))
* Jack Nicholson (As Good as It Gets (1997), About Schmidt (2002))
* Gary Oldman (The Darkest Hour (2017), Mank (2020))
* Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything (2014), The Danish Girl (2015))
* Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line (2005), Joker (2019))
* Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Moneyball (2011))
* Geoffrey Rush (Shine (1996), Quills (2000))
* Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), King Richard (2021))
* Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland (2006), The Butler (2013))

### Three nominations

* George Clooney (Michael Clayton (2007), Up in the Air (2009), The Descendants (2011))
* Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook (2012), A Star is Born (2018), Maestro (2023))
* Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York (2002), There Will Be Blood (2007), Lincoln (2012))
* Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Finding Neverland (2004), Black Mass (2015))
* Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson (2006), Lars and the Real Girl (2007), La La Land (2016))
* Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises (2007), Captain Fantastic (2016), Green Book (2018))

### Four nominations

* Russell Crowe (The Insider (1999), Gladiator (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Cinderella Man (2005))
* Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump (1994), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Cast Away (2000), Captain Phillips (2013))
* Sean Penn (Dead Man Walking (1995), I Am Sam (2001), Mystic River (2003), Milk (2008))

### Five nominations

* Leonardo DiCaprio (The Aviator (2004), Blood Diamond (2006), J. Edgar (2011), The Revenant (2015), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019))

### Six nominations

* Denzel Washington (The Hurricane (1999), Training Day (2001), Flight (2012), Fences (2016), Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017), The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021))