# Black Reel Award for Outstanding Actor

This article lists the winners and nominees for the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture. The award recognized an actor who delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role within the given eligible period.
Denzel Washington received the first award for The Hurricane at the 1st Annual Black Reel Award. Since its inception, the award has been given out to 17 actors. Denzel Washington holds the record for most wins and nominations in this category with 5 wins and 15 nominations, respectively. Other multiple winners include Chiwetel Ejiofor & Chadwick Boseman. Washington also became the first person to earn multiple nominations in the same year for The Book of Eli & Unstoppable at the 11th Annual Black Reel Awards. Samuel L. Jackson & Don Cheadle are tied as the most nominated actors in this category without a win.
At the 21st Annual Black Reel Awards, Chadwick Boseman became the first posthumous acting winner in Black Reel Awards History for his performance in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. At age 18, Dev Patel became the youngest actor to win this award for Slumdog Millionaire and at age 72, Morgan Freeman became the oldest winner in this category for Invictus.
The award was discontinued at the 24th Black Reel Awards and merged with Outstanding Actress in favor of a single gender-neutral award, Outstanding Lead Performance.

## Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

### 2000s

| Year | Actor | Film |
| 2000 |
| 2000 | Denzel Washington | The Hurricane |
| 2000 | Taye Diggs | The Best Man |
| 2000 | Laurence Fishburne | The Matrix |
| 2000 | Eddie Murphy | Bowfinger |
| 2000 | Sean Nelson | The Wood |
| 2001 | | |
| 2001 | Denzel Washington | Remember the Titans |
| 2001 | Omar Epps | Love and Basketball |
| 2001 | Morgan Freeman | Nurse Betty |
| 2001 | Cuba Gooding Jr. | Men of Honor |
| 2001 | Samuel L. Jackson | Shaft |
| 2002 | | |
| 2002 | Denzel Washington | Training Day |
| 2002 | Vin Diesel | The Fast and the Furious |
| 2002 | Tyrese Gibson | Baby Boy |
| 2002 | Samuel L. Jackson | The Caveman's Valentine |
| 2002 | Will Smith | Ali |
| 2003 | | |
| 2003 | Derek Luke | Antwone Fisher |
| 2003 | Ice Cube | Barbershop |
| 2003 | Samuel L. Jackson | Changing Lanes |
| 2003 | Wesley Snipes | Undisputed |
| 2003 | Denzel Washington | John Q |
| 2004 | | |
| 2004 | Chiwetel Ejiofor | Dirty Pretty Things |
| 2004 | Cuba Gooding Jr. | Radio |
| 2004 | LL Cool J | Deliver Us from Eva |
| 2004 | Wentworth Miller | The Human Stain |
| 2004 | Denzel Washington | Out of Time |
| 2005 | Drama | Drama |
| 2005 | Jamie Foxx | Ray |
| 2005 | Don Cheadle | Hotel Rwanda |
| 2005 | Mario Van Peebles | BAADASSSSS! |
| 2005 | Bernie Mac | Mr. 3000 |
| 2005 | Jamie Foxx | Breakin' All the Rules |
| 2005 | Ice Cube | Barbershop 2: Back in Business |
| 2006 |
| 2006 | Terrence Howard | Hustle & Flow |
| 2006 | Don Cheadle | Crash |
| 2006 | Idris Elba | The Gospel |
| 2006 | Samuel L. Jackson | Coach Carter |
| 2006 | Will Smith | Hitch |
| 2007 | | |
| 2007 | Forest Whitaker | The Last King of Scotland |
| 2007 | Jamie Foxx | Dreamgirls |
| 2007 | Derek Luke | Catch a Fire |
| 2007 | Will Smith | The Pursuit of Happyness |
| 2007 | Denzel Washington | Inside Man |
| 2008 | | |
| 2008 | Dev Patel | Slumdog Millionaire |
| 2008 | Don Cheadle | Traitor |
| 2008 | Mos Def | Be Kind Rewind |
| 2008 | Chiwetel Ejiofor | Redbelt |
| 2008 | Derek Luke | Miracle at St. Anna |

### 2010s

| Year | Actor | Film |
| 2010 |
| 2010 | Morgan Freeman | Invictus |
| 2010 | Quinton Aaron | The Blind Side |
| 2010 | Jamie Foxx | The Soloist |
| 2010 | Souléymane Sy Savané | Goodbye Solo |
| 2010 | Denzel Washington | The Taking of Pelham 123 |
| 2011 | | |
| 2011 | Anthony Mackie | Night Catches Us |
| 2011 | Don Cheadle | Brooklyn's Finest |
| 2011 | Jaden Smith | The Karate Kid |
| 2011 | Denzel Washington | The Book of Eli |
| 2011 | Denzel Washington | Unstoppable |
| 2012 | | |
| 2012 | John Boyega | Attack the Block |
| 2012 | Laz Alonso | Jumping the Broom |
| 2012 | Demián Bichir | A Better Life |
| 2012 | Oliver Litundo | The First Grader |
| 2012 | Evan Ross | Mooz-lum |
| 2013 | | |
| 2013 | Denzel Washington | Flight |
| 2013 | Jamie Foxx | Django Unchained |
| 2013 | Nate Parker | Red Tails |
| 2013 | Chris Rock | 2 Days in New York |
| 2013 | Omar Sy | The Intouchables |
| 2014 | | |
| 2014 | Chiwetel Ejiofor | 12 Years a Slave |
| 2014 | Idris Elba | Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom |
| 2014 | Michael B. Jordan | Fruitvale Station |
| 2014 | Isaiah Washington | Blue Caprice |
| 2014 | Forest Whitaker | The Butler |
| 2015 | | |
| 2015 | David Oyelowo | Selma |
| 2015 | Chadwick Boseman | Get on Up |
| 2015 | Nate Parker | Beyond the Lights |
| 2015 | Chris Rock | Top Five |
| 2015 | Denzel Washington | The Equalizer |
| 2016 | | |
| 2016 | Michael B. Jordan | Creed |
| 2016 | Abraham Attah | Beasts of No Nation |
| 2016 | Chiwetel Ejiofor | Z for Zachariah |
| 2016 | Samuel L. Jackson | The Hateful Eight |
| 2016 | Will Smith | Concussion |
| 2017 |
| 2017 | Denzel Washington | Fences |
| 2017 | Don Cheadle | Miles Ahead |
| 2017 | Nate Parker | The Birth of a Nation |
| 2017 | Parker Sawyers | Southside with You |
| 2017 | Denzel Washington | The Magnificent Seven |
| 2018 |
| 2018 | Daniel Kaluuya | Get Out |
| 2018 | Chadwick Boseman | Marshall |
| 2018 | Algee Smith | Detroit |
| 2018 | Lakeith Stanfield | Crown Heights |
| 2018 | Denzel Washington | Roman J. Israel, Esq. |
| 2019 |
| 2019 | Chadwick Boseman | Black Panther |
| 2019 | John David Washington | BlacKkKlansman |
| 2019 | Stephan James | If Beale Street Could Talk |
| 2019 | Lakeith Stanfield | Sorry to Bother You |
| 2019 | Michael B. Jordan | Creed II |

## 2020s

| Year | Actor | Film |
| 2020 |
| 2020 | Eddie Murphy | Dolemite Is My Name |
| 2020 | Jimmie Fails | The Last Black Man in San Francisco |
| 2020 | Daniel Kaluuya | Queen & Slim |
| 2020 | Kelvin Harrison Jr. | Waves |
| 2020 | Kelvin Harrison Jr. | Luce |
| 2021 | | |
| 2021 | Chadwick Boseman (posthumous) | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom |
| 2021 | Kingsley Ben-Adir | One Night in Miami... |
| 2021 | Delroy Lindo | Da 5 Bloods |
| 2021 | Rob Morgan | Bull |
| 2021 | Lakeith Stanfield | Judas and the Black Messiah |
| 2022 | | |
| 2022 | Will Smith | King Richard |
| 2022 | Mahershala Ali | Swan Song |
| 2022 | Winston Duke | Nine Days |
| 2022 | Jonathan Majors | The Harder They Fall |
| 2022 | Denzel Washington | The Tragedy of Macbeth |
| 2023 | | |
| 2023 | Jeremy Pope | The Inspection |
| 2023 | John Boyega | Breaking |
| 2023 | Sterling K. Brown | Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. |
| 2023 | Daniel Kaluuya | Nope |
| 2023 | Jonathan Majors | Devotion |

## Multiple nominations and wins
### Multiple wins
#### 5 Wins

* Denzel Washington

#### 2 Wins

* Chadwick Boseman
* Chiwetel Ejiofor

### Multiple nominations
## Age superlatives

| Record | Actor | Film | Age (in years) |
| Oldest winner | Morgan Freeman | Invictus | 72 |
| Oldest nominee | Morgan Freeman | Invictus | 72 |
| Youngest winner | Dev Patel | Slumdog Millionaire | 18 |
| Youngest nominee | Jaden Smith | The Karate Kid | 12 |