Black Reel Award for Outstanding Lead Performance

Black Reel Award for Outstanding Performance
Black Reel Award for Outstanding Performance
	The 2026 recipient: Michael B. Jordan
Awarded for	Outstanding Performance
Country	United States
Presented by	Black Reel Awards (BRAs)
First award	2024
Most recent winner	Michael B. Jordan ; Sinners
Website	blackreelawards.com

Awarded forOutstanding Performance

CountryUnited States

Presented byBlack Reel Awards (BRAs)

First award2024

This article lists the winners and nominees for the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Lead Performance. The award recognizes an actor or actress who delivers an outstanding performance in a leading role within the given eligible period.^[1]

The award was first presented at the 24th Annual Black Reel Awards as a result of a merger between the Outstanding Actor and Outstanding Actress awards into a single gender-neutral award, with a total of ten nominees being selected. Jeffrey Wright is the inaugural winner for his performance in American Fiction, for which he was also nominated at the Academy Awards.

[1]

Year	Actor	Role(s)	Film
2024 ^[2]
	Jeffrey Wright	Thelonious "Monk" Ellison	American Fiction
	Fantasia Barrino	Celie Harris-Johnson	The Color Purple
	John Boyega	Fontaine / Tyrone	They Cloned Tyrone
	Colman Domingo	Bayard Rustin	Rustin
	Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor	Isabel Wilkerson	Origin
	Jamie Foxx	Willie E. Gary	The Burial
	Kelvin Harrison Jr.	Chevalier de Saint-Georges	Chevalier
	Michael B. Jordan	Adonis Creed	Creed III
	Teyana Taylor	Inez de la Paz	A Thousand and One
	Sophie Wilde	Mia	Talk to Me
2025 ^[3]
	Marianne Jean-Baptiste	Pansy Deacon	Hard Truths
	Naomi Ackie	Frida	Blink Twice
	Ryan Destiny	Claressa Shields	The Fire Inside
	Colman Domingo	John "Divine G" Whitfield	Sing Sing
	Cynthia Erivo	Elphaba Thropp	Wicked
	André Holland	Tarrell	Exhibiting Forgiveness
	Regina King	Shirley Chisholm	Shirley
	John David Washington	Boy Willie	The Piano Lesson
	Kerry Washington	Charity Adams	The Six Triple Eight
	Zendaya	Tashi Duncan	Challengers
2026 ^[4]
	Michael B. Jordan	Elijah "Smoke" Moore / Elias "Stack" Moore	Sinners
	Danielle Deadwyler	Hailey Freeman	40 Acres
	Cynthia Erivo	Elphaba Thropp	Wicked: For Good
	André Holland	Roger	Love, Brooklyn
	Chase Infiniti	Willa Ferguson	One Battle After Another
	Dwayne Johnson	Mark Kerr	The Smashing Machine
	Jonathan Majors	Killian Maddox	Magazine Dreams
	Keke Palmer	Dreux	One of Them Days
	Tessa Thompson	Hedda Gabler	Hedda
	Denzel Washington	David King	Highest 2 Lowest

Record	Actor	Film	Age (in years)
Oldest winner	Jeffrey Wright	American Fiction	58
Oldest nominee	Denzel Washington	Highest 2 Lowest	70
Youngest winner	Michael B. Jordan	Sinners	39
Youngest nominee	Chase Infiniti	One Battle After Another	25

v t e Black Reel Awards
Film	Film Director Lead Performance Supporting Performance Breakthrough Performance Ensemble Screenplay Documentary International Film Independent Film Independent Documentary Cinematography Costume Design Editing Hairstyling & Makeup Original Score Original Song Original Soundtrack Production Design Voice Performance Short Film Emerging Director First Screenplay
Television	Comedy Series Drama Series Movie or Limited Series Documentary Variety, Sketch, or Talk – Series or Special Lead Performance in a Comedy Series Lead Performance in a Drama Series Lead Performance in a TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Performance in a Comedy Series Supporting Performance in a Drama Series Supporting Performance in a TV Movie/Limited Series Guest Performance in a Comedy Series Guest Performance in a Drama Series Directing, Comedy Series Directing, Drama Series Director, TV Movie/Limited Series Writing, Comedy Series Writing, Drama Series Writing, TV Movie/Limited Series Cinematography Costume Design Editing Makeup & Hairstyling Musical Score Music Supervision Original Song Production Design
Retired	Actor Actress Supporting Actor Supporting Actress Breakthrough Performance, Male Breakthrough Performance, Female Actor, Independent Film Actress, Independent Film Actor, Drama Series Actress, Drama Series Supporting Actor, Drama Series Supporting Actress, Drama Series Guest Actor, Drama Series Guest Actress, Drama Series Actor, Comedy Series Actress, Comedy Series Supporting Actor, Comedy Series Supporting Actress, Comedy Series Guest Actor, Comedy Series Guest Actress, Comedy Series Actor, TV Movie/Limited Series Actress, TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actor, TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actress, TV Movie/Limited Series Original Television Program Film Poster
Ceremonies	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Black Reel Award for Outstanding Lead Performance

2020s

Multiple nominations

Age superlatives

References

Related Articles