Empire Award for Best Actor
Former annual British film award
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The Empire Award for Best Actor was an Empire Award presented annually by the British film magazine Empire to honor an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role while working within the film industry. The Empire Award for Best Actor was one of five ongoing awards which were first introduced at the 1st Empire Awards ceremony in 1996 (the others being Best Actress, Best Director, Best Film and Best British Film) with Nigel Hawthorne receiving the award for his role in The Madness of King George. Winners were chosen by the readers of Empire magazine.
| Empire Award for Best Actor | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best performance by an actor in a leading role |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Presented by | Empire magazine |
| First award | 1996 |
| Currently held by | Hugh Jackman - Logan (2018) |
Since its inception, the award was given to 18 actors. Johnny Depp and James McAvoy have received the most awards in this category with two awards each. Johnny Depp was nominated on five occasions, more than any other actor. Hugh Jackman was the most recent winner in this category for his role in Logan.
Winners and nominees
In the list below, winners are listed first in the colored row in boldface, followed by the other nominees. The number of the ceremony (1st, 2nd, etc.) appears in parentheses after the awards year, linked to the article (if any) on that ceremony.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Indicates the winner |
1990s
| Year | Actor | Character | Film | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Nigel Hawthorne | King George III | The Madness of King George | [1] |
|
Morgan Freeman | Det. Lt. William Somerset | Seven | [2] |
|
Kevin Spacey | Det. Sgt. Jack Vincennes | L.A. Confidential | [3] |
|
Tom Hanks | Captain John H. Miller | Saving Private Ryan | [4][5] |
| Jeff Bridges | Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski | The Big Lebowski | ||
| Jim Carrey | Truman Burbank | The Truman Show | ||
| Matt Damon | Will Hunting | Good Will Hunting | ||
| Samuel L. Jackson | Ordell Robbie | Jackie Brown |
2000s
2010s
Multiple awards and nominations
Multiple awards
As of the 23rd Empire Awards[update], the following individuals received two or more Best Actor awards:
| Awards | Film |
|---|---|
| 2 | James McAvoy |
| Johnny Depp | |
| Matt Damon |
Multiple nominations
As of the 23rd Empire Awards[update], the following individuals received two or more Best Actor nominations:
Notes
- Academy Award nominated performance for Steve Jobs.