European Film Award for Best Actor

European Film Award for Best Actor
Awarded for	Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Presented by	European Film Academy
First award	Max von Sydow Pelle the Conqueror (1988)
Currently held by	Abou Sangare Souleymane's Story (2024)
Website	europeanfilmacademy.org

The European Film Award for Best Actor is an award given out at the annual European Film Awards to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film industry. The awards are presented by the European Film Academy (EFA) and was first presented in 1988 to Swedish actor Max von Sydow for his role as Lassefar "Lasse" Karlsson in Pelle the Conqueror .

Daniel Auteuil, Mads Mikkelsen, and Toni Servillo are the only actors who have received this award more than once with two wins each, while Mikkelsen is the most nominated actor in the category with five nominations.

Winners and nominees

Max von Sydow won for his role in Pelle the Conqueror in 1988.

Philippe Noiret won for his roles in Life and Nothing But and Cinema Paradiso in 1989.

Matti Pellonpää won for his role in La Vie de bohème in 1992.

Daniel Auteuil has won twice for his roles in A Heart in Winter (1993) and Caché (2005).

Bob Hoskins won for his role in Twenty Four Seven in 1997.

Ralph Fiennes won for his role in Sunshine in 1999.

Sergi López won for his role in Harry, He's Here to Help in 2000.

Ben Kingsley won for his role in Sexy Beast in 2001.

Sergio Castellitto won for his roles in Mostly Martha and My Mother's Smile in 2002.

Daniel Brühl won for his role in Good Bye Lenin! in 2003.

Javier Bardem won for his role in The Sea Inside in 2004.

Toni Servillo has won twice for his roles in Il Divo and Gomorra (2008) and The Great Beauty (2013).

Sasson Gabai won forhis role in The Band's Visit in 2007.

Tahar Rahim won for his role in A Prophet in 2009.

Ewan McGregor won for his role in The Ghost Writer in 2010.

Colin Firth won for his role in The King's Speech in 2011.

Jean-Louis Trintignant won for his role in Amour in 2012.

Peter Simonischek won for his role in Toni Erdmann in 2016.

Claes Bang won for his role in The Square in 2017.

Marcello Fonte won for his role in Dogman in 2018.

Antonio Banderas won for his role in Pain and Glory in 2019.

Anthony Hopkins won for his role in The Father in 2021.

Zlatko Burić won for his role in Triangle of Sadness in 2022.

Mads Mikkelsen won for his role in The Promised Land in 2023.

1980s

Year	Winner and nominees	English title	Original title	Character
1988 (1st)	Max von Sydow	Pelle the Conqueror	Pelle erobreren	Lassefar "Lasse" Karlsson
	Klaus Maria Brandauer	Hanussen		Klaus Schneider / Erik Jan Hanussen
	Alfredo Landa	El bosque animado		Malvís / Bandid Fendetestas
	Udo Samel	Mit meinen heißen Tränen		Franz Schubert
	Dorel Vişan	Iacob		Iacob
1989 (2nd)	Philippe Noiret	Life and Nothing But Cinema Paradiso	La vie et rien d'autre Nuovo cinema Paradiso	Commandant Delaplane Alfredo
	/ Daniel Day-Lewis	My Left Foot		Christy Brown
	Davor Dujmović	Time of the Gypsies	Dom za vesanje	Perhan
	Károly Eperjes	Eldorádó		Sándor Monori
	Jozef Króner	Thou, Which Art in Heaven	Ti, koyto si na nebeto	Georg Henih

1990s

Year	Winner and nominees	English title	Original title	Character
1990 (3rd)	Kenneth Branagh	Henry V		King Henry V of England
	Gérard Depardieu	Cyrano de Bergerac		Cyrano de Bergerac
	Philip Zandén	Skyddsängeln		Jacob
1991 (4th)	Michel Bouquet	Toto the Hero	Toto le héros	Thomas
	Claudio Amendola	Ultrà		Principe
	Richard Anconina	Le Petit Criminel		Gérard
1992 (5th)	Matti Pellonpää	La Vie de Bohème		Rodolfo
	Denis Lavant	The Lovers on the Bridge	Les Amants du Pont-Neuf	Alex
	Enrico Lo Verso	The Stolen Children	Il ladro di bambini	Antonio
1993 (6th)	Daniel Auteuil	Un cœur en hiver		Stéphane
	Carlo Cecchi	Morte di un matematico napoletano		Renato Caccioppoli
	Jan Decleir	Daens		Adolf Daens
1994 (7th)	No award given
1995 (8th)	No award given
1996 (9th)	Ian McKellen	Richard III		Richard III of England
1997 (10th)	Bob Hoskins	Twenty Four Seven		Alan Darcy
	Mario Adorf	Rossini		Paolo Rossini
	Jerzy Stuhr	Love Stories	Historie miłosne	The university teacher / The priest / Col. Jerzy Matałowski / Prisoner Zdzisław Filip / Petent
	Philippe Torreton	Captain Conan	Capitaine Conan	Conan
1998 (11th)	Roberto Benigni	Life Is Beautiful	La vita è bella	Guido Orefice
	Javier Bardem	Live Flesh	Carne trémula	David
	Peter Mullan	My Name Is Joe		Joe Kavanagh
	Ulrich Thomsen	The Celebration	Festen	Christian Klingenfeldt-Hansen
1999 (12th)	Ralph Fiennes	Sunshine		Ignatz Sonnenschein (Sors) / Adam Sors / Ivan Sors
	Anders W. Berthelsen	Mifune's Last Song	Mifunes sidste sang	Kresten
	Rupert Everett	An Ideal Husband		Lord Arthur Goring
	Götz George	After the Truth	Nichts als die Wahrheit	Josef Mengele
	Philippe Torreton	Ça commence aujourd'hui		Daniel Lefebvre
	Ray Winstone	The War Zone		Dad

2000s

Year	Winner and nominees	English title	Original title	Character
2000 (13th) [1]	Sergi López	Harry, He's Here to Help	Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien	Harry
	Jamie Bell	Billy Elliot		Billy Elliot
	Bruno Ganz	Bread and Tulips	Pane e tulipani	Fernando Girasole
	Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson	Angels of the Universe	Englar alheimsins	Páll
	Krzysztof Siwczyk	Wojaczek		Rafal Wojaczek
	Stellan Skarsgård	Aberdeen		Tomas Heller
2001 (14th) [2]	Ben Kingsley	Sexy Beast		Don Logan
	Jesper Christensen	The Bench	Bænken	Kaj
	Branko Đurić	No Man's Land		Čiki
	Michael Caine Tom Courtenay David Hemmings Bob Hoskins Ray Winstone (Cast of Last Orders)	Last Orders		Jack Dodds Vic Tucker Lenny Ray Johnson Vince Dodds
	Michel Piccoli	I'm Going Home	Je rentre à la maison	Gilbert Valence
	Stellan Skarsgård	Taking Sides		Wilhelm Furtwängler
2002 (15th) [3]	Sergio Castellitto	Mostly Martha My Mother's Smile	Bella Martha L'ora di religione (Il sorriso di mia madre)	Mario Ernesto Picciafuocco
	Javier Bardem	Mondays in the Sun	Los lunes al sol	Santa
	Javier Cámara	Talk to Her	Hable con ella	Benigno Martín
	Martin Compston	Sweet Sixteen		Liam
	Olivier Gourmet	The Son	Le fils	Olivier
	Markku Peltola	The Man Without a Past	Mies vailla menneisyyttä	M
	Timothy Spall	All or Nothing		Phil
2003 (16th) [4]	/ Daniel Brühl	Good Bye Lenin!		Alexander "Alex" Kerner
	Chiwetel Ejiofor	Dirty Pretty Things		Okwe/Olatokumbo Fadipe
	/ Tómas Lemarquis	Noi the Albino	Nói albinói	Nói
	Luigi Lo Cascio	The Best of Youth	La meglio gioventù	Nicola Carati
	Jean Rochefort	The Man on the Train	L'homme du train	Monsieur Manesquier
	Bruno Todeschini	His Brother	Son frère	Thomas
2004 (17th) [5]	Javier Bardem	The Sea Inside	Mar adentro	Ramón Sampedro
	/ Daniel Brühl	The Edukators	Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei	Jan
	Bruno Ganz	Downfall	Der Untergang	Adolf Hitler
	Gérard Jugnot	The Chorus	Les choristes	Clement Mathieu
	Bogdan Stupka	Our Own	Svoi	Ivan Blinov
	Birol Ünel	Head-On	Gegen die Wand	Cahit Tomruk
2005 (18th) [6]	Daniel Auteuil	Hidden	Caché	Georges Laurent
	Romain Duris	The Beat That My Heart Skipped	De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté	Thomas Seyr
	Henry Hübchen	Go for Zucker	Alles auf Zucker!	Jakob "Jaeckie Zucker" Zuckermann
	Ulrich Matthes	The Ninth Day	Der neunte Tag	Henri Kremer
	Jérémie Renier	The Child	L'enfant	Bruno
	Ulrich Thomsen	Brothers	Brødre	Michael
2006 (19th) [7]	Ulrich Mühe	The Lives of Others	Das Leben der Anderen	Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler
	Patrick Chesnais	Not Here to Be Loved	Je ne suis pas là pour être aimé	Jean-Claude Delsart
	Jesper Christensen	Manslaughter	Drabet	Carsten
	Mads Mikkelsen	After the Wedding	Efter brylluppet	Jacob Petersen
	Cillian Murphy	The Wind That Shakes the Barley		Damien O'Donovan
		Breakfast on Pluto		Patrick/Patricia "Kitten" Braden
	Silvio Orlando	The Caiman	Il caimano	Bruno Bonomo
2007 (20th) [8]	Sasson Gabai	The Band's Visit	Bikur Ha-Tizmoret	Lieutenant-colonel Tawfiq Zacharya
	Elio Germano	My Brother is an Only Child	Mio fratello è figlio unico	Accio Benassi
	Miki Manojlović	Irina Palm		Miklos
	James McAvoy	The Last King of Scotland		Dr. Nicholas Garrigan
	Michel Piccoli	Belle Toujours		Henri Husson
	Ben Whishaw	Perfume: The Story of a Murderer		Jean-Baptiste Grenouille
2008 (21st) [9]	Toni Servillo	Il Divo Gomorra		Giulio Andreotti Franco
	Michael Fassbender	Hunger		Bobby Sands
	Thure Lindhardt Mads Mikkelsen	Flame & Citron	Flammen & Citronen	Bent Faurschou-Hviid / Flammen Jørgen Haagen Schmith / Citronen
	James McAvoy	Atonement		Robbie Turner
	Jürgen Vogel	The Wave	Die Welle	Rainer Wenger
	Elmar Wepper	Cherry Blossoms	Kirschbluten - Hanami	Rudi Angermeier
2009 (22nd) [10]	Tahar Rahim	A Prophet	Un prophète	Malik El-Djebena
	Moritz Bleibtreu	The Baader Meinhof Complex	Der Baader Meinhof Komplex	Andreas Baader
	Steve Evets	Looking for Eric		Eric Bishop
	David Kross	The Reader		Michael Berg
	Dev Patel	Slumdog Millionaire		Jamal Malik
	Filippo Timi	Vincere		Benito Mussolini and Benito Albino Mussolini

2010s

Year	Winner and nominees	English title	Original title	Character
2010 (23rd) [11]	Ewan McGregor	The Ghost Writer		The Ghost
	Jakob Cedergren	Submarino		Nick
	Elio Germano	Our Life	La nostra vita	Claudio
	George Piştereanu	If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle	Eu când vreau să fluier, fluier	Silviu
	Luis Tosar	Cell 211	Celda 211	Malamadre
2011 (24th) [12]	Colin Firth	The King's Speech		King George VI
	Jean Dujardin	The Artist		George Valentin
	Mikael Persbrandt	In a Better World	Hævnen	Anton
	Michel Piccoli	We Have a Pope	Habemus Papam	Cardinal Melville/The Pope
	André Wilms	Le Havre		Marcel Marx
2012 (25th) [13]	Jean-Louis Trintignant	Amour		Georges Laurent
	François Cluzet Omar Sy	The Intouchables	Intouchables	Philippe Driss Bassary
	Michael Fassbender	Shame		Brandon Sullivan
	Mads Mikkelsen	The Hunt	Jagten	Lucas
	Gary Oldman	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy		George Smiley/"Beggarman"
2013 (26th) [14]	Toni Servillo	The Great Beauty	La grande belleza	Jep Gambardella
	Jude Law	Anna Karenina		Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin
	Johan Heldenbergh	The Broken Circle Breakdown		Didier Bontinck
	Fabrice Luchini	In the House	Dans la maison	Germain Germain
	Tom Schilling	A Coffee in Berlin	Oh Boy!	Niko Fischer
2014 (27th) [15] [16]	Timothy Spall	Mr. Turner		Joseph Mallord William Turner
	Brendan Gleeson	Calvary		Father James
	Tom Hardy	Locke		Ivan Locke
	Aleksei Serebryakov	Leviathan	Левиафан	Kolya Sergeyev
	Stellan Skarsgård	Nymphomaniac		Seligman
2015 (28th) [17] [18]
	Michael Caine	Youth	Youth - La giovinezza	Fred Ballinger
	Tom Courtenay	45 Years		Geoff Mercer
	Colin Farrell	The Lobster		David
	Christian Friedel	13 Minutes	Elser - Er hätte die Welt verändert	Georg Elser
	Vincent Lindon	The Measure of a Man	La Loi du marché	Thierry Taugourdeau
2016 (29th) [19]
	Peter Simonischek	Toni Erdmann		Winfried Conradi / Toni Erdmann
	Javier Cámara	Truman		Tomás
	Hugh Grant	Florence Foster Jenkins		St. Clair Bayfield
	Dave Johns	I, Daniel Blake		Daniel Blake
	Burghart Klaußner	The People vs. Fritz Bauer	Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer	Fritz Bauer
	Rolf Lassgård	A Man Called Ove	En man som heter Ove	Ove
2017 (30th) [20] [21]
	Claes Bang	The Square		Christian
	Nahuel Pérez Biscayart	BPM (Beats per Minute)	120 battements par minute	Sean Dalmazo
	Colin Farrell	The Killing of a Sacred Deer		Steven Murphy
	Josef Hader	Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe	Vor der Morgenröte	Stefan Zweig
	Jean-Louis Trintignant	Happy End		Georges Laurent
2018 (31st) [22] [23]
	Marcello Fonte	Dogman		Marcello
	/ Jakob Cedergren	The Guilty	Den skyldige	Asger Holm
	Rupert Everett	The Happy Prince		Oscar Wilde
	Sverrir Gudnason	Borg vs McEnroe	Borg	Björn Borg
	Tomasz Kot	Cold War	Zimna wojna	Wiktor Warski
	Victor Polster	Girl		Lara
2019 (32nd) [24] [25]
	Antonio Banderas	Pain and Glory	Dolor y gloria	Salvador Mallo
	Jean Dujardin	An Officer and a Spy	J'accuse	Picquart
	Pierfrancesco Favino	The Traitor	Il traditore	Tommaso Buscetta
	Levan Gelbakhiani	And Then We Danced		Merab
	Alexander Scheer	Gundermann		Gerhard Gundermann
	Ingvar E. Sigurdsson	A White, White Day	Hvítur, Hvítur Dagur	Ingimundur

2020s

Year	Winner and nominees	English title	Original title	Character
2020 (33rd) [26] [27]	Mads Mikkelsen	Another Round	Druk	Martin
	Bartosz Bielenia	Corpus Christi	Boże Ciało	Daniel
	Goran Bogdan	Father	Otac	Nikola
	Elio Germano	Hidden Away	Volevo nascondermi	Antonio Ligabue
	Luca Marinelli	Martin Eden		Martin Eden
	/ Viggo Mortensen	Falling		John Petersen
2021 (34th) [28]	/ Anthony Hopkins	The Father		Anthony
	Yura Borisov	Compartment No. 6	Hytti nro 6 / Купе номер шесть	Vadim
	Vincent Lindon	Titane		Vincent
	/ Tahar Rahim	The Mauritanian		Mohamedou Ould Slahi
	Franz Rogowski	Great Freedom	Große Freiheit	Hans Hoffmann
2022 (35th) [29]	/ Zlatko Burić	Triangle of Sadness		Dmitry
	/ Elliott Crosset Hove	Godland		Lucas
	Eden Dambrine	Close		Léo
	Pierfrancesco Favino	Nostalgia		Felice Lasco
	Paul Mescal	Aftersun		Calum
2023 (36th) [30]	Mads Mikkelsen	The Promised Land		Ludvig Kahlen
	Thomas Schubert	Afire		Leon
	Jussi Vatanen	Fallen Leaves		Holappa
	Josh O'Connor	La chimera		Arthur
	Christian Friedel	The Zone of Interest		Rudolf Höss
2024 (37th) [31]	Abou Sangare	Souleymane's Story	L'Histoire de Souleymane	Souleymane
	Franz Rogowski	Bird		Bird
	Ralph Fiennes	Conclave		Thomas Cardinal Lawrence
	Lars Eidinger	Dying	Sterben	Tom Lunies
	Daniel Craig	Queer		William Lee

Multiple wins and nominations

Multiple wins

Wins	Actor
2	Daniel Auteuil
	Mads Mikkelsen
	Toni Servillo

Most nominations

Nominations	Actor
5	Mads Mikkelsen
3	Javier Bardem
	Elio Germano
	Michel Piccoli
	Stellan Skarsgård
2	Daniel Auteuil
	/ Daniel Brühl
	Michael Caine
	Javier Cámara
	/ Jakob Cedergren
	Jesper Christensen
	Tom Courtenay
	Jean Dujardin
	Rupert Everett
	Colin Farrell
	/ Michael Fassbender
	Pierfrancesco Favino
	Ralph Fiennes
	Bruno Ganz
	Bob Hoskins
	Vincent Lindon
	James McAvoy
	Cillian Murphy
	Tahar Rahim
	Franz Rogowski
	Toni Servillo
	Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson
	Timothy Spall
	Ulrich Thomsen
	Philippe Torreton
	Jean-Louis Trintignant
	Ray Winstone

See also

• BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
• BIFA for Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film
• César Award for Best Actor
• David di Donatello for Best Actor
• Goya Award for Best Actor
• Polish Academy Award for Best Actor
• Robert Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role

References

1. "2000 - The Winners". European Film Academy . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
2. Blaney, Martin (December 2, 2001). "Amelie walks off with European film academy crown". Screendaily . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
3. Frater, Patrick (December 7, 2002). "Talk To Her triumphs at European Film Awards". Screendaily . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
4. Hernandez, Eugene (December 8, 2003). "Germany's "Lenin" Wins Top Prizes at European Film Awards". Indiewire . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
5. Hernandez, Eugene (December 13, 2004). "German Film "Head-On' Tops 2004 European Film Awards". Indiewire . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
6. Hernandez, Eugene (December 4, 2005). ""Cache" and "Sophie Scholl" Top European Film Awards". Indiewire . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
7. Hernandez, Eugene (December 3, 2006). "AWARDS WATCH: "Volver" and "The Lives of Others" Top European Film Awards". Indiewire . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
8. "2007 - The Winners". European Film Academy . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
9. Roxborough, Scott (December 6, 2008). "'Gomorra' tops European Film Awards". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
10. Brooks, Brian (December 12, 2009). ""White Ribbon" Reigns at European Film Awards". Indiewire . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
11. Lyttelton, Oliver (December 6, 2010). "'The Ghost Writer' Inexplicably Wins Six At 2010 European Film Academy Awards". Indiewire . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
12. Roxborough, Scott (December 3, 2011). "Lars Von Trier's 'Melancholia' Wins Best Film at European Film Awards". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
13. Knegt, Peter (December 1, 2012). "'Amour' Sweeps European Film Awards". Indiewire . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
14. Barraclough, Leo (December 7, 2013). "Paolo Sorrentino's 'The Great Beauty' Wins Top Prize at European Film Awards". Variety . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
15. Hopewell, John (November 8, 2014). "'Ida,' 'Leviathan' Top European Film Awards Nominations". Variety . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
16. Jagernauth, Kevin (December 15, 2014). "Pawel Pawlikowski's 'Ida' Wins Big At European Film Awards". Indiewire . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
17. Lodge, Guy (November 7, 2015). "'Youth,' 'The Lobster' Lead European Film Award Nominations". Variety . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
18. Heath, Paul (December 14, 2015). "European Film Awards winners: Youth, Amy, The Lobster lead field". The Hollywood News. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
19. Roxborough, Scott (December 10, 2016). "'Toni Erdmann' Wins European Film Awards". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
20. "Archive - European Film Awards". europeanfilmawards.eu. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
21. Pond, Steve (December 9, 2017). "Swedish Comedy 'The Square' Dominates European Film Awards". TheWrap . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
22. "Archive - European Film Awards". europeanfilmawards.eu. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
23. Nordine, Michael (December 15, 2018). "'Cold War' Is the Big Winner at the European Film Awards, Picking Up Oscar Momentum". Indiewire . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
24. "Archive - European Film Awards". europeanfilmawards.eu. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
25. Roxborough, Scott (December 7, 2019). "'The Favourite' Wins Big at European Film Awards". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
26. Grater, Tom (November 10, 2020). "European Film Award Nominations: 'Another Round', 'Corpus Christi', 'Martin Eden' Lead The Way". Deadline . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
27. Roxborough, Scott (December 12, 2020). "'Another Round' Wins 2020 European Film Awards". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved August 7, 2021.
28. Roxborough, Scott (November 9, 2021). "'Titane', 'Hand of God' Among European Film Awards Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved November 10, 2021.
29. Goodfellow, Melanie (2022-11-08). "'Close', 'Holy Spider' & 'Triangle Of Sadness' Lead European Film Awards Nominations". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
30. Goodfellow, Melanie (November 7, 2023). "'Fallen Leaves' & 'The Zone Of Interest' Top European Film Award Nominations In Main Categories". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved November 7, 2023.
31. Goodfellow, Melanie (November 7, 2023). "'Fallen Leaves' & 'The Zone Of Interest' Top European Film Award Nominations In Main Categories". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved November 7, 2023.

External links

• European Film Academy archive