IFTA Award for Best International Actor

IFTA Award for Best International Actor
The 2024 recipient: Ralph Fiennes
Awarded for	Best Performance by an Actor
Country	Ireland
Presented by	Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA)
First award	2004
Most recent winner	Ralph Fiennes, Conclave (2025)
Website	ifta.ie

The IFTA Award for Best International Actor is an award presented annually by the Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA). It was first presented at the 2nd Irish Film & Television Awards ceremony in 2004 to a non-Irish actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a feature film.

The record for most wins is two, held by Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis and Robert Downey Jr.; DiCaprio has the most nominations with six. Ralph Fiennes is the award's most recent winner, for Conclave (2024).

Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years are listed as the year of film. The first three ceremonies were held at the end of the year, but since the 4th Irish Film & Television Awards the ceremonies have generally been held the following year. The award wasn't presented between the 16th and the 18th ceremonies, returning at the 19th ceremony in 2023.

Table key

‡	Indicates the winner

2000s

Year	Actor	Film	Ref.
2004 (2nd)	Johnny Depp ‡	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl	[1]
	Jake Gyllenhaal	The Day After Tomorrow
	Jude Law	Cold Mountain
	Bill Murray	Lost in Translation
	Sean Penn	Mystic River
2005 (3rd)	Mickey Rourke ‡	Sin City	[2]
	Christian Bale	Batman Begins
	Johnny Depp	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
	Brad Pitt	Mr. & Mrs. Smith
2006 (4th)	Leonardo DiCaprio ‡	The Departed	[3]
	Sacha Baron Cohen	Borat
	Daniel Craig	Casino Royale
	Ian McKellen	X-Men: The Last Stand
2007 (5th)	Daniel Day-Lewis ‡	There Will Be Blood	[4]
	George Clooney	Michael Clayton
	James McAvoy	Atonement
	Ulrich Mühe	The Lives of Others
2008 (6th)	Robert Downey Jr. ‡	Iron Man	[5]
	Casey Affleck	Gone Baby Gone
	Josh Brolin	W.
	Ralph Fiennes	The Duchess
2009 (7th)	Robert Downey Jr. ‡	Sherlock Holmes	[6]
	Vincent Cassel	Mesrine: Killer Instinct
	Sam Rockwell	Moon
	Stanley Tucci	The Lovely Bones

2010s

Year	Actor	Film	Ref.
2010 (8th)	Jesse Eisenberg ‡	The Social Network	[7]
	Russell Crowe	The Next Three Days
	Leonardo DiCaprio	Inception
	Tahar Rahim	A Prophet
2011 (9th)	Ryan Gosling ‡	Drive	[8]
	Don Cheadle	The Guard
	Leonardo DiCaprio	J. Edgar
	Gary Oldman	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2012 (10th)	Daniel Day-Lewis ‡	Lincoln	[9]
	Ben Affleck	Argo
	Bradley Cooper	Silver Linings Playbook
	Joaquin Phoenix	The Master
2013 (11th)	Chiwetel Ejiofor ‡	12 Years a Slave	[10]
	Leonardo DiCaprio	The Wolf of Wall Street
	Michael Douglas	Behind the Candelabra
	Matthew McConaughey	Dallas Buyers Club
2014 (12th)	Eddie Redmayne ‡	The Theory of Everything	[11]
	Steve Carell	Foxcatcher
	Benedict Cumberbatch	The Imitation Game
	Jake Gyllenhaal	Nightcrawler
2015 (13th)	Leonardo DiCaprio ‡	The Revenant	[12]
	Matt Damon	The Martian
	Jacob Tremblay	Room
	Bryan Cranston	Trumbo
2016 (14th)	Casey Affleck ‡	Manchester by the Sea	[13]
	Andrew Garfield	Hacksaw Ridge
	Ryan Gosling	La La Land
	Denzel Washington	Fences
2017 (15th)	Ethan Hawke ‡	Maudie	[14]
	Timothée Chalamet	Call Me by Your Name
	Gary Oldman	Darkest Hour
	Sam Rockwell	Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

2020s

Year	Actor	Film	Ref.
2022/23 (19th)	Austin Butler ‡	Elvis	[15]
	Tom Cruise	Top Gun: Maverick
	Cosmo Jarvis	It Is In Us All
	Felix Kammerer	All Quiet on the Western Front
	Josh O'Connor	Aisha
	Albrecht Schuch	All Quiet on the Western Front
2023 (20th)	Paul Giamatti ‡	The Holdovers	[16]
	Bradley Cooper	Maestro
	Willem Dafoe	Poor Things
	Leonardo DiCaprio	Killers of the Flower Moon
	Ryan Gosling	Barbie
	Mark Ruffalo	Poor Things
2024 (21st)	Ralph Fiennes ‡	Conclave	[17]
	Adrien Brody	The Brutalist
	Timothée Chalamet	A Complete Unknown
	Kieran Culkin	A Real Pain
	Sebastian Stan	The Apprentice
	Denzel Washington	Gladiator II

Multiple awards and nominations

The following individuals have received two or more Best International Actor awards:

Wins	Actor	Nominations
2	Leonardo DiCaprio	6
	Daniel Day-Lewis	2
	Robert Downey Jr.

The following individuals have received two or more Best International Actor nominations:

Nominations	Actor
6	Leonardo DiCaprio
3	Ryan Gosling
2	Casey Affleck
	Timothée Chalamet
	Bradley Cooper
	Daniel Day-Lewis
	Johnny Depp
	Robert Downey Jr.
	Ralph Fiennes
	Jake Gyllenhaal
	Gary Oldman
	Sam Rockwell
	Denzel Washington

References

1. "Winners of the 2nd Annual Irish Film & Television Awards | Irish Film & Television Academy | Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Academy . Retrieved 17 May 2025.
2. "Winners of the 3rd Annual Irish Film & Television Awards | Irish Film & Television Academy | Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Academy . Retrieved 17 May 2025.
3. "IFTA Winners Announced". Irish Film and Television Network . 12 February 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
4. "Winners of the 5th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards | Irish Film & Television Academy | Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Academy . Retrieved 17 May 2025.
5. "Winners of the 6th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards | Irish Film & Television Academy | Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Academy . Retrieved 18 May 2025.
6. "Irish Film & Television Awards Winners Announced". Irish Film and Television Network . 21 February 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
7. "IFTA winners 2011 announced". RTÉ News . 13 February 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
8. "Winners of the 9th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards | Irish Film & Television Academy | Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Academy . Retrieved 19 May 2025.
9. "'What Richard Did' the Big Winner in Film at IFTA's". Screen Ireland . Retrieved 19 May 2025.
10. Rosser, Michael (7 April 2014). "Calvary, Philomena, Byzantium each win three at IFTAs". Screen Daily . Retrieved 19 May 2025.
11. "Frank, Patrick's Day and Noble Amongst the Winners at this Year's IFTA Awards Ceremony". Screen Ireland . Retrieved 19 May 2025.
12. "IFTA 2016 Nominees and Winners". Irish Film & Television Academy . Retrieved 19 May 2025.
13. Clarke, Donald (8 March 2017). "Iftas 2017: 'The Young Offenders' leads film nominations". The Irish Times . Retrieved 18 February 2025.
    Mitchell, Robert (10 April 2017). "'A Date for Mad Mary,' 'Moonlight' Win Big at Irish Film Awards". Variety . Retrieved 18 February 2025.
14. "Saoirse Ronan among IFTA nominees". RTÉ News . 12 January 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
    "Irish stars savour their IFTA wins". RTÉ News . 15 February 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
15. Yossman, K.J. (9 May 2023). "Paul Mescal, Sharon Horgan Take Home Top Prizes at the Irish Film and Television Awards". Variety . Retrieved 7 May 2025.
16. Szalai, George (20 April 2024). "Cillian Murphy, 'Kin' Season 2 Among Irish Film & Television Awards Winners". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 7 May 2025.
17. Frost, Caroline (15 February 2025). "Cillian Murphy, Demi Moore, Ralph Fiennes Winners At IFTA Awards (Complete Winners List)". Deadline . Retrieved 7 May 2025.

External links

• IFTA.ie (official IFTA website)