European Film Award for Best Actor
The 2023 recipient: Mads Mikkelsen
Awarded forBest Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Presented byEuropean Film Academy
First awardedMax von Sydow
Pelle the Conqueror (1988)
Currently held byMads Mikkelsen
The Promised Land (2023)
Websiteeuropeanfilmacademy.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.

1980s

Year Winner and nominees English title Original title Character
1988
(1st)		 Sweden Max von Sydow Pelle the Conqueror Pelle erobreren Lassefar "Lasse" Karlsson
Austria Klaus Maria Brandauer Hanussen Klaus Schneider / Erik Jan Hanussen
Spain Alfredo Landa El bosque animado Malvís / Bandid Fendetestas
Germany Udo Samel Mit meinen heißen Tränen Franz Schubert
Romania Dorel Vişan Iacob Iacob
1989
(2nd)		 France Philippe Noiret Life and Nothing But
Cinema Paradiso		 La vie et rien d'autre
Nuovo cinema Paradiso		 Commandant Delaplane
Alfredo
Republic of Ireland/United Kingdom Daniel Day-Lewis My Left Foot Christy Brown
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Davor Dujmović Time of the Gypsies Dom za vesanje Perhan
Hungary Károly Eperjes Eldorádó Sándor Monori
Slovakia 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)		 United Kingdom Kenneth Branagh Henry V King Henry V of England
France Gérard Depardieu Cyrano de Bergerac Cyrano de Bergerac
Sweden Philip Zandén Skyddsängeln Jacob
1991
(4th)		 France Michel Bouquet Toto the Hero Toto le héros Thomas
Italy Claudio Amendola Ultrà Principe
France Richard Anconina Le Petit Criminel Gérard
1992
(5th)		 Finland Matti Pellonpää La Vie de Bohème Rodolfo
France Denis Lavant The Lovers on the Bridge Les Amants du Pont-Neuf Alex
Italy Enrico Lo Verso The Stolen Children Il ladro di bambini Antonio
1993
(6th)		 France Daniel Auteuil Un cœur en hiver Stéphane
Italy Carlo Cecchi Morte di un matematico napoletano Renato Caccioppoli
Belgium Jan Decleir Daens Adolf Daens
1994
(7th)		 No award given
1995
(8th)		 No award given
1996
(9th)		 United Kingdom Ian McKellen Richard III Richard III of England
1997
(10th)		 United Kingdom Bob Hoskins Twenty Four Seven Alan Darcy
Germany Mario Adorf Rossini Paolo Rossini
Poland Jerzy Stuhr Love Stories Historie miłosne The university teacher / The priest / Col. Jerzy Matałowski / Prisoner Zdzisław Filip / Petent
France Philippe Torreton Captain Conan Capitaine Conan Conan
1998
(11th)		 Italy Roberto Benigni Life Is Beautiful La vita è bella Guido Orefice
Spain Javier Bardem Live Flesh Carne trémula David
United Kingdom Peter Mullan My Name Is Joe Joe Kavanagh
Denmark Ulrich Thomsen The Celebration Festen Christian Klingenfeldt-Hansen
1999
(12th)		 United Kingdom Ralph Fiennes Sunshine Ignatz Sonnenschein (Sors) / Adam Sors / Ivan Sors
Denmark Anders W. Berthelsen Mifune's Last Song Mifunes sidste sang Kresten
United Kingdom Rupert Everett An Ideal Husband Lord Arthur Goring
Germany Götz George After the Truth Nichts als die Wahrheit Josef Mengele
France Philippe Torreton Ça commence aujourd'hui Daniel Lefebvre
United Kingdom Ray Winstone The War Zone Dad

2000s

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

2010s

Year Winner and nominees English title Original title Character
2010
(23rd)
[11]		 United Kingdom Ewan McGregor The Ghost Writer The Ghost
Denmark Jakob Cedergren Submarino Nick
Italy Elio Germano Our Life La nostra vita Claudio
Romania George Piştereanu If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle Eu când vreau să fluier, fluier Silviu
Spain Luis Tosar Cell 211 Celda 211 Malamadre
2011
(24th)
[12]		 United Kingdom Colin Firth The King's Speech King George VI
France Jean Dujardin The Artist George Valentin
Sweden Mikael Persbrandt In a Better World Hævnen Anton
France Michel Piccoli We Have a Pope Habemus Papam Cardinal Melville/The Pope
France André Wilms Le Havre Marcel Marx
2012
(25th)
[13]		 France Jean-Louis Trintignant Amour Georges Laurent
France François Cluzet
France Omar Sy		 The Intouchables Intouchables Philippe
Driss Bassary
Republic of Ireland Michael Fassbender Shame Brandon Sullivan
Denmark Mads Mikkelsen The Hunt Jagten Lucas
United Kingdom Gary Oldman Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy George Smiley/"Beggarman"
2013
(26th)
[14]		 Italy Toni Servillo The Great Beauty La grande belleza Jep Gambardella
United Kingdom Jude Law Anna Karenina Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin
Belgium Johan Heldenbergh The Broken Circle Breakdown Didier Bontinck
France Fabrice Luchini In the House Dans la maison Germain Germain
Germany Tom Schilling A Coffee in Berlin Oh Boy! Niko Fischer
2014
(27th)
[15][16]		 United Kingdom Timothy Spall Mr. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner
Republic of Ireland Brendan Gleeson Calvary Father James
United Kingdom Tom Hardy Locke Ivan Locke
Russia Aleksei Serebryakov Leviathan Левиафан Kolya Sergeyev
Sweden Stellan Skarsgård Nymphomaniac Seligman
2015
(28th)
[17][18]
United Kingdom Michael Caine Youth Youth - La giovinezza Fred Ballinger
United Kingdom Tom Courtenay 45 Years Geoff Mercer
Republic of Ireland Colin Farrell The Lobster David
Germany Christian Friedel 13 Minutes Elser - Er hätte die Welt verändert Georg Elser
France Vincent Lindon The Measure of a Man La Loi du marché Thierry Taugourdeau
2016
(29th)
[19]
Austria Peter Simonischek Toni Erdmann Winfried Conradi / Toni Erdmann
Spain Javier Cámara Truman Tomás
United Kingdom Hugh Grant Florence Foster Jenkins St. Clair Bayfield
United Kingdom Dave Johns I, Daniel Blake Daniel Blake
Germany Burghart Klaußner The People vs. Fritz Bauer Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer Fritz Bauer
Sweden Rolf Lassgård A Man Called Ove En man som heter Ove Ove
2017
(30th)
[20][21]
Denmark Claes Bang The Square Christian
Argentina Nahuel Pérez Biscayart BPM (Beats per Minute) 120 battements par minute Sean Dalmazo
Republic of Ireland Colin Farrell The Killing of a Sacred Deer Steven Murphy
Austria Josef Hader Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe Vor der Morgenröte Stefan Zweig
France Jean-Louis Trintignant Happy End Georges Laurent
2018
(31st)
[22][23]
Italy Marcello Fonte Dogman Marcello
Sweden / Denmark Jakob Cedergren The Guilty Den skyldige Asger Holm
United Kingdom Rupert Everett The Happy Prince Oscar Wilde
Sweden Sverrir Gudnason Borg vs McEnroe Borg Björn Borg
Poland Tomasz Kot Cold War Zimna wojna Wiktor Warski
Belgium Victor Polster Girl Lara
2019
(32nd)
[24][25]
Spain Antonio Banderas Pain and Glory Dolor y gloria Salvador Mallo
France Jean Dujardin An Officer and a Spy J'accuse Picquart
Italy Pierfrancesco Favino The Traitor Il traditore Tommaso Buscetta
Georgia (country) Levan Gelbakhiani And Then We Danced Merab
Germany Alexander Scheer Gundermann Gerhard Gundermann
Iceland 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] 		Denmark Mads Mikkelsen Another Round Druk Martin
Poland Bartosz Bielenia Corpus Christi Boże Ciało Daniel
Croatia Goran Bogdan Father Otac Nikola
Italy Elio Germano Hidden Away Volevo nascondermi Antonio Ligabue
Italy Luca Marinelli Martin Eden Martin Eden
United States / Denmark Viggo Mortensen Falling John Petersen
2021
(34th)
[28] 		United Kingdom / United States Anthony Hopkins The Father Anthony
Russia Yuriy Borisov Compartment No. 6 Hytti nro 6 / Купе номер шесть Vadim
France Vincent Lindon Titane Vincent
France / Algeria Tahar Rahim The Mauritanian Mohamedou Ould Slahi
Germany Franz Rogowski Great Freedom Große Freiheit Hans Hoffmann
2022
(35th)
[29] 		Croatia / Denmark Zlatko Burić Triangle of Sadness Dmitry
Denmark / United States Elliott Crosset Hove Godland Lucas
Belgium Eden Dambrine Close Léo
Italy Pierfrancesco Favino Nostalgia Felice Lasco
Republic of Ireland Paul Mescal Aftersun Calum
2023
(36th)
[30] 		Denmark Mads Mikkelsen The Promised Land Ludvig Kahlen
Austria Thomas Schubert Afire Leon
Finland Jussi Vatanen Fallen Leaves Holappa
United Kingdom Josh O'Connor La chimera Arthur
Germany Christian Friedel The Zone of Interest Rudolf Höss

Multiple wins and nominations

Multiple wins

Wins Actor
2 France Daniel Auteuil
Denmark Mads Mikkelsen
Italy Toni Servillo

Most nominations

Nominations Actor
5 Denmark Mads Mikkelsen
3 Spain Javier Bardem
Italy Elio Germano
France Michel Piccoli
Sweden Stellan Skarsgård
2 France Daniel Auteuil
Germany / Spain Daniel Brühl
United Kingdom Michael Caine
Spain Javier Cámara
Denmark / Sweden Jakob Cedergren
Denmark Jesper Christensen
United Kingdom Tom Courtenay
France Jean Dujardin
United Kingdom Rupert Everett
Republic of Ireland Colin Farrell
Republic of Ireland / Germany Michael Fassbender
Italy Pierfrancesco Favino
Switzerland Bruno Ganz
United Kingdom Bob Hoskins
France Vincent Lindon
United Kingdom James McAvoy
Republic of Ireland Cillian Murphy
France Tahar Rahim
Italy Toni Servillo
Iceland Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson
United Kingdom Timothy Spall
Denmark Ulrich Thomsen
France Philippe Torreton
France Jean-Louis Trintignant
United Kingdom Ray Winstone

See also

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.

External links

European Film Awards
European Film Award for Best Actor
Categories