Best Lead Actor is a Decades Long Disappointment*

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While musing in one of my favorite blogs 1001plus' comment section, I was reminded of one of the most long standing disappointments for me when it comes to Oscar wins; Best Actor in a Leading Role. So to air my grievances, I figured I'd put together a quick Who won/Who should've won list going as far back as I need to in order to fill out a Top 5. 

2024 
Who won: Adrian Brody - The Brutalist
Who should've won: Ralph Fiennes for Conclave or Colman Domingo for Sing Sing

2023
Who won: Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer
This was correct! Cue "it's been 84 years" meme. We've got a bit of a gap until we hit #2

2022
Who won: Brendan Frasier - The Whale
Who should've won: Colin Ferrell - The Banshees of Inisherin 

2021 
Who won: Will Smith - King Richard
Who should've won: Benedict Cumberbatch - The Power of the Dog 

2020
Who won: Anthony Hopkins - The Father
Who should've won: Riz Ahmed for The Sound of Metal, or Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

2019
Who won: Joaquin Phoenix - The Joker
Who should've won: Adam Driver - Marriage Story

2018
Who won: Rami Malek - Bohemian Rhapsody 
Who should've won - Bradley Cooper - A Star is Born 

2017
Who won: Gary Oldman - Darkest Hour
Who should've won: Timothee Chalamet - Call Me By Your Name

2016
Who won: Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea
Who should've won: Denzel Washington - Fences

2015
Who won: Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
Ding ding! Leo deserved this one. He should've won it earlier, but I digress. I'm just glad he finally has an Oscar. 

2014
Who won: Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything
Who should've won: Michael Keaton - Birdman

2013
Who won: Matthew McConaughey - The Dallas Buyers Club
Who should've won: Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street

2012
Who won: Daniel Day Lewis - Lincoln
#3! DDL was great in this film, but I have to admit this just barely edges out Joaquin Phoenix in The Master for me. I have a feeling if I rewatched The Master again, this could flip.

2011
Who won: Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Who should've won: Damian Bichir for A Better Life 

2010
Who won: Colin Firth - The King's Speech
Who should've won: Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network 

2009
Who won: Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
Who should've won: George Clooney - Up in the Air

2008
Who won: Sean Penn - Milk 
#4! This was a tough race between Penn and Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler, but I preferred this performance and film over all. 

2007
Who won: Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will be Blood
And we round out our top 5 with a repeat winner. This might be my favorite performance on this entire list. I love the character of Daniel Plainview. He's so despicable. 

BONUS!
2006
Who won: Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland
I love this win too, and the fact that I had 3 in a row is pretty impressive. Maybe, if Timothee Chalamet wins this year, he'll start me on another three-in-a-row.

(Don't even get me started on 2005, which was a blood bath of talent and Terrance Howard was there too)

I imagine this list might be a bit controversial, but I'd love to hear you make your case with any of my choices. Or to agree with some of them, because that's nice too.



Comments

  1. thevoid99February 2, 2026 at 9:21 PM

    2006-Forest Whitaker
    2007-Daniel Day-Lewis
    2008-Mickey Rourke
    2009-George Clooney
    2010-Jesse Eisenberg
    2011-George Clooney
    2012-Joaquin Phoenix
    2013-Leo!!!!
    2014-Michael Keaton (my dad never got over that and you would've been shocked by the things he said about Eddie Redmayne when he got nominated for The Danish Girl. It was beyond offensive but... he was right).
    2015-Leo!!!!!
    2016-Viggo Mortensen
    2017-Daniel Day-Lewis
    2018-Willem Dafoe
    2019-Leo!!!!!!
    2020-Having not seen any of the performances. I would've gone with Riz or Chadwick
    2021-Benedict Cumberbatch (fuck you Willy-Will)
    2022-I haven't seen any of the performances but I would've gone with Colin Farrell
    2023-Cillian Murphy
    2024-Adrien Brody
    2024-

    ReplyDelete
  2. SJHoneywellFebruary 3, 2026 at 10:24 PM

    2006: Forest Whittaker
    2007: Daniel Day-Lewis
    2008: Mickey Rourke
    2009: Sam Rockwell (Moon); George Clooney of the nominees
    2010: Jesse Eisenberg
    2011: Ryan Gosling (Drive); Demain Bichir of the nominees
    2012: Daniel-Day Lewis
    2013: Joaquin Phoenix (Her); Chiwetel Ejiofor of the nominees
    2014: Daniel Oyelowo (Selma); Michael Keaton of the nominees
    2015: Leonardo DiCaprio
    2016: Casey Affleck
    2017: Hugh Jackman (Logan); Daniel Kaluuya of the nominees
    2018: Lakeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You); Willem Dafoe of the nominees
    2019: Antonio Banderas
    2020: Riz Ahmed
    2021: Udo Kier (Swan Song); Benedict Cumberbatch of the nominees
    2022: Ralph Fiennes (The Menu): Brendan Fraser of the nominees
    2023: Paul Giamatti
    2024: Ralph Fiennes

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 6, 2026 at 10:58 AM

      Her is what I pretend Joaquin Phoenix won his Oscar for lol

      Delete
  3. BirgitFebruary 4, 2026 at 6:33 PM

    Oh, Benedict should have won and I agree with many here, but I do love Gary Ildman in The Darkest Hour but I also loved the film. It's history..most, I think, find it boring unless there is a lot of poetic license like Dunkirk which is blechh. I also love Colin Firth winning.
    I found Colin Farrell's character too annoying as well as the movie. I found the guy taking his fingers off, to be stupid. There must be a better way than that.
    I still have to see so many...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 6, 2026 at 10:55 AM

      The Darkest Hour was such a bore. I wish I liked it better. Firth was probably my #3 of that year. He was very good, I just preferred others.

      Delete
  4. ruthFebruary 10, 2026 at 4:45 PM

    Interesting idea for a post! There are still some performances I haven't seen here, but I agree that Cillian deserved to win and that Ralph Fiennes should've won for Conclave instead of Brody!

    ReplyDelete

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