Best Actor Rankings 1993-2017

Article by Paul Douglas Moomjean

Best Actor has been a very strange category over the past 25 years with many of the best performances not winning, and many careers being launched because of a win.

Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption, Tom Hanks in Cast Away, and George Clooney in The Descendants come to mind. Plus, actors like Paul Giamatti and Jim Carrey being snubbed repeatedly.

So here are the best actor winners ranked over the past 25 years.

1. 2009: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
By playing a washed up country music star on the road to redemption, Bridges took on the persona of so many others before him to create a damn likable archetype.

2. 1996: Geoffrey Rush (Shine)
Playing pianist David Helfgott, Rush puts on a total tour de force.

3. 2007: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
I debated putting this at #2 and even #1. Anyone who can make the line “I drank your milkshake” absolutely menacing deserves an Oscar.

4. 2017: Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)
The best example of literally immersing into a role was Goldman becoming Sir Winston Churchill.

5. 1993: Tom Hanks (Philadelphia)
Hanks escapes his sitcom past with his heartbreaking role of a man wrongly fired by his homophobic bosses.

6. 2012: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
If There Will Be Blood was his wild man let loose, Lincoln was Lewis’ somber piece, finding moments of anger to show the 18th president’s passion for equal rights.

7. 1994: Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump)
An underrated performance in a year of great ones. Hanks became the first actor to win back to back Best Actor Oscars since Spencer Tracy.

8. 2015: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
After losing out in The Wolf of Wall Street, DiCaprio won for allowing his character to be thrown around and beaten to a bloody pulp.

9. 2010: Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
A most wonderful performance, playing off an equally wonderful Geoffrey Rush.

10. 2014: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)
While Michael Keaton was more deserving that year, Redmayne captured the genius and charm of Stephen Hawking.

11. 2006: Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)
A bold and expressive performance as the African dictator, the only reason he’s not higher is because the role is more of a supporting part.

12. 2005: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)
One of our most cherished actors, Hoffman captures the wit and complexity of the great author Capote.

13. 2004: Jamie Foxx (Ray)
Foxx was also nominated that year for supporting actor in Collateral. He hasn’t really lived up to the great work here.

14. 2001: Denzel Washington (Training Day)
Denzel played the villain, and to perfection. The script creates a third act that takes away from the earlier scenes, but Washington could not be denied that year.

15. 1997: Jack Nicholson (As Good as It Gets)
It wasn’t so much a performance as it was a caricature of his beloved persona.

16. 1999: Kevin Spacey (American Beauty)
This was the best performance that captured the essence of the post-feminist 1990’s male.

17. 1998: Roberto Benigni (Life is Beautiful)
Say what you will, but the world fell in love with the Italian director.

18. 1995: Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas)
The phrase “Over the top” is not over the top enough to describe Cage’s performance.

19. 2013: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
While admirable in every way, the performance is more of an accomplishment due to McConaughey’s previous fluff work.

20. 2000: Russell Crowe (Gladiator)
So many more deserving performances, though he does delivers a few lines no one else but Liam Neeson could.