"Because I do not feel like being the winner. You have Michael, who I'd never heard of quite frankly, who is astonishing. You have Jude, who is going to be a big star no matter what happens. You have Tom, who, if you had won this, your pot price would have gone down so fast. Have you any idea what supporting actors get paid? And we only get one motorhome, a small one. And Haley Osment, what an astonishing... where is he? There he is. Haley, when I saw you, I thought, 'Well, that's me out of it.' So really, I'm basically up here, guys, to represent you as what I hope you will all be, a survivor."
— Michael Caine winning for The Cider House Rules
A list of people who have won and been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
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1930s
- 1936: Walter Brennan for Come and Get It as Swan Bostrom
- Mischa Auer for My Man Godfrey as Carlo
- Stuart Erwin for Pigskin Parade as Amos Dodd
- Basil Rathbone for Romeo And Juliet as Tybalt
- Akim Tamiroff for The General Died at Dawn as General Yang
- 1937: Joseph Schildkraut for The Life of Émile Zola as Captain Alfred Dreyfus
- Ralph Bellamy for The Awful Truth as Dan Leeson
- Thomas Mitchell for The Hurricane as Dr. Kersaint
- H.B. Warner for Lost Horizon as Chang
- Roland Young for Topper as Cosmo Topper
- 1938: Walter Brennan for Kentucky as Peter Goodwin
- John Garfield for Four Daughters as Mickey Borden
- Gene Lockhart for Algiers as Regis
- Robert Morley for Marie Antoinette as King Louis XVI
- Basil Rathbone for If I Were King as King Louis XI
- 1939: Thomas Mitchell for Stagecoach as Dr. Josiah Boone
- Brian Aherne for Juarez as Emperor Maximilian von Habsburg
- Harry Carey for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as the President of the Senate
- Brian Donlevy for Beau Geste as Sergeant Markoff
- Claude Rains for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as Senator Joseph "Joe" Paine
1940s
- 1940: Walter Brennan for The Westerner as Judge Roy Bean
- Albert Bassermann for Foreign Correspondent as Van Meer
- William Gargan for They Knew What They Wanted as Joe
- Jack Oakie for The Great Dictator as Benzino Napaloni
- James Stephenson for The Letter as Howard Joyce
- 1941: Donald Crisp for How Green Was My Valley as Gwilym Morgan
- Walter Brennan for Sergeant York as Pastor Rosier Pile
- Charles Coburn for The Devil and Miss Jones as John P. Merrick / Thomas Higgins
- James Gleason for Here Comes Mr. Jordan as Max "Pop" Corkle
- Sydney Greenstreet for The Maltese Falcon as Kasper Gutman
- 1942: Van Heflin for Johnny Eager as Jeff Hartnett
- William Bendix for Wake Island as Private Aloysius "Smacksie" Randall
- Walter Huston for Yankee Doodle Dandy as Jerry Cohan
- Frank Morgan for Tortilla Flat as the Pirate
- Henry Travers for Mrs. Miniver as James Ballard
- 1943: Charles Coburn for The More the Merrier as Benjamin Dingle
- Charles Bickford for The Song of Bernadette as Father Dominique Peyramale
- J. Carroll Naish for Sahara as Giuseppe
- Claude Rains for Casablanca as Captain Louis Renault
- Akim Tamiroff for For Whom the Bell Tolls as Pablo
- 1944: Barry Fitzgerald for Going My Way as Father Fitzgibbon
- Hume Cronyn for The Seventh Cross as Paul Roeder
- Claude Rains for Mr. Skeffington as Job Skeffington
- Clifton Webb for Laura as Waldo Lydecker
- Monty Woolley for Since You Went Away as Colonel William Smollett
- 1945: James Dunn for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn as Johnny Nolan
- Michael Chekhov for Spellbound as Dr. Alexander "Alex" Brulov
- John Dall for The Corn Is Green as Morgan Evans
- Robert Mitchum for The Story of G.I. Joe as Captain Bill Walker
- J. Carroll Naish for A Medal for Benny as Charley Martin
- 1946: Harold Russell for The Best Years of Our Lives as Homer Parrish
- Charles Coburn for The Green Years as Alexander Gow
- William Demarest for The Al Jolson Story as Steve Martin
- Claude Rains for Notorious as Alexander "Alex" Sebastian
- Clifton Webb for The Razor's Edge as Elliott Templeton
- 1947: Edmund Gwenn for Miracle on 34th Street as Kris Kringle
- Charles Bickford for The Farmer's Daughter as Joseph Clancy
- Thomas Gomez for Ride the Pink Horse as Pancho
- Robert Ryan for Crossfire as Private "Monty" Montgomery
- Richard Widmark for Kiss of Death as Tommy Udo
- 1948: Walter Huston for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre as Howard
- Charles Bickford for Johnny Belinda as Black McDonald
- José Ferrer for Joan of Arc as The Dauphin / Charles VII
- Oskar Homolka for I Remember Mama as Chris Halvorson
- Cecil Kellaway for The Luck of the Irish as Horace
- 1949: Dean Jagger for Twelve O'Clock High as Major Harvey Stovall
- John Ireland for All the King's Men as Jack Burden
- Arthur Kennedy for Champion as Connie Kelly
- Ralph Richardson for The Heiress as Dr. Austin Sloper
- James Whitmore for Battleground as Sergeant Kinnie
1950s
- 1950: George Sanders for All About Eve as Addison DeWitt
- Jeff Chandler for Broken Arrow as Cochise
- Edmund Gwenn for Mister 880 as Skipper Miller
- Sam Jaffe for The Asphalt Jungle as Erwin "Doc" Riedenschneider
- Erich von Stroheim for Sunset Boulevard as Max von Mayerling
- 1951: Karl Malden for A Streetcar Named Desire as Harold "Mitch" Mitchell
- Leo Genn for Quo Vadis as Petronius
- Kevin Mc Carthy for Death of a Salesman as Biff Loman
- Peter Ustinov for Quo Vadis as Emperor Nero
- Gig Young for Come Fill the Cup as Boyd Copeland
- 1952: Anthony Quinn for Viva Zapata! as Eufemio Zapata
- Richard Burton for My Cousin Rachel as Philip Ashley
- Arthur Hunnicutt for The Big Sky as Zeb Calloway / Narrator
- Victor Mc Laglen for The Quiet Man as Will "Red" Danaher
- Jack Palance for Sudden Fear as Lester Blaine
- 1953: Frank Sinatra for From Here to Eternity as Pvt. Angelo Maggio
- Eddie Albert for Roman Holiday as Irving Radovich
- Brandon De Wilde for Shane as Joey Starrett
- Jack Palance for Shane as Jack Wilson
- Robert Strauss for Stalag 17 as Sergeant Stanislas "Animal" Kuzawa
- 1954: Edmond O Brien for The Barefoot Contessa as Oscar Muldoon
- Lee J. Cobb for On the Waterfront as Michael J. Skelly/Johnny Friendly
- Karl Malden for On the Waterfront as Father Barry
- Rod Steiger for On the Waterfront as Charley "The Gent" Malloy
- Tom Tully for The Caine Mutiny as Lieutenant Commander William De Vriess
- 1955: Jack Lemmon for Mister Roberts as Ensign Frank Thurlowe Pulver
- Arthur Kennedy for Trial as Barney Castle
- Joe Mantell for Marty as Angie
- Sal Mineo for Rebel Without a Cause as John "Plato" Crawford
- Arthur O'Connell for Picnic as Howard Bevans
- 1956: Anthony Quinn for Lust for Life as Paul Gauguin
- Don Murray for Bus Stop as Beauregard "Beau" Decker
- Anthony Perkins for Friendly Persuasion as Josh Birdwell
- Mickey Rooney for The Bold and the Brave as Dooley
- Robert Stack for Written on the Wind as Kyle Hadley
- 1957: Red Buttons for Sayonara as Airman Joe Kelly
- Vittorio De Sica for A Farewell to Arms as Major Alessandro Rinaldi
- Sessue Hayakawa for The Bridge on the River Kwai as Colonel Saito
- Arthur Kennedy for Peyton Place as Lucas Cross
- Russ Tamblyn for Peyton Place as Norman Page
- 1958: Burl Ives for The Big Country as Rufus Hannassey
- Theodore Bikel for The Defiant Ones as Sheriff Max Muller
- Lee J. Cobb for The Brothers Karamazov as Fyodor Karamazov
- Arthur Kennedy for Some Came Running as Frank Hirsh
- Gig Young for Teachers Pet 1958 as Dr. Hugo Pine
- 1959: Hugh Griffith for Ben-Hur (1959) as Sheik Ilderim
- Arthur O’Connell for Anatomy of a Murder as Parnell Emmett McCarthy
- George C. Scott for Anatomy of a Murder as Claude Dancer
- Robert Vaughn for The The Young Philadelphians as Chester "Chet" Gwynn
- Ed Wynn for The Diary of Anne Frank as Albert Dussell
1960s
- 1960: Peter Ustinov for Spartacus as Lentulus Batiatus
- Peter Falk for Murder, Inc. as Abe "Kid Twist" Reles
- Jack Kruschen for The Apartment as Dr. David Dreyfuss
- Sal Mineo for Exodus as Dov Landau
- Chill Wills for The Alamo as Beekeeper
- 1961: George Chakiris for West Side Story as Bernardo
- Montgomery Clift for Judgment at Nuremberg as Rudolph Petersen
- Peter Falk for Pocketful of Miracles as Joy Boy
- Jackie Gleason for The Hustler as Minnesota Fats
- George C. Scott for The Hustler as Bert Gordon
- 1962: Ed Begley for Sweet Bird of Youth as Tom "Boss" Finley
- Victor Buono for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? as Edwin Flagg
- Telly Savalas for Birdman of Alcatraz as Feto Gomez
- Omar Sharif for Lawrence of Arabia as Sherif Ali Ibn El Kharish
- Terence Stamp for Billy Budd as Billy Budd
- 1963: Melvyn Douglas for Hud as Homer Bannon
- Nick Adams for Twilight of Honor as Ben Brown
- Bobby Darin for Captain Newman, M.D. as Corporal Jim Tompkins
- Hugh Griffith for Tom Jones as Squire Western
- John Huston for The Cardinal as Cardinal Glennon
- 1964: Peter Ustinov for Topkapi as Arthur Simon Simpson
- John Gielgud for Becket as King Louis VII of France
- Stanley Holloway for My Fair Lady as Alfred P. Doolittle
- Edmond O'Brien for Seven Days in May as Senator Raymond Clark
- Lee Tracy for The Best Man as President Art Hockstader
- 1965: Martin Balsam for A Thousand Clowns as Arnold Burns
- Ian Bannen for The Flight of the Phoenix as Ratbags Crow
- Tom Courtenay for Doctor Zhivago as Pavel "Pasha" Antipov / Strelnikov
- Michael Dunn for Ship of Fools as Carl Glocken
- Frank Finlay for Othello as Iago
- 1966: Walter Matthau for The Fortune Cookie as Whiplash Willie Gingrich
- Mako for The Sand Pebbles as Po-han
- James Mason for Georgy Girl as James Leamington
- George Segal for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as Nick
- Robert Shaw for A Man for All Seasons as King Henry VIII of England
- 1967: George Kennedy for Cool Hand Luke as Clarence "Dragline" Slidell
- John Cassavetes for The Dirty Dozen as Victor R. Franko
- Gene Hackman for Bonnie and Clyde as Buck Barrow
- Cecil Kellaway for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner as Mike Ryan
- Michael J. Pollard for Bonnie and Clyde as C.W. Moss
- 1968: Jack Albertson for The Subject Was Roses as John Cleary
- Seymour Cassel for Faces as Chet
- Daniel Massey for Star! as Noël Coward
- Jack Wild for Oliver! as Jack Dawkins / The Artful Dodger
- Gene Wilder for The Producers as Leopold "Leo" Bloom
- 1969: Gig Young for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? as Rocky Graver
- Rupert Crosse for The Reivers as Ned McCaslin
- Elliott Gould for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice as Ted Henderson
- Jack Nicholson for Easy Rider as George Hanson
- Anthony Quayle for Anne of the Thousand Days as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
1970s
- 1970: John Mills for Ryan's Daughter as Michael
- Richard S. Castellano for Lovers and Other Strangers as Frank Vecchio
- Chief Dan George for Little Big Man as Old Lodge Skins
- Gene Hackman for I Never Sang for My Father as Gene Garrison
- John Marley for Love Story as Phil Cavalleri
- 1971: Ben Johnson for The Last Picture Show as Sam the Lion
- Jeff Bridges for The Last Picture Show as Duane Jackson
- Leonard Frey for Fiddler on the Roof as Motel Kamzoil
- Richard Jaeckel for Sometimes a Great Notion as Joe Ben Stamper
- Roy Scheider for The French Connection as Detective Buddy "Cloudy" Russo
- 1972: Joel Grey for Cabaret as the Master of Ceremonies
- Eddie Albert for The Heartbreak Kid as Mr. Corcoran
- James Caan for The Godfather as Santino "Sonny" Corleone
- Robert Duvall for The Godfather as Tom Hagen
- Al Pacino for The Godfather as Michael Corleone
- 1973: John Houseman for The Paper Chase as Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.
- Vincent Gardenia for Bang the Drum Slowly as Dutch Schnell
- Jack Gilford for Save the Tiger as Phil Greene
- Jason Miller for The Exorcist as Father Damien Karras
- Randy Quaid for The Last Detail as Laurence "Larry" Meadows
- 1974: Robert De Niro for The Godfather Part II as Vito Corleone
- Fred Astaire for The Towering Inferno as Harlee Claiborne
- Jeff Bridges for Thunderbolt and Lightfoot as Lightfoot
- Michael V. Gazzo for The Godfather Part II as Frank Pentangeli
- Lee Strasberg for The Godfather Part II as Hyman Roth
- 1975: George Burns for The Sunshine Boys as Al Lewis
- Brad Dourif for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as Billy Bibbit
- Burgess Meredith for The Day of the Locust as Harry Greener
- Chris Sarandon for Dog Day Afternoon as Leon Shermer
- Jack Warden for Shampoo as Lester Karpf
- 1976: Jason Robards for All the President's Men as Ben Bradlee
- Ned Beatty for Network as Arthur Jensen
- Burgess Meredith for Rocky as Mickey Goldmill
- Laurence Olivier for Marathon Man as Dr. Christian Szell
- Burt Young for Rocky as Paulie Pennino
- 1977: Jason Robards for Julia as Dashiell Hammett
- Mikhail Baryshnikov for The Turning Point as Yuri Kopeikine
- Peter Firth for Equus as Alan Strang
- Alec Guinness for Star Wars as Obi-Wan Kenobi
- Maximilian Schell for Julia as Johann
- 1978: Christopher Walken for The Deer Hunter as Corporal Nikonar "Nick" Chevotarevich
- Bruce Dern for Coming Home as Captain Bob Hyde
- Richard Farnsworth for Comes a Horseman as Dodger
- John Hurt for Midnight Express as Max
- Jack Warden for Heaven Can Wait as Max Corkle
- 1979: Melvyn Douglas for Being There as Benjamin "Ben" Rand
- Robert Duvall for Apocalypse Now as Lieutenant Colonel William "Bill" Kilgore
- Frederic Forrest for The Rose as Huston Dyer
- Justin Henry for Kramer vs. Kramer as Billy Kramer
- Mickey Rooney for The Black Stallion as Henry Dailey
1980s
- 1980: Timothy Hutton for Ordinary People as Conrad Jarrett
- Judd Hirsch for Ordinary People as Dr. Tyrone Berger
- Michael O'Keefe for The Great Santini as Ben Meechum
- Joe Pesci for Raging Bull as Joey LaMotta
- Jason Robards for Melvin and Howard as Howard Hughes
- 1981: John Gielgud for Arthur as Hobson
- James Coco for Only When I Laugh as Jimmy Perrino
- Ian Holm for Chariots of Fire as Sam Mussabini
- Jack Nicholson for Reds as Eugene O'Neill
- Howard Rollins for Ragtime as Coalhouse Walker Jr.
- 1982: Louis Gossett Jr. for An Officer and a Gentleman as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley
- Charles Durning for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas as the Governor
- John Lithgow for The World According to Garp as Roberta Muldoon
- James Mason for The Verdict as Ed Concannon
- Robert Preston for Victor/Victoria as Carroll "Toddy" Todd
- 1983: Jack Nicholson for Terms of Endearment as Garrett Breedlove
- Charles Durning for To Be or Not to Be as S.S. Colonel Erhardt
- John Lithgow for Terms of Endearment as Sam Burns
- Sam Shepard for The Right Stuff as Chuck Yeager
- Rip Torn for Cross Creek as Marsh Turner
- 1984: Haing S. Ngor for The Killing Fields as Dith Pran
- Adolph Caesar for A Soldier's Story as Sergeant Vernon Waters
- John Malkovich for Places in the Heart as Mr. Will
- Pat Morita for The Karate Kid as Keisuke Miyagi
- Ralph Richardson (posthumous) for Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes as the Sixth Earl Of Greystoke
- 1985: Don Ameche for Cocoon as Arthur Selwyn
- Klaus Maria Brandauer for Out of Africa as Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke / Baron Hans von Blixen-Finecke
- William Hickey for Prizzi's Honor as Don Corrado Prizzi
- Robert Loggia for Jagged Edge as Sam Ransom
- Eric Roberts for Runaway Train as Buck McGeehy
- 1986: Michael Caine for Hannah and Her Sisters as Elliot Daniels
- Tom Berenger for Platoon as Sergeant Bob Barnes
- Willem Dafoe for Platoon as Sergeant Elias Grodin
- Denholm Elliott for A Room with a View as Mr. Emerson
- Dennis Hopper for Hoosiers as Wilbur "Shooter" Flatch
- 1987: Sean Connery for The Untouchables as Officer James "Jimmy" Malone
- Albert Brooks for Broadcast News as Aaron Altman
- Morgan Freeman for Street Smart as Leo "Fast Black" Smalls Jr.
- Vincent Gardenia for Moonstruck as Cosmo Castorini
- Denzel Washington for Cry Freedom as Steve Biko
- 1988: Kevin Kline for A Fish Called Wanda as Otto West
- Alec Guinness for Little Dorrit as William Dorrit
- Martin Landau for Tucker: The Man and His Dream as Abe Karatz
- River Phoenix for Running on Empty as Danny Pope
- Dean Stockwell for Married to the Mob as Tony "The Tiger" Russo
- 1989: Denzel Washington for Glory as Private Silas Trip
- Danny Aiello for Do the Right Thing as Sal Frangione
- Dan Aykroyd for Driving Miss Daisy as Boolie Werthan
- Marlon Brando for A Dry White Season as Ian Mackenzie
- Martin Landau for Crimes and Misdemeanors as Judah Rosenthal
1990s
- 1990: Joe Pesci for Goodfellas as Tommy DeVito
- Bruce Davison for Longtime Companion as David
- Andy García for The Godfather Part III as Vincent Mancini
- Graham Greene for Dances with Wolves as Kicking Bird
- Al Pacino for Dick Tracy as Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice
- 1991: Jack Palance for City Slickers as Curly Washburn
- Tommy Lee Jones for JFK as Clay Shaw
- Harvey Keitel for Bugsy as Mickey Cohen
- Ben Kingsley for Bugsy as Meyer Lansky
- Michael Lerner for Barton Fink as Jack Lipnick
- 1992: Gene Hackman for Unforgiven as Sheriff Little Bill Daggett
- Jaye Davidson for The Crying Game as Dil
- Jack Nicholson for A Few Good Men as Colonel Nathan R. Jessup
- Al Pacino for Glengarry Glen Ross as Richard "Ricky" Roma
- David Paymer for Mr. Saturday Night as Stan Young
- 1993: Tommy Lee Jones for The Fugitive as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard
- Leonardo DiCaprio for What's Eating Gilbert Grape as Arnold "Arnie" Grape
- Ralph Fiennes for Schindler's List as Amon Göth
- John Malkovich for In the Line of Fire as Mitch Leary
- Pete Postlethwaite for In the Name of the Father as Giuseppe Conlon
- 1994: Martin Landau for Ed Wood as Bela Lugosi
- Samuel L. Jackson for Pulp Fiction as Jules Winnifield
- Chazz Palminteri for Bullets over Broadway as Cheech
- Paul Scofield for Quiz Show as Mark van Doren
- Gary Sinise for Forrest Gump as Lieutenant Dan Taylor
- 1995: Kevin Spacey for The Usual Suspects as Roger "Verbal" Kint / Keyser Söze
- James Cromwell for Babe as Arthur Hoggett
- Ed Harris for Apollo 13 as Gene Kranz
- Brad Pitt for 12 Monkeys as Jeffery Goines
- Tim Roth for Rob Roy as Archibald Cunningham
- 1996: Cuba Gooding Jr. for Jerry Maguire as Rod Tidwell
- William H. Macy for Fargo as Jerry Lundegaard
- Armin Mueller-Stahl for Shine as Peter Helfgott
- Edward Norton for Primal Fear as Aaron Stampler
- James Woods for Ghosts of Mississippi as Byron De La Beckwith
- 1997: Robin Williams for Good Will Hunting as Dr. Sean Maguire
- Robert Forster for Jackie Brown as Max Cherry
- Anthony Hopkins for Amistad as Representative John Quincy Adams
- Greg Kinnear for As Good as It Gets as Simon Bishop
- Burt Reynolds for Boogie Nights as Jack Horner
- 1998: James Coburn for Affliction as Glen Whitehouse
- Robert Duvall for A Civil Action as Jerome "Jerry" Facher
- Ed Harris for The Truman Show as Christof
- Geoffrey Rush for Shakespeare in Love as Philip Henslowe
- Billy Bob Thornton for A Simple Plan as Jacob Mitchell
- 1999: Michael Caine for The Cider House Rules as Dr. Wilbur Larch
- Tom Cruise for Magnolia as Frank T.J. Mackey
- Michael Clarke Duncan for The Green Mile as John Coffey
- Jude Law for The Talented Mr. Ripley as Dickie Greenleaf
- Haley Joel Osment for The Sixth Sense as Cole Sear
2000s
- 2000: Benicio del Toro for Traffic as Javier Rodriguez
- Jeff Bridges for The Contender as President Jackson Evans
- Willem Dafoe for Shadow of the Vampire as Max Schreck
- Albert Finney for Erin Brockovich as Edward "Ed" Masry
- Joaquin Phoenix for Gladiator as Emperor Commodus
- 2001: Jim Broadbent for Iris as John Bayley
- Ethan Hawke for Training Day as Officer Jake Hoyt
- Ben Kingsley for Sexy Beast as Don Logan
- Ian McKellen for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring as Gandalf the Grey
- Jon Voight for Ali as Howard Cosell
- 2002: Chris Cooper for Adaptation. as John Laroche
- Ed Harris for The Hours as Richard "Richie" Brown
- Paul Newman for Road to Perdition as John Rooney
- John C. Reilly for Chicago as Amos Hart
- Christopher Walken for Catch Me If You Can as Frank Abagnale Sr.
- 2003: Tim Robbins for Mystic River as Dave Boyle
- Alec Baldwin for The Cooler as Sheldon "Shelly" Kaplow
- Benicio del Toro for 21 Grams as Jack Jordan
- Djimon Hounsou for In America as Mateo Kuamey
- Ken Watanabe for The Last Samurai as Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto
- 2004: Morgan Freeman for Million Dollar Baby as Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris
- Alan Alda for The Aviator as Representative Owen Brewster
- Thomas Haden Church for Sideways as Jack Cole
- Jamie Foxx for Collateral as Max Durocher
- Clive Owen for Closer as Larry Gray
- 2005: George Clooney for Syriana as Bob Barnes
- Matt Dillon for Crash as Officer John Ryan
- Paul Giamatti for Cinderella Man as Joe Gould
- Jake Gyllenhaal for Brokeback Mountain as Jack Twist
- William Hurt for A History of Violence as Richie Cusack
- 2006: Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine as Edwin Hoover
- Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children as Ronald James "Ronnie" McGorvey
- Djimon Hounsou for Blood Diamond as Solomon Vandy
- Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls as James "Thunder" Early
- Mark Wahlberg for The Departed as Staff Sergeant Sean Dignam
- 2007: Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men as Anton Chigurh
- Casey Affleck for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford as Robert "Bob" Ford
- Philip Seymour Hoffman for Charlie Wilson's War as Gust Avrakotos
- Hal Holbrook for Into the Wild as Ron Franz
- Tom Wilkinson for Michael Clayton as Arthur Edens
- 2008: Heath Ledger (posthumous) for The Dark Knight as The Joker
- Josh Brolin for Milk as Dan White
- Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder as Kirk Lazarus
- Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt as Father Brendan Flynn
- Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road as John Givings Jr.
- 2009: Christoph Waltz for Inglorious Basterds as SS Colonel Hans Landa
- Matt Damon for Invictus as Francois Pienaar
- Woody Harrelson for The Messenger as Captain Tony Stone
- Christopher Plummer for The Last Station as Leo Tolstoy
- Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones as George Harvey
2010s
- 2010: Christian Bale for The Fighter as Dicky Eklund
- John Hawkes for Winter's Bone as Teardrop Dolly
- Jeremy Renner for The Town as James "Jem" Coughlin
- Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are All Right as Paul Hatfield
- Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech as Lionel Logue
- 2011: Christopher Plummer for Beginners as Hal Fields
- Kenneth Branagh for My Week with Marilyn as Laurence Olivier
- Jonah Hill for Moneyball as Peter Brand
- Nick Nolte for Warrior as Paddy Conlon
- Max von Sydow for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close as the Renter
- 2012: Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained as Dr. King Schultz
- Alan Arkin for Argo as Lester Siegel
- Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook as Patrizio Solitano Sr.
- Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master as Lancaster Dodd
- Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln as Representative Thaddeus Stevens
- 2013: Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club as Rayon
- Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips as Abduwali Muse
- Bradley Cooper for American Hustle as Special Agent Richard "Richie" DiMaso
- Michael Fassbender for 12 Years a Slave as Edwin Epps
- Jonah Hill for The Wolf of Wall Street as Donnie Azoff
- 2014: J. K. Simmons for Whiplash as Terence Fletcher
- Robert Duvall for The Judge as Joseph Palmer
- Ethan Hawke for Boyhood as Mason Evans Sr.
- Edward Norton for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) as Mike Shiner
- Mark Ruffalo for Foxcatcher as David "Dave" Schultz
- 2015: Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies as Rudolf Abel
- Christian Bale for The Big Short as Michael Burry
- Tom Hardy for The Revenant as John Fitzgerald
- Mark Ruffalo for Spotlight as Michael Rezendes
- Sylvester Stallone for Creed as Robert "Rocky" Balboa
- 2016: Mahershala Ali for Moonlight as Juan
- Jeff Bridges for Hell or High Water as Marcus Hamilton
- Lucas Hedges for Manchester by the Sea as Patrick Chandler
- Dev Patel for Lion as Saroo Brierley
- Michael Shannon for Nocturnal Animals as Detective Roberto "Bobby" Andes
- 2017: Sam Rockwell for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri as Officer Jason Dixon
- Willem Dafoe for The Florida Project as Bobby Hicks
- Woody Harrelson for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri as Chief William "Bill" Willoughby
- Richard Jenkins for The Shape of Water as Giles
- Christopher Plummer for All the Money in the World as J. Paul Getty
- 2018: Mahershala Ali for Green Book as Don Shirley
- Adam Driver for BlacKkKlansman as Detective Philip "Flip" Zimmerman
- Sam Elliott for A Star Is Born as Bobby Maine
- Richard E. Grant for Can You Ever Forgive Me? as Jack Hock
- Sam Rockwell for Vice as President George W. Bush
- 2019: Brad Pitt for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as Cliff Booth
- Tom Hanks for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood as Fred Rogers
- Anthony Hopkins for The Two Popes as Pope Benedict XVI
- Al Pacino for The Irishman as Jimmy Hoffa
- Joe Pesci for The Irishman as Russell Bufalino
2020s
- 2020-21: Daniel Kaluuya for Judas and the Black Messiah as Fred Hampton
- Sacha Baron Cohen for The Trial of the Chicago 7 as Abbie Hoffman
- Leslie Odom Jr. for One Night in Miami... as Sam Cooke
- Paul Raci for Sound of Metal as Joe
- Lakeith Stanfield for Judas and the Black Messiah as William "Bill" O'Neal
- 2021: Troy Kotsur for CODA as Frank Rossi
- Ciarán Hinds for Belfast as Pop
- Jesse Plemons for The Power of the Dog as George Burbank
- J. K. Simmons for Being the Ricardos as William Frawley
- Kodi Smit-McPhee for The Power of the Dog as Peter Gordon
- 2022: Ke Huy Quan for Everything Everywhere All at Once as Waymond Wang
- Brendan Gleeson for The Banshees of Inisherin as Colm Doherty
- Brian Tyree Henry for Causeway as James Aucoin
- Judd Hirsch for The Fabelmans as Boris Schildkraut
- Barry Keoghan for The Banshees of Inisherin as Dominic Kearney
- 2023: Robert Downey Jr. for Oppenheimer as Lewis Strauss
- Sterling K. Brown for American Fiction as Clifford "Cliff" Ellison
- Robert De Niro for Killers of the Flower Moon as William "King" Hale
- Ryan Gosling for Barbie as Beach Ken
- Mark Ruffalo for Poor Things as Duncan Wedderburn
