Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor

Actors Russell Crowe and Daniel Day-Lewis hold the record for most wins in this category with three victories each, followed by Jack Nicholson and Sean Penn with two wins each.

This is the main Critics' Choice Movie Award category for leading performances by a male actor.

Previously, two other genre-specific categories were presented: Best Actor in a Comedy (2012–2019) and Best Actor in an Action Movie (2012–2016).

Currently, another subsidiary, the Critics' Choice Super Awards, presents awards to actors for genre-specific roles (horror, science fiction/fantasy, action, and superhero).

For Critics' Choice Awards for lead performances by male actors in television, see Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy, Drama or Limited Series or Movie Made for Television.

Kevin Bacon was the first recipient of this award in 1995
Russell Crowe won thrice consecutively for The Insider (1999), Gladiator (2000), and A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Daniel Day-Lewis won thrice for Gangs of New York (2002), There Will Be Blood (2007), and Lincoln (2012)
Sean Penn won twice for Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008)
Philip Seymour Hoffman won for Capote (2005)
Forest Whitaker won for The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Colin Firth won for The King's Speech (2010)
George Clooney won for The Descendants (2011)
Matthew McConaughey won for Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Michael Keaton won for Birdman (2014)
Leonardo DiCaprio won for The Revenant (2015)
Gary Oldman won for Darkest Hour (2017)
Christian Bale won for Vice (2018)
Joaquin Phoenix won for Joker (2019)
Chadwick Boseman won for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)
Brendan Fraser won for The Whale (2022)
Paul Giamatti won for The Holdovers (2023)