Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor

The Best Actor Award (French: Prix d'interprétation masculine) is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival since 1946. It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance and chosen by the jury from the films in official competition slate at the festival.

Best Actor Award
Prix d'interprétation masculine (French)
2023 recipient: Koji Yakusho
Awarded forBest Performance by an Actor
CountryFrance
Presented byCannes Film Festival
First awarded1946
Currently held byKōji Yakusho
Perfect Days (2023)
Websitewww.festival-cannes.com/en/

At the 1st Cannes Film Festival held in 1946, Ray Milland was the first winner of this award for his performance in The Lost Weekend, and Koji Yakusho is the most recent winner in this category for his role in Perfect Days at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in 2023.

History

The award was first presented in 1946. The prize was not awarded on five occasions (1947, 1953–54, 1956, and 1960). The festival was not held at all in 1948, 1950, and 2020. In 1968, no awards were given as the festival was called off mid-way due to the May 1968 events in France. On four occasions, the jury has awarded multiple men (more than 2) the prize for one film. The four films were A Big Family (1955), Compulsion (1959), Long Day's Journey into Night (1962), and Days of Glory (2006). Dean Stockwell, Jack Lemmon, and Marcello Mastroianni have won the most awards in this category, each winning twice. The award can be for lead or supporting roles, with the exception of the period from 1979 to 1981, and in 1991, when the festival used to award a separate "Best Supporting Actor" prize. The jury also, on occasion, cites actors with a special citation that is separate from the main award.

Winners
Table key
‡ Indicates the Best Supporting Actor winner
Year Actor Role English Title Original Title Ref.
1940s
1946 Ray Milland Don Birnam The Lost Weekend [1]
1949 Edward G. Robinson Gino Monetti House of Strangers [2]
1950s
1951 Michael Redgrave Andrew Crocker-Harris The Browning Version [3]
1952 Marlon Brando Emiliano Zapata Viva Zapata! [4]
1955
[A]		 Spencer Tracy [B] John J. Macreedy Bad Day at Black Rock [5]
Sergei Lukyanov [B] Matvei Zhurbin A Big Family Больша́я семья́
Boris Andreyev [B] Ilya Matveyevich Zhurbin
Aleksey Batalov [B] Aleksei Zhurbin
Sergei Kurilov [B] Viktor Zhurbin
Vadim Medvedev [B] Anton Zhurbin
Boris Bityukov [B] Kostya Zhurbin
Nikolai Gritsenko [B] Club Manager
Pavel Kadochnikov [B] Skobolev
Boris Kokovkin [B] Shipyard Director
Nikolay Sergeev [B] Basmanov
1957 John Kitzmiller Sgt. Jim Valley of Peace [6]
1958 Paul Newman Ben Quick The Long, Hot Summer [7][8]
1959 Bradford Dillman Artie Strauss Compulsion [9]
Dean Stockwell Judd Steiner
Orson Welles Jonathan Wilk
1960s
1961 Anthony Perkins Philip Van Der Besh Goodbye Again [10]
1962 Murray Melvin [C] Geoffrey Inghman A Taste of Honey [11]
[12]
Ralph Richardson [C] James Tyrone Sr. Long Day's Journey into Night
Jason Robards [C] James Tyrone Jr.
Dean Stockwell [C] Edmund Tyrone
1963 Richard Harris Frank Machin This Sporting Life [13]
1964 Antal Páger Vajkay Ákos Drama of the Lark Pacsirta [14]
Saro Urzì Don Vincenzo Ascalone Seduced and Abandoned Sedotta e abbandonata
1965 Terence Stamp Freddie Clegg The Collector [15]
1966 Per Oscarsson Pontus Hunger Sult [16]
1967 Oded Kotler Eli Three Days and a Child שלושה ימים וילד [17]
1969 Jean-Louis Trintignant The Examining Magistrate Z [18]
1970s
1970 Marcello Mastroianni Oreste Nardi The Pizza Triangle Dramma della gelosia (tutti i particolari in cronaca) [19]
1971 Riccardo Cucciolla Nicola Sacco Sacco & Vanzetti Sacco e Vanzetti [20]
1972 Jean Yanne Jean We Won't Grow Old Together Nous ne vieillirons pas ensemble [21]
1973 Giancarlo Giannini Antonio Soffiantini Love and Anarchy Film d'amore e d'anarchia, ovvero: stamattina alle 10, in via dei Fiori, nella nota casa di tolleranza... [22]
1974 Jack Nicholson Billy L. Buddusky The Last Detail [23]
1975 Vittorio Gassman Fausto Consolo Scent of a Woman Profumo di donna [24]
1976 José Luis Gómez Pascual Duarte Pascual Duarte [25]
1977 Fernando Rey Luis Elisa, vida mía [26]
1978 Jon Voight Luke Martin Coming Home [27]
1979 Jack Lemmon Jack Godell The China Syndrome [28]
[29]
Stefano Madia ‡ Marco Millozza Dear Father Caro papà
1980s
1980 Michel Piccoli Mauro Ponticelli A Leap in the Dark Salto nel vuoto [30]
[31]
Jack Thompson ‡ Major J.F. Thomas Breaker Morant
1981 Ugo Tognazzi Primo Spaggiari Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo [32]
[33]
Ian Holm ‡ Sam Mussabini Chariots of Fire
1982 Jack Lemmon Edmund Horman Missing [34]
1983 Gian Maria Volonté Bernard Fontana The Death of Mario Ricci La mort de Mario Ricci [35]
1984 Alfredo Landa Paco el Bajo The Holy Innocents Los santos inocentes [36]
Francisco Rabal Azarías
1985 William Hurt Luis Molina Kiss of the Spider Woman [37]
1986 Michel Blanc Antoine Tenue de soirée [38]
Bob Hoskins George Mona Lisa
1987 Marcello Mastroianni Romano Dark Eyes Oci ciornie [39]
1988 Forest Whitaker Charlie "Bird" Parker Bird [40]
1989 James Spader Graham Dalton Sex, Lies, and Videotape [41]
1990s
1990 Gérard Depardieu Cyrano de Bergerac Cyrano de Bergerac [42]
1991 John Turturro Barton Fink Barton Fink [43]
Samuel L. Jackson ‡ Gator Purify Jungle Fever
1992 Tim Robbins Griffin Mill The Player [44]
1993 David Thewlis Johnny Naked [45]
1994 Ge You Xu Fugui To Live 活着 [46]
1995 Jonathan Pryce Lytton Strachey Carrington [47]
1996 Daniel Auteuil Harry The Eighth Day Le huitième jour [48]
Pascal Duquenne Georges
1997 Sean Penn Eddie Quinn She's So Lovely [49]
1998 Peter Mullan Joe Kavanagh My Name Is Joe [50]
1999 Emmanuel Schotté Pharaon de Winter Humanité L'humanité [51]
2000s
2000 Tony Leung Chiu-wai Chow Mo-wan In the Mood for Love 花樣年華 [52]
2001 Benoît Magimel Walter Klemmer The Piano Teacher La Pianiste [53]
2002 Olivier Gourmet Olivier The Son Le Fils [54]
2003 Muzaffer Özdemir Mahmut Uzak [55]
Mehmet Emin Toprak Yusuf
2004 Yūya Yagira Akira Fukushima Nobody Knows 誰も知らない [56]
2005 Tommy Lee Jones Pete Perkins The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada [57]
2006 Roschdy Zem Messaoud Souni Days of Glory Indigènes [58]
Bernard Blancan Sergent Roger Martinez
Jamel Debbouze Saïd Otmari
Samy Naceri Yassir
Sami Bouajila Abdelkader
2007 Konstantin Lavronenko Alex The Banishment Изгнание [59]
2008 Benicio del ToroErnesto "Che" Guevara Che [60]
2009 Christoph Waltz Col. Hans Landa Inglourious Basterds [61]
2010s
2010 Javier Bardem Uxbal Biutiful [62]
Elio Germano Claudio La nostra vita
2011 Jean Dujardin George Valentin The Artist [63]
2012 Mads Mikkelsen Lucas The Hunt Jagten [64]
2013 Bruce Dern Woody Grant Nebraska [65]
2014 Timothy Spall J. M. W. Turner Mr. Turner [66]
2015 Vincent Lindon Thierry Taugourdeau The Measure of a Man La Loi du marché [67]
2016 Shahab Hosseini Emad The Salesman فروشنده [68]
2017 Joaquin Phoenix Joe You Were Never Really Here [69]
2018 Marcello Fonte Marcello Dogman [70]
2019 Antonio Banderas Salvador Mallo Pain and Glory Dolor y gloria [71]
2020s
2021 Caleb Landry Jones Martin Bryant Nitram [72]
2022 Song Kang-ho Sang-hyeon Broker 브로커 [73]
2023 Koji Yakusho Hirayama Perfect Days

Multiple Winners

The following individuals have received multiple Best Actor awards:

Number of Wins Actors Nationality Films
2 Dean Stockwell United States Compulsion (1959),
Long Day's Journey into Night (1962)
Jack Lemmon The China Syndrome (1979),
Missing (1982)
Marcello Mastroianni Italy The Pizza Triangle (1970),
Dark Eyes (1987)

See also

The following individuals have also received Best Actor award(s) at Venice or Berlin Film Festival.

Winning Year at Cannes Actors Festival Year English Title Nationality
1958 Paul Newman Berlin 1995 Nobody's Fool United States
1969 Jean-Louis Trintignant Berlin 1968 The Man Who Lies France
1970
1987		 Marcello Mastroianni Venice 1989 What Time Is It? Italy
1993 1, 2, 3, Sun
1979
1982		 Jack Lemmon Berlin 1981 Tribute United States
Venice 1992 Glengarry Glen Ross
1980 Michel Piccoli Berlin 1982 Strange Affair France
1983 Gian Maria Volonté Berlin 1987 The Moro Affair Italy
1990 Gérard Depardieu Venice 1985 Police France
1991 Samuel L. Jackson ‡ Berlin 1998 Jackie Brown United States
1997 Sean Penn Berlin 1996 Dead Man Walking
Venice 1998 Hurlyburly
2003 21 Grams
2008 Benicio del Toro Berlin 2001 Traffic Puerto Rico
2010 Javier Bardem Venice 2000 Before Night Falls Spain
2004 The Sea Inside
Elio Germano Berlin 2020 Hidden Away Italy
2013 Bruce Dern Berlin 1983 That Championship Season United States
2016 Shahab Hosseini Berlin 2011 A Separation Iran
2017 Joaquin Phoenix Venice 2012 The Master United States

Notes
A^ : This year the award was changed to Prix d'Interpretation (Acting Award), without gender differentiation.
B^ : The entire male and female cast of A Big Family (Больша́я семья́) was recipient of this award in a tie with Spencer Tracy for Bad Day at Black Rock.
C^ : This year award was given as Prix Le Premier Regard Un Certain Regard (Premiere Award - Un Certain Regard) to the lead male and female cast of Long Day's Journey into Night and A Taste of Honey (ex aequo).

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