Oscar Winners Best male Actor

Every actor dreams about to win an Oscar. Some of the best had to wait a long time to win one.
Check the Best male Actor Academy Award Winners of the last 20 years!

1999 – Kevin Spacey (American Beauty)

In American Beauty, Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a 42-year-old advertising executive who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter’s best friend, played by Mena Suvari. Annette Bening stars as Lester’s materialistic wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch plays their insecure daughter, Jane. Academics have described the film as a satire of American middle-class notions of beauty and personal satisfaction.

2000 – Russell Crowe (Gladiator)

In Gladiator, Crowe portrays Hispano-Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed when Commodus, the ambitious son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, murders his father and seizes the throne. Reduced to slavery, Maximus rises through the ranks of the gladiatorial arena to avenge the murders of his family and his emperor.

2001 – Denzel Washington (Training Day)

Training Day is a 2001 American crime thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua, and written by David Ayer. Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke star as two LAPD narcotics officers over a 12-hour period in the gang-ridden neighborhoods of Westlake, Echo Park and South Central Los Angeles.  Washington’s performance being particularly praised and earning him an Oscar for Best Actor at the 74th Academy Awards. His co-star Ethan Hawke was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

2002 – Adrien Brody (The Pianist)

The Pianist is a 2002 biographical drama film produced and directed by Roman Polanski, scripted by Ronald Harwood, and starring Adrien Brody. It is based on the autobiographical book The Pianist, a Holocaust memoir by the Polish-Jewish pianist and composer Władysław Szpilman, a Holocaust survivor. The film was a co-production of France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Poland.

2003 – Sean Penn (Mystic River)

Mystic River is a 2003 American mystery crime thriller drama film directed and scored by Clint Eastwood. It stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, and Laura Linney. It is the first film on which Eastwood was credited as composer of the score. Sean Penn won Best Actor and Tim Robbins won Best Supporting Actor, making Mystic River the first film to win both awards since Ben-Hur in 1959.

2004 – Jamie Foxx (Ray)

Ray is a 2004 American biographical film focusing on 30 years in the life of rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles. The independently produced film stars Jamie Foxx in the title role. Foxx received an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as well as the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild, and Critics’ Choice awards, becoming the second actor to win all five major lead actor awards for the same performance, and the only one to win the Golden Globe in the Musical or Comedy category.

2005 – Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)

Capote is a 2005 biographical film about Truman Capote directed by Bennett Miller. It follows the events during the writing of Capote’s non-fiction book In Cold Blood. Philip Seymour Hoffman won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his critically acclaimed portrayal of the title character. The film was based on Gerald Clarke’s biography Capote. It was filmed mostly in Manitoba in the autumn of 2004. It was released September 30, 2005, to coincide with Truman Capote’s birthday.

2006 – Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)

The Last King of Scotland tells the fictional story of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young Scottish doctor who travels to Uganda and becomes the personal physician of President Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker). The film is based on events of Amin’s rule, and the title comes from a reporter in a press conference who wishes to verify whether Amin, who was known to adopt fanciful imperial titles for himself, declared himself the King of Scotland.

2007 – Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

There Will Be Blood is loosely based on Upton Sinclair’s novel Oil!. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California’s oil boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Paul Dano, Kevin J. O’Connor, Ciarán Hinds, and Dillon Freasier also feature in the film.

2008 – Sean Penn (Milk)

Milk is a biographical film based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Dustin Lance Black, the film stars Sean Penn as Milk and Josh Brolin as Dan White, a city supervisor who assassinated Milk and Mayor George Moscone.