1993-Tom Hanks (Philadelphia) and Liam Neeson (Schindler's List)
Neeson deserves this, Hanks does not, as masterful as his performance is.
Philadelphia is a good movie, but
Schindler's List is the sort of movie that makes legends.
1994-Tom Hanks (Forest Gump)
Deserved. (Though Morgan Freeman in
The Shawshank Redemption would make this a bloody hard decision.) If anything, if I had to tie, it would be here, shared between Hanks and Freeman.
1995-Mel Gibson (Braveheart)
Well deserved.
1996-Woody Harrelson (The People vs. Larry Flynt)
Ditto.
1997-Jack Nicholson (As Good as it Gets)
This one, too.
1998-Edward Norton (American History X)
Can't argue with this one.
American History X is one of the best movies out there, period. It's brutal as hell, but I still think this is Norton's best performance ever. The rest of the cast - Edward Furlong, Stacy Keach, Ethan Suplee, Fairuza Balk, Avery Brooks and Beverly D'Angelo - is all excellent as well. But it would never win it, just because the movie is as gritty and hard-souled as it is.
1999-Jim Carey (Man on the Moon)
I'm sorry, but Kevin Spacey wins this one, period. Russell Crowe in
The Insider is the only other real candidate.
2000-Russell Crowe (Gladiator)
Another one impossible to argue with, especially considering the field he was up against.
2001-Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind)
As good as Crowe was in
A Beautiful Mind, Denzel Washington's portrayal of Alonzo Harris in
Training Day is one of the five best bad guys in cinema history, period. He wins this one.
2002-Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York)
Gotta go with the OTL on this one, too.
2003-Sean Penn (Mystic River)
Agreed, though Bill Murray in
Lost in Translation makes a good case.
2004-Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda)
We agree again. The fact that Jamie Foxx won this one above Cheadle, Leonardo DiCaprio in
The Aviator and Clint Eastwood in
Million Dollar Baby is just wrong.
2005-Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)
I'll take this one, though Heath Ledger in
Brokeback Mountain would make deciding this one hard.
2006-Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness)
I'll give you this one, but Leonardo DiCaprio in
Blood Diamond (truthfully, I think Djimon Hounsou is better in that movie) would be my call, but then with my family background, I might be a bit on the biased side. Forest Whitaker in
The Last King of Scotland is a good pick, too.
2007-Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
Can't argue with this one.
Or this one, though Brad Pitt in
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a good choice, too.
2009-Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
Another very worthy winner, though Jeremy Renner in
The Hurt Locker and Morgan Freeman in
Invictus are amazing as well.
2010-Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
Another pretty clear winner, though Jesse Eisenberg in
The Social Network is amazingly good, too.