All 6 Best Actor Oscar Winners of the 2020s, Ranked

The Academy Awards honor the best in cinema every year, acting as an arbiter of excellence that pretty much everyone in the industry aspires to. Winning an Oscar can change an actor’s life, either cementing them as icons of the seventh art or anointing them as promising talents that can shape the future of cinema. The Best Actor category is often considered one of the most important, usually presented as either third or second to last behind only Best Picture. Previous winners in the category include icons like Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Tom Hanks.

The 2020s have produced a solid group of Best Actor winners, especially compared to the decidedly more uneven crop of the 2010s. Indeed, the five actors recognized so far with an Oscar delivered performances that range from solid to quite good to, in the case of two of them, outstanding, career-best achievements worthy of every award they won. This list will rank every Best Actor winner of the 2020s based on the quality of the performance itself, how much it contributes to the movie, and where they stand among the group of nearly a hundred Best Actor winners so far. There isn’t any outright bad performance, although it’s very clear that two of them tower over the other three, joining the ranks of the all-time greatest winners.

6

Will Smith as Richard Williams

‘King Richard’ (2021)

Will Smith won the Best Actor Oscar on his third nomination. After previously contending for the award in 2001 for Ali and 2007 for The Pursuit of Happyness, the former Fresh Prince took home the gold for his portrayal of Richard Williams in the 2021 biopic King Richard. Inspired by the true story of Richard Williams, the film follows his efforts to coach his daughters, Venus and Serena Williams.

First things first: one simply cannot talk about Will Smith’s Oscar without mentioning the infamous slap. The incident not only tainted his long-time-coming Best Actor win but also resulted in his being banned from the Academy for ten years. It’s a shame because Smith worked for his Oscar, and what should’ve been the crowning achievement of his acting career instead became an ugly affair that turned him into a punching line. In terms of the performance itself, Smith is fine but nothing groundbreaking, largely because King Richard itself is a by-the-numbers biopic that does little to reveal any nuances or insights into the Williams family. Smith does admirably with what he’s given, but one could argue that both Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Garfield were worthier of the Oscar that year.

King Richard

Release Date

November 19, 2021

Runtime

138 minutes

5

Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck/Joker

‘Joker’ (2019)

Joker is a tricky movie to judge. Directed by Todd Phillips, the film presents an alternate story for the Joker, Batman’s most famous villain and, arguably, the greatest and most iconic antagonist in comic book history. Joaquin Phoenix stars as Arthur Fleck, a mentally ill man with a condition that makes him laugh uncontrollably and sporadically. When his mental state further deteriorates, Fleck unwittingly becomes a symbol against the ruling class’ oppression in a decaying and morally bankrupt Gotham City.

Phillips wears his influences on his sleeve, to Joker‘s ultimate detriment. Desperate to seem more clever and subversive than it actually is, the film pays homage to classics from Martin Scorsese‘s filmography, most notably Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy. Thus, Phoenix’s Fleck becomes a modern version of Travis Bickle far more than an actual adaptation of the Clown Prince of Crime. On his fourth Oscar nomination, Phoenix is suitably intense and deeply unsettling in the role, doing exactly what’s expected of him without actually pushing the envelope or revealing anything particularly new or interesting about mental illness or the struggle of those living on the edges of society. Still, Phoenix is showstopping enough to justify why so many were impressed with his work. It’s not the best performance either of 2019 or Phoenix’s career, but it’s enough to justify giving such an accomplished actor his dues.

Joker

Release Date

October 2, 2019

Runtime

122 minutes

4

Brendan Fraser as Charlie

‘The Whale’ (2022)

Darren Aronofsky is quite the divisive director: you either love or hate his work, and there’s apparently no middle ground. His most recent effort, the 2022 psychological drama The Whale, is an adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s play and stars Brendan Fraser as an overweight and reclusive English teacher trying to reconnect with the daughter he abandoned to pursue a new life with his male lover.

The Whale has all the trademarks of an Aronofsky movie: it’s unsubtle and occasionally crass in its approach to sensitive subjects. However, it also boasts a powerful central performance from Fraser, in what can only be described as the performance of his career. Fraser braver weathers the emotionally intense narrative, deftly navigating a story that doesn’t allow much room for nuance. Yet, the actor is stellar in his approach to Charlie’s self-destruction, revealing a broken and ultimately lonely man whose biggest wish is to connect with others despite not knowing how. The Whale occasionally borders on melodrama, but Fraser avoids lessening the impact by remaining committed to telling a story about heartbreak, shame, and the inherent human need to relate to others.

3

Adrian Brody as Lászlo Tóth

‘The Brutalist’ (2024)

Adrian Brody won his second Oscar for playing the Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor Lászlo Tóth in Brady Corbet‘s epic period drama The Brutalist. The film chronicles Tóth’s story as an immigrant architect trying to find a better life for himself and his family in the United States. Things are particularly tough at first, but the arrival of a wealthy industrialist promises to change his life forever, in more ways than expected.

A movie as grand and ambitious as The Brutalist needs an equally larger-than-life performance, and that’s what Brody delivers. Yet, the actor balances the scope with a deeply soulful and often intimate performance that keeps the action grounded in a visceral and relatable feeling. As he did in his first Oscar-winning role for The Pianist, Brody prevents this sweeping and often quite harrowing tale from descending into utter despair or becoming overwhelming for the audience. Indeed, if The Brutalist is as enthralling as it is, it’s largely because of Brody’s commanding performance. Movies about the trappings of the American Dream are common, but the best always reveal something deeper about the struggles of those trying to achieve it. The Brutalist ranks among the all-time greatest, and Adrian Brody is the perfect vessel to explore such a challenging, thought-provoking concept.

2

Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer

‘Oppenheimer’ (2023)

Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy have worked in six movies together, although the actor wouldn’t play the leading role until 2023’s Oppenheimer. As the name suggests, the film is a biopic in the form of a thriller that chronicles Oppenheimer’s career, the race to build the atomic bomb, his 1954 security hearing, and his ultimate regret at his destructive creation.

Oppenheimer is widely considered Nolan’s magnum opus, and Murphy is a large reason behind the film’s success. As the titular character, Murphy is a true enigma, hiding behind his piercing blue eyes and portraying the scientist as an elusive yet profoundly engaging figure who is as confrontational as he is alluring. Murphy delivers a tour de force in what is undoubtedly the most demanding role of his career, navigating over thirty years of Oppenheimer’s career and showing the heavy toll the bomb had on the scientist’s psyche. Once the bombs have been dropped, Murphy descends into a nightmare of guilt and sheer dread, and while his demeanor remains stoic, his ever-expressive face becomes a canvas for a myriad of emotions. Oppenheimer is a towering narrative achievement and awe-inspiring spectacle, and it’s largely thanks to Murphy’s titanic work, which rightfully earned him the Oscar.

1

Sir Anthony Hopkins as Anthony

‘The Father’ (2020)

Nearly thirty years after his first win, Sir Anthony Hopkins returned to the Oscar stage… well, kind of. In Florian Zeller‘s The Father, the renowned thespian plays Anthony, an octogenarian Welshman dealing with dementia. Oscar winner Olivia Colman co-stars as her daughter, while Zeller adapts the screenplay from his equally acclaimed play Le Père.

To say that Hopkins gives the finest performance of his career in The Father might sound like an overstatement—this is the man who played Hannibal Lecter, for crying out loud! However, it is no less true: Hopkins is devastating and endlessly compelling, portraying a man who is losing himself to an unstoppable force. The actor embodies every emotion on the spectrum and then some, from apathy to anger to frustration to heart-wrenching confusion. The ending is particularly devastating, a showcase of Hopkins’ unique ability to convey the true extent of humanity’s pain and tragedy. Hopkins’ win is, sadly, forever linked with the stunt the Academy pulled that year. However, it in no way diminished his career-best achievement. Hopkins’ win for The Father ranks among the all-time best in the Best Actor category and is undoubtedly the best of the 2020s and, arguably, the whole 21st century, give or take one Daniel Day-Lewis.

The Father

Release Date

December 23, 2020

Runtime

96 minutes

Director

Florian Zeller

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