Now that the 2025 awards season is officially over, it is the perfect time to rank the Best Actor winners at the Academy Awards in recent years. At the 97th Academy Awards, Adrien Brody became the most recent actor to win the Best Actor Oscar. While Brody gives an outstanding and unique performance in The Brutalist, it is hard not to compare him to the other recent winners. Throughout the 2020s, Anthony Hopkins, Will Smith, Brendan Fraser, and Cillian Murphy have also won Best Actor Oscars.
The 2025 Academy Awards were the best in years, largely due to hilarious host Conan O’Brien, but I still want to look back at the ceremonies of previous years. Throughout the 2020s, all the aforementioned actors have represented some of the best films of recent years, such as The Father, King Richard, The Whale, Oppenheimer, and The Brutalist. These actors are a major reason why these films were all so successful, so it is definitely worth ranking their performances. Therefore, here are the Best Actor Oscar winners of the 2020s, ranked:
5
Brendan Fraser Plays A Reclusive Creative Writing Teacher In The Whale
Charlie Tries To Reconnect With His Daughter In The Whale
Fraser’s win in 2023 is perhaps the most heartwarming Best Actor Oscar win in many years. With The Whale, Fraser made a triumphant return to Hollywood after previously being a huge star in the 1990s and early 2000s. In The Whale, Fraser plays an overweight creative writing teacher who attempts to reconnect with his teenage daughter. Throughout the film, it is obvious that Charlie’s unhealthy habits could lead to his death at any time, which makes it a heartbreaking watch. However, while Fraser’s leading performance is great, The Whale’s critical reception was somewhat underwhelming.
4
Will Smith Plays A Tennis Coach & Father In King Richard
Richard Williams Shows His Daughters Tough Love In King Richard
Smith’s Oscar win in 2022 was undoubtedly overshadowed by the fact that he famously slapped comedian Chris Rock at the ceremony after a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. However, regardless of the controversy, Smith gives an amazing performance in King Richard. King Richard is based on a true story and focuses on Smith’s character, who plays the father of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams. In the film, Richard Williams acts more like a tennis coach than a father, which creates an interesting and unique family dynamic, making King Richard worth a watch.
3
Adrien Brody Plays A Holocaust Survivor In The Brutalist
László Tries To Rebuild His Life In The Brutalist
The Brutalist has a long runtime of 3 hours and 35 minutes. However, Brody undoubtedly commands the screen for every second of the film. Many years after becoming the youngest Best Actor Oscar winner in history for his role in The Pianist, Brody won his second Academy Award for The Brutalist. In the film, Brody plays László Tóth, a renowned European architect who immigrates to America after World War II. In the film, Brody expertly portrays the struggles and grief that survivors of the Holocaust were faced with as he settles into a new life in America.
2
Anthony Hopkins Struggles With Dementia In The Father
The Father Shows How Heartbreaking Dementia Can Be
Out of all the movies mentioned on this list, The Father has the highest Rotten Tomatoes score, with an outstanding 98% (via Rotten Tomatoes). This exceptional score is largely due to Hopkins’ heartbreaking performance in the film, which is based on the stageplay Le Père. In the film, Hopkins plays Anthony, who struggles with dementia, which is only getting worse and worse. The Father examines how Anthony interacts with his daughter, his nurse, and the world around him. Seeing a continuously confused and disoriented elderly man makes The Father a tragic watch, but Hopkins’ performance in the movie is incredible.
1
Cillian Murphy Plays An Important 20th Century American Figure In Oppenheimer
J. Robert Oppenheimer Helps To End World War II In Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer is perhaps Christopher Nolan’s best movie, and tells the true story of how J. Robert Oppenheimer created the atomic bomb during World War II. Oppenheimer is one of the most immersive movies to come out in recent years, and Murphy fully embodies the famous physicist. Murphy’s character in Oppenheimer is anything but one-dimensional. Throughout the film, J. Robert Oppenheimer struggles with the morality of the Manhattan Project, and Murphy expertly portrays the dread that the character feels at times. For this reason, Murphy is definitely the most impressive Best Actor Academy Award winner of the 2020s.
