Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
The 2025 recipient: Wagner Moura
Awarded for	Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Drama
Location	United States
Presented by	Dick Clark Productions
Currently held by	Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent (2025)
Website	goldenglobes.com

The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama is a Golden Globe Award that was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951. Previously, there was a single award for "Best Actor in a Motion Picture" but the splitting allowed for recognition of it and the Best Actor – Musical or Comedy.

The formal title has varied since its inception. In 2005, it was officially called: "Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama". As of 2013, the wording is "Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama".

Winners and nominees

Multiple nominations

Multiple wins

Firsts

• José Ferrer became the first Latino as well as the first Puerto Rican actor to win in 1951.
• Sidney Poitier became the first actor of African descent as well as the first Bahamian actor to win in 1963.
• Omar Sharif became the first actor of Middle Eastern descent as well as the first Egyptian actor to win in 1966.
• Peter Finch became the first actor to win posthumously in 1977.
• Ben Kingsley became the first actor of Asian descent to win in 1983.
• Wagner Moura became the first actor to win for a foreign language/non-English language performance in 2025.

See also

• Academy Award for Best Actor
• Actor Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
• BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
• Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Performance

References