Academy Award voters love actors who take on historical figures, much like last year’s best actor award winner.

Cillian Murphy won the Oscar for best actor for his role as theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, also known as the “father of the atomic bomb,” in the film “Oppenheimer.” The Irish-born actor previously starred in “Inception” and “Dunkirk.”

“Oppenheimer” won the most awards at the 96th Academy Awards, held March 10, 2024, with the six others being best picture, best director (Christopher Nolan), supporting actor (Robert Downey Jr.), film editing, score and cinematography.

“I’m a very proud Irishman standing here tonight,” Murphy said when he accepted the award. “We made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb, and for better or for worse we’re all living in Oppenheimer’s world. So I dedicate this to the peacemakers.”

Last year’s other nominees were Bradley Cooper, in the role of composer Leonard Bernstein in “Maestro,” Colman Domingo, who played civil rights leader Bayard Rustin in “Rustin,” Paul Giamatti, a history teacher in “The Holdovers,” and Jeffrey Wright, a dispirited author in “American Fiction.”

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Other past best male actor winners

Portraying a historical figure hasn’t necessarily locked down a best actor Oscar win over the last five years. In the year before Murphy’s win, Brendan Fraser won the 2023 Oscar for his role as a 600-pound teacher in “The Whale,” besting nominees including Austin Butler, who portrayed the King of Rock and Roll in “Elvis.”

The year before that, Will Smith was victorious in 2022 for playing the father of Venus and Serena Williams in “King Richard,” over a field including Javier Bardem, who played Desi Arnaz in “Being the Ricardos.”

In 2021, Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of an elderly man losing his memory in “The Father,” winning the best actor Oscar over the competition including Gary Oldman, who portrayed “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz in “Mank.”

Who are the best actor nominees this year?

The 2025 nominees for the actor in a leading role category are:

• Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”
• Timothée Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown”
• Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing”
• Ralph Fiennes, “Conclave”
• Sebastian Stan, “The Apprentice”

Three nominees did portray real-life characters: two-time best actor nominee Timothée Chalamet was Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown” and Colman Domingo earned his second consecutive best actor nod for his role in “Sing Sing” as John “Divine G” Whitfield, who is wrongly convicted of murder and sent to jail for more than 24 years. First-time nominee Sebastian Stan plays a pre-presidential Donald Trump in “The Apprentice.”

Brody has won a best actor Oscar in 2003 for “The Pianist.” Fiennes has earned his second best actor nomination – the first came in 1997 for “The English Patient” – and he was previously also nominated for supporting actor (“Schindler’s List”) in 1994.

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List of best actor winners this century

List of best actors this century:

• 2000: Kevin Spacey (“American Beauty”)
• 2001: Russell Crowe (“Gladiator”)
• 2002: Denzel Washington (“Training Day”)
• 2003: Adrien Brody (“The Pianist”)
• 2004: Sean Penn (“Mystic River”)
• 2005: Jamie Foxx (“Ray”)
• 2006: Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Capote”)
• 2007: Forest Whitaker (“The Last King of Scotland”)
• 2008: Daniel Day-Lewis (“There Will Be Blood”)
• 2009: Sean Penn (“Milk”)
• 2010: Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart”)
• 2011: Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”)
• 2012: Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”)
• 2013: Daniel Day-Lewis (“Lincoln”)
• 2014: Matthew McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers Club”)
• 2015: Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”)
• 2016: Leonardo DiCaprio (“The Revenant”)
• 2017: Casey Affleck (“Manchester by the Sea”)
• 2018: Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”)
• 2019: Rami Malek (“Bohemian Rhapsody”)
• 2020: Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”)
• 2021: Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”)
• 2022: Will Smith (“King Richard”)
• 2023: Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”)
• 2024: Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”)

Contributing: Brian Truitt

Follow Mike Snider on Threads, Bluesky and X: mikegsnider &@mikegsnider.bsky.social &@mikesnider.

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