César Award for Best Actor
| César Award for Best Actor | |
|---|---|
 2025 recipient: Karim Leklou | |
| Awarded for | Best Actor in a Leading Role |
| Country | France |
| Presented by | Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma |
| First award | 1976 |
| Currently held by | Karim Leklou for Jim's Story (2025) |
| Website | academie-cinema |
This is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Actor (French: César du meilleur acteur).
History
Superlatives
| Superlative | Best Actor | Best Supporting Actor | Overall (including Most Promising Actor) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actor with most awards | Michel Serrault | 3 | Niels Arestrup | 3 | Michel Serrault Niels Arestrup André Dussollier Mathieu Amalric | 3 |
| Actor with most nominations | Gérard Depardieu | 17 | André Dussollier Fabrice Luchini Guy Marchand Jean-Pierre Marielle | 5 | Gérard Depardieu | 17 |
| Actor with most nominations without ever winning | Patrick Dewaere | 5 | Jean-Pierre Marielle | 5 | Jean-Pierre Marielle | 7 |
| Film with most nominations | Le Sucre Tandem Itinerary of a Spoiled Child Le Souper Les Visiteurs The Intouchables | 2 | Subway Polisse | 3 | Subway La Haine The Officers' Ward A Prophet | 4 |
| Oldest winner | Jean-Louis Trintignant | 83 | Michael Lonsdale | 80 | Jean-Louis Trintignant | 83 |
| Oldest nominee | Michel Bouquet | 89 | Jacques Dufilho | 86 | Michel Bouquet | 89 |
| Youngest winner | Pierre Niney | 26 | Jacques Villeret | 28 | Pierre Niney | 26 |
| Youngest nominee | Vincent Lacoste | 22 | Thomas Langmann | 23 | Milo Machado-Graner | 15 |
Winners
1970s
| Year | Winner | English title | Original title | Role/Character |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 (1st) | Philippe Noiret | The Old Gun | Le Vieux Fusil | Julien Dandieu |
| Victor Lanoux | Cousin, Cousin | Cousin, cousine | Ludovic | |
| Jean-Pierre Marielle | Cookies | Les Galettes de Pont-Aven | Henri Serin | |
| Gérard Depardieu | Seven Deaths by Prescription | Sept morts sur ordonnance | Doctor Jean-Pierre Berg | |
| 1977 (2nd) | Michel Galabru | The Judge and the Assassin | Le Juge et l'assassin | Sgt. Joseph Bouvier |
| Alain Delon | Mr. Klein | Monsieur Klein | Mr. Klein | |
| Gérard Depardieu | The Last Woman | La Dernière Femme | Gérard | |
| Patrick Dewaere | The Best Way to Walk | La Meilleure Façon de marcher | Marc | |
| 1978 (3rd) | Jean Rochefort | Drummer-Crab | Le Crabe-tambour | Captain |
| Alain Delon | Death of a Corrupt Man | Mort d'un pourri | Xavier 'Xav' Maréchal | |
| Gérard Depardieu | This Sweet Sickness | Dites-lui que je l'aime | David Martinaud | |
| Patrick Dewaere | Judge Fayard Called the Sheriff | Le Juge Fayard dit le Shériff | Judge Fayard | |
| Charles Denner | The Man Who Loved Women | L'Homme qui aimait les femmes | Bertrand Morane | |
| 1979 (4th) | Michel Serrault | Birds of a Feather | La Cage aux folles | Albin Mougeotte/Zaza Napoli |
| Claude Brasseur | A Simple Story | Une histoire simple | Serge | |
| Jean Carmet | The Sugar | Le Sucre | Adrien Courtois | |
| Gérard Depardieu | Raoul-Renaud Homecourt |
1980s
| Year | Winner | English title | Original title | Role/Character |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 (5th) | Claude Brasseur | The Police War | La Guerre des polices | Jacques Fush |
| Patrick Dewaere | Série noire | Franck Poupart | ||
| Yves Montand | I as in Icarus | I... comme Icare | Henri Volney | |
| Jean Rochefort | Courage - Let's Run | Courage fuyons | Martin Belhomme / Adrien Belhomme | |
| 1981 (6th) | Gérard Depardieu | The Last Metro | Le Dernier Métro | Bernard Granger |
| Michel Serrault | La Cage aux Folles II | Albin Mougeotte/Zaza Napoli | ||
| Philippe Noiret | Heads or Tails | Pile ou face | Detective Louis Baroni | |
| Patrick Dewaere | A Bad Son | Un mauvais fils | Bruno Calgagni | |
| 1982 (7th) | Michel Serrault | Under Suspicion | Garde à vue | Jérôme Martinaud |
| Patrick Dewaere | Stepfather | Beau-père | Rémi | |
| Philippe Noiret | Clean Slate | Coup de torchon | Lucien Cordier | |
| Michel Piccoli | Strange Affair | Une étrange affaire | Bertrand Malair | |
| 1983 (8th) | Philippe Léotard | The Nark | La Balance | Dédé Laffont |
| Gérard Depardieu | Danton | Georges Danton | ||
| Gérard Lanvin | Tir groupé | Antoine Béranger | ||
| Lino Ventura | Les Misérables | Jean Valjean | ||
| 1984 (9th) | Michel "Coluche" Colucci | So Long, Stooge | Tchao pantin | Lambert |
| Gérard Depardieu | ComDads | Les Compères | Jean Lucas | |
| Yves Montand | Waiter! | Garçon! | Alex | |
| Michel Serrault | Deadly Run | Mortelle randonnée | Beauvoir | |
| Alain Souchon | One Deadly Summer | L'Été meurtrier | Fiorimonto "Florimond" Montecciari | |
| 1985 (10th) | Alain Delon | Our Story | Notre histoire | Robert Avranches |
| Gérard Depardieu | Fort Saganne | Charles Saganne | ||
| Louis Ducreux | A Sunday in the Country | Un dimanche à la campagne | Mr. Ladmiral | |
| Philippe Noiret | My New Partner | Les Ripoux | René Boirond | |
| Michel Piccoli | Dangerous Moves | La Diagonale du fou | Akiva Liebskind | |
| 1986 (11th) | Christopher Lambert | Subway | Fred | |
| Gérard Depardieu | Police | Louis Vincent Mangin | ||
| Robin Renucci | Staircase C | Escalier C | Forster | |
| Michel Serrault | He Died with His Eyes Open | On ne meurt que 2 fois | Inspector Robert Staniland | |
| Lambert Wilson | Rendez-vous | Quentin | ||
| 1987 (12th) | Daniel Auteuil | Jean de Florette | Ugolin | |
| Jean de Florette II: Manon of the Spring | Manon des sources | |||
| Jean-Hugues Anglade | Betty Blue | 37°2 le matin | Zorg | |
| Michel Blanc | Ménage | Tenue de soirée | Antoine | |
| André Dussollier | Mélo | Marcel Blanc | ||
| Christophe Malavoy | The Woman of My Life | La Femme de ma vie | Simon | |
| 1988 (13th) | Richard Bohringer | The Grand Highway | Le Grand Chemin | Pelo |
| Jean Carmet | Miss Mona | Miss Mona | ||
| Gérard Depardieu | Under the Sun of Satan | Sous le soleil de Satan | Abbé Donissan | |
| Gérard Jugnot | Tandem | Rivetot | ||
| Christophe Malavoy | Engagements of the Heart | De guerre lasse | Charles Sambrat | |
| Jean Rochefort | Tandem | Michel Mortez | ||
| 1989 (14th) | Jean-Paul Belmondo | Itinerary of a Spoiled Child | Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté | Sam Lion |
| Richard Anconina | Itinerary of a Spoiled Child | Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté | Albert Duvivier | |
| Daniel Auteuil | A Few Days with Me | Quelques jours avec moi | Martial Pasquier | |
| Jean-Marc Barr | The Big Blue | Le Grand Bleu | Jacques Mayol | |
| Gérard Depardieu | Camille Claudel | Auguste Rodin | ||
1990s
2000s
| Year | Winner | English title | Original title | Role/Character |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 (25th) | Daniel Auteuil | Girl on the Bridge | La Fille sur le pont | Gabor |
| Jean-Pierre Bacri | Kennedy and I | Kennedy et moi | Simon Polaris | |
| Albert Dupontel | Sachs' Disease | La Maladie de Sachs | Doctor Bruno Sachs | |
| Vincent Lindon | My Little Business | Ma petite entreprise | Ivan Lansi | |
| Philippe Torreton | It All Starts Today | Ça commence aujourd'hui | Daniel Lefebvre | |
| 2001 (26th) | Sergi López | Harry, He's Here to Help | Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien | Harry |
| Jean-Pierre Bacri | The Taste of Others | Le Goût des autres | Jean-Jacques Castella | |
| Charles Berling | Sentimental Destinies | Les Destinées sentimentales | Jean Barnery | |
| Bernard Giraudeau | A Question of Taste | Une affaire de goût | Frédéric Delamont | |
| Pascal Greggory | Confusion of Genders | La Confusion des genres | Alain Bauman | |
| 2002 (27th) | Michel Bouquet | How I Killed My Father | Comment j'ai tué mon père | Maurice |
| Eric Caravaca | The Officers' Ward | La Chambre des officiers | Adrien | |
| Vincent Cassel | Read My Lips | Sur mes lèvres | Paul Angeli | |
| André Dussollier | Tanguy | Paul Guetz | ||
| Jacques Dutronc | That's Life | C'est la vie | Dimitri | |
| 2003 (28th) | Adrien Brody (won the Academy Award) | The Pianist | Władysław Szpilman | |
| Daniel Auteuil | The Adversary | L'Adversaire | Jean-Marc Faure | |
| François Berléand | Whatever You Say | Mon idole | Jean-Louis Broustal | |
| Bernard Campan | Beautiful Memories | Se souvenir des belles choses | Philippe | |
| Mathieu Kassovitz | Amen. | Riccardo Fontana | ||
| 2004 (29th) | Omar Sharif | Monsieur Ibrahim | Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran | Mr. Ibrahim |
| Daniel Auteuil | After You... | Après vous... | Antoine Letoux | |
| Jean-Pierre Bacri | Feelings | Les Sentiments | Jacques | |
| Gad Elmaleh | Chouchou | Chouchou | ||
| Bruno Todeschini | His Brother | Son frère | Thomas | |
| 2005 (30th) | Mathieu Amalric | Kings and Queen | Rois et reine | Ismaël Vuillard |
| Daniel Auteuil | Department 36 | 36 Quai des Orfèvres | Léo Vrinks | |
| Gérard Jugnot | The Chorus | Les Choristes | Clement Mathieu | |
| Benoît Poelvoorde | Podium | Bernard Frédéric | ||
| Philippe Torreton | The Light | L'Équipier | Yvon Le Guen | |
| 2006 (31st) | Michel Bouquet | The Last Mitterrand | Le Promeneur du Champ-de-Mars | The President |
| Patrick Chesnais | Not Here to Be Loved | Je ne suis pas là pour être aimé | Jean-Claude Delsart | |
| Romain Duris | The Beat That My Heart Skipped | De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté | Thomas Seyr | |
| José Garcia | The Axe | Le Couperet | Bruno Davert | |
| Benoît Poelvoorde | In His Hands | Entre ses mains | Laurent Kessler | |
| 2007 (32nd) | François Cluzet | Tell No One | Ne le dis à personne | Alexandre Beck |
| Michel Blanc | You Are So Beautiful | Je vous trouve très beau | Aymé Pigrenet | |
| Alain Chabat | Rent a Wife | Prête-moi ta main | Luis | |
| Gérard Depardieu | When I Was a Singer (a.k.a. The Singer) | Quand j'étais chanteur | Alain Moreau | |
| Jean Dujardin | OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies | OSS 117: Le Caire nid d'espions | Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath/OSS 117 | |
| 2008 (33rd) | Mathieu Amalric | The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Le Scaphandre et le papillon | Jean-Dominique Bauby |
| Michel Blanc | The Witnesses | Les Témoins | Adrien | |
| Jean-Pierre Darroussin | Conversations with My Gardener | Dialogue avec mon jardinier | Dujardin | |
| Vincent Lindon | Those Who Remain | Ceux qui restent | Bertrand Liévain | |
| Jean-Pierre Marielle | Let's Dance | Faut que ça danse! | Salomon Bellinsky | |
| 2009 (34th) | Vincent Cassel | Mesrine I: Killer Instinct | L'Instinct de mort | Jacques Mesrine |
| Mesrine II: Public Enemy No. 1 | L'Ennemi public n°1 | |||
| François-Xavier Demaison | Coluche, l'histoire d'un mec | Coluche | ||
| Guillaume Depardieu | Versailles | Damien | ||
| Albert Dupontel | Love Me No More | Deux jours à tuer | Antoine Méliot | |
| Jacques Gamblin | The First Day of the Rest of Your Life | Le Premier Jour du reste de ta vie | Robert Duval | |
2010s
2020s
Multiple wins and nominations
| The following individuals received two or more Best Actor awards:
| The following individuals received three or more Best Actor nominations:
|
One actor has the record of most consecutive nominations with 4: Gerard Depardieu (1977, 1978, 1979, 1980/ 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986/ 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991)
See also
- Lumière Award for Best Actor
- Magritte Award for Best Actor
- European Film Award for Best Actor
- Academy Award for Best Actor
- BAFTA Award for Best Actor
References
- ^ Tartaglione, Nancy. "César Awards Nominations: Verhoeven's 'Elle,' Ozon's 'Frantz' In The Lead". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
- ^ "'Bye Bye Morons' Wins Best Film at France's Cesar Awards". Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ "Lea Seydoux, Adam Driver Among Nominees for France's Cesar Awards". Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Nikkhah Azad, Navid (2023-01-26). "Nominations for César Awards 2023 unveiled". www.deed.news. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
- ^ "Cesar Nominations: 'Anatomy of a Fall,' 'The Animal Kingdom' Lead the Pack for French Film Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. 24 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.