Click through each award to see the full list of nominees and winners!
2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Uncut Gems
Adam Sandler
2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
First Reformed
Ethan Hawke
2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Call Me by Your Name
Timothée Chalamet
2017 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Manchester by the Sea
Casey Affleck
2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Beasts of No Nation
Abraham Attah
2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Michael Keaton
2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Dallas Buyers Club
Matthew McConaughey
2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
The Sessions
John Hawkes
2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
The Artist
Jean Dujardin
2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
127 Hours
James Franco
2010 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Crazy Heart
Jeff Bridges
2009 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
The Wrestler
Mickey Rourke
2008 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
The Savages
Philip Seymour Hoffman
2007 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Half Nelson
Ryan Gosling
2006 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Capote
Philip Seymour Hoffman
2005 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Sideways
Paul Giamatti
2004 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Lost in Translation
Bill Murray
2003 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Antwone Fisher
Derek Luke
2002 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
In the Bedroom
Tom Wilkinson
2001 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Before Night Falls
Javier Bardem
2000 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
The Straight Story
Richard Farnsworth
1999 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Gods and Monsters
Ian McKellen
1998 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
The Apostle
Robert Duvall
1997 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Fargo
William H. Macy
1996 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Dead Man Walking
Sean Penn
1995 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Pulp Fiction
Samuel L. Jackson
1994 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
American Heart
Jeff Bridges
1993 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Bad Lieutenant
Harvey Keitel
1992 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
My Own Private Idaho
River Phoenix
1991 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
To Sleep with Anger
Danny Glover
1990 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Drugstore Cowboy
Matt Dillon
1989 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Stand and Deliver
Edward James Olmos
1988 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
The Big Easy
Dennis Quaid
1987 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
Salvador
James Woods
1986 Film Independent Spirit Awards – Best Male Lead
