Every Emmys Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie winner

26 ceremonies, 2000–2025. 25 different winners.

Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie was previously known as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie.

It has been Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie since 2015 and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie since 2021. The race itself never split: one award has covered both miniseries and television movies for the whole window.

Al Pacino ×2

One band per year, because no winner has gone back-to-back in the years on record. Colored by network; scroll sideways for the full run.

Jack Lemmon'00

Kenneth Branagh'01

Albert Finney'02

William H. Macy'03

Al Pacino'04

Geoffrey Rush'05

Andre Braugher'06

Robert Duvall'07

Paul Giamatti'08

Brendan Gleeson'09

Al Pacino'10

Barry Pepper'11

Kevin Costner'12

Michael Douglas'13

Benedict Cumberbatch'14

Richard Jenkins'15

Courtney B. Vance'16

Riz Ahmed'17

Darren Criss'18

Jharrel Jerome'19

Mark Ruffalo'20

Ewan McGregor'21

Michael Keaton'22

Steven Yeun'23

Richard Gadd'24

Stephen Graham'25

Wins by network

HBO1142%
Netflix519%
FX312%
ABC14%
AMC14%
History14%
Other415%

Who kept losing

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2025.

Most nominated, never won

Idris Elba4 noms
Antonio Banderas2 noms
Beau Bridges2 noms
Ben Kingsley2 noms
Hugh Grant2 noms
Ian McKellen2 noms

Most losses

Benedict Cumberbatch5L · 1W
Idris Elba4L · 0W
Kenneth Branagh3L · 1W
William H. Macy3L · 1W
Antonio Banderas2L · 0W
Beau Bridges2L · 0W

The full list

Year	Winner	Network
2025	Stephen Graham (Adolescence) beat 4 others Colin Farrell (The Penguin) Jake Gyllenhaal (Presumed Innocent) Brian Tyree Henry (Dope Thief) Cooper Koch (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story)	Netflix
2024	Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer) beat 4 others Matt Bomer (Fellow Travelers) Jon Hamm (Fargo) Tom Hollander (Feud: Capote vs. The Swans) Andrew Scott (Ripley)	Netflix
2023	Steven Yeun (Beef) beat 5 others Taron Egerton (Black Bird) Kumail Nanjiani (Welcome to Chippendales) Evan Peters (Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story) Daniel Radcliffe (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story) Michael Shannon (George & Tammy)	Netflix
2022	Michael Keaton (Dopesick) beat 5 others Colin Firth (The Staircase) Andrew Garfield (Under the Banner of Heaven) Oscar Isaac (Scenes from a Marriage) Himesh Patel (Station Eleven) Sebastian Stan (Pam & Tommy)	Hulu
2021	Ewan McGregor (Halston) beat 4 others Paul Bettany (WandaVision) Hugh Grant (The Undoing) Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton)	Netflix
2020	Mark Ruffalo (I Know This Much Is True) beat 4 others Jeremy Irons (Watchmen) Hugh Jackman (Bad Education) Paul Mescal (Normal People) Jeremy Pope (Hollywood)	HBO
2019	Jharrel Jerome (When They See Us) beat 5 others Mahershala Ali (True Detective) Benicio del Toro (Escape at Dannemora) Hugh Grant (A Very English Scandal) Jared Harris (Chernobyl) Sam Rockwell (Fosse/Verdon)	Netflix
2018	Darren Criss (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story) beat 5 others Antonio Banderas (Genius: Picasso) Benedict Cumberbatch (Patrick Melrose) Jeff Daniels (The Looming Tower) John Legend (Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert) Jesse Plemons (USS Callister (Black Mirror))	FX
2017	Riz Ahmed (The Night Of) beat 5 others Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock: The Lying Detective) Robert De Niro (The Wizard of Lies) Ewan McGregor (Fargo) Geoffrey Rush (Genius) John Turturro (The Night Of)	HBO
2016	Courtney B. Vance (The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story) beat 5 others Bryan Cranston (All the Way) Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock: The Abominable Bride) Idris Elba (Luther) Cuba Gooding Jr. (The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story) Tom Hiddleston (The Night Manager)	FX
2015	Richard Jenkins (Olive Kitteridge) beat 5 others Adrien Brody (Houdini) Ricky Gervais (Derek: The Special) Timothy Hutton (American Crime) David Oyelowo (Nightingale) Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall)	HBO
2014	Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock: His Last Vow) beat 5 others Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dancing on the Edge) Idris Elba (Luther) Martin Freeman (Fargo) Mark Ruffalo (The Normal Heart) Billy Bob Thornton (Fargo)	PBS
2013	Michael Douglas (Behind the Candelabra) beat 4 others Benedict Cumberbatch (Parade's End) Matt Damon (Behind the Candelabra) Toby Jones (The Girl) Al Pacino (Phil Spector)	HBO
2012	Kevin Costner (Hatfields & McCoys) beat 5 others Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia) Idris Elba (Luther) Woody Harrelson (Game Change) Clive Owen (Hemingway & Gellhorn) Bill Paxton (Hatfields & McCoys)	History
2011	Barry Pepper (The Kennedys) beat 5 others Idris Elba (Luther) Laurence Fishburne (Thurgood) William Hurt (Too Big to Fail) Greg Kinnear (The Kennedys) Édgar Ramírez (Carlos)	Reelz
2010	Al Pacino (You Don't Know Jack) beat 4 others Jeff Bridges (A Dog Year) Ian McKellen (The Prisoner) Dennis Quaid (The Special Relationship) Michael Sheen (The Special Relationship)	HBO
2009	Brendan Gleeson (Into the Storm) beat 5 others Kevin Bacon (Taking Chance) Kenneth Branagh (Wallander: One Step Behind) Kevin Kline (Cyrano de Bergerac) Ian McKellen (King Lear) Kiefer Sutherland (24: Redemption)	HBO
2008	Paul Giamatti (John Adams) beat 4 others Ralph Fiennes (Bernard and Doris) Ricky Gervais (Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale) Kevin Spacey (Recount) Tom Wilkinson (Recount)	HBO
2007	Robert Duvall (Broken Trail) beat 4 others Jim Broadbent (Longford) William H. Macy (Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King: Umney's Last Case) Matthew Perry (The Ron Clark Story) Tom Selleck (Jesse Stone: Sea Change)	AMC
2006	Andre Braugher (Thief) beat 4 others Charles Dance (Bleak House) Ben Kingsley (Mrs. Harris) Donald Sutherland (Human Trafficking) Jon Voight (Pope John Paul II)	FX
2005	Geoffrey Rush (The Life and Death of Peter Sellers) beat 4 others Kenneth Branagh (Warm Springs) Ed Harris (Empire Falls) William H. Macy (The Wool Cap) Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Elvis)	HBO
2004	Al Pacino (Angels in America) beat 4 others Antonio Banderas (And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself) James Brolin (The Reagans) Mos Def (Something the Lord Made) Alan Rickman (Something the Lord Made)	HBO
2003	William H. Macy (Door to Door) beat 4 others Brad Garrett (Gleason) Paul Newman (Our Town) Tom Wilkinson (Normal) James Woods (Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story)	TNT
2002	Albert Finney (The Gathering Storm) beat 4 others Kenneth Branagh (Shackleton) Beau Bridges (We Were the Mulvaneys) James Franco (James Dean) Michael Gambon (Path to War)	HBO
2001	Kenneth Branagh (Conspiracy) beat 4 others Andy García (For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story) Gregory Hines (Bojangles) Ben Kingsley (Anne Frank: The Whole Story) Barry Pepper (61*)	HBO
2000	Jack Lemmon (Tuesdays with Morrie) beat 4 others Beau Bridges (P. T. Barnum) Brian Dennehy (Death of a Salesman) William H. Macy (A Slight Case of Murder) Liev Schreiber (RKO 281)	ABC

More Emmys categories

Directing (Drama)Directing (Comedy)Writing (Drama)Writing (Comedy)Competition Program Variety Series Talk Series Sketch Series Lead Actor (Drama)Lead Actress (Drama)Lead Actor (Comedy)Lead Actress (Comedy)Made for TV Movie TV Movie Lead Actress (Limited)Supp. Actor (Limited)All 34 categories

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