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A visual history · Golden Globes

The winners who defined Film Actor (Comedy).

75 ceremonies, 1951–2025. 65 different winners. The longest run belongs to Jack Lemmon, with 2 straight wins.

Who won most recently?
Sebastian Stan in 2025 for A Different Man.
Who has won the most?
Jack Lemmon and Robin Williams, tied on 3 wins each.
  1. A Different ManSebastian Stan
  2. The HoldoversPaul Giamatti
  3. The Banshees of InisherinColin Farrell
  4. Tick, Tick... Boom!Andrew Garfield
  5. Borat Subsequent MoviefilmSacha Baron Cohen
  6. RocketmanTaron Egerton
Years explored
1951–2025
Different winners
65
Category leader
Jack Lemmon · 3
About this record

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy was first awarded in 1951, so it does not run the full 1944–2025 window.

2000–2025

26 ceremonies

19512025

01 / The reigns

23 winners shaped this category.

The timeline turns the 2000–2025 record into a sequence of reigns. Longer bands reveal sustained runs; color shows the credited network / distributor.

  1. 01
    Colin Farrell2 wins
  2. 02
    Paul Giamatti2 wins
  3. 03
    Sacha Baron Cohen2 wins
One band per year, because no winner has gone back-to-back in the years on record. Colored by network / distributor; scroll sideways for the full run.
Jim Carrey'00
George Clooney'01
Gene Hackman'02
Richard Gere'03
Bill Murray'04
Jamie Foxx'05
Joaquin Phoenix'06
Sacha Baron Cohen'07
Johnny Depp'08
Colin Farrell'09
Robert Downey Jr.'10
Paul Giamatti'11
Jean Dujardin'12
Hugh Jackman'13
Leonardo DiCaprio'14
Michael Keaton'15
Matt Damon'16
Ryan Gosling'17
James Franco'18
Christian Bale'19
Taron Egerton'20
Sacha Baron Cohen'21
Andrew Garfield'22
Colin Farrell'23
Paul Giamatti'24
Sebastian Stan'25

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

Universal leads the recorded network / distributor credits with 7 wins, 2000–2025. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

Universal7 wins
20th Century3 wins
A242 wins
Disney2 wins
Paramount2 wins
Searchlight2 wins
Wins by network / distributor
  1. Universal727%
  2. 20th Century312%
  3. A2428%
  4. Disney28%
  5. Paramount28%
  6. Searchlight28%
  7. Other831%

03 / The near misses

The names that kept coming back without the ending they wanted.

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2025.

Most nominated, never won this award

  1. 01
    Hugh Grant
    4 noms
  2. 02
    Billy Bob Thornton
    2 noms
  3. 03
    Brendan Gleeson
    2 noms
  4. 04
    Daniel Craig
    2 noms
  5. 05
    Ewan McGregor
    2 noms
  6. 06
    Jack Black
    2 noms

Most losses in this category

  1. 01
    Johnny Depp
    5L · 1W
  2. 02
    Hugh Grant
    4L · 0W
  3. 03
    Joaquin Phoenix
    3L · 1W
  4. 04
    Bill Murray
    2L · 1W
  5. 05
    Billy Bob Thornton
    2L · 0W
  6. 06
    Brendan Gleeson
    2L · 0W

04 / The archive

Every year.
Every winner.

The complete reference behind the story, showing 2000–2025. Open any year to see the rest of the field when nominee records are available.

YearWinnerNetwork / Distributor
2025Sebastian Stan (A Different Man)
beat 5 others
  • Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain)
  • Hugh Grant (Heretic)
  • Gabriel LaBelle (Saturday Night)
  • Jesse Plemons (Kinds of Kindness)
  • Glen Powell (Hit Man)
A24
2024Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
beat 5 others
  • Nicolas Cage (Dream Scenario)
  • Timothée Chalamet (Wonka)
  • Matt Damon (Air)
  • Joaquin Phoenix (Beau Is Afraid)
  • Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)
Focus Features
2023Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)
beat 4 others
  • Diego Calva (Babylon)
  • Daniel Craig (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery)
  • Adam Driver (White Noise)
  • Ralph Fiennes (The Menu)
Searchlight Pictures
2022Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick... Boom!)
beat 4 others
  • Leonardo DiCaprio (Don't Look Up)
  • Peter Dinklage (Cyrano)
  • Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza)
  • Anthony Ramos (In the Heights)
Netflix
2021Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)
beat 4 others
  • James Corden (The Prom)
  • Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton)
  • Dev Patel (The Personal History of David Copperfield)
  • Andy Samberg (Palm Springs)
Amazon Studios
2020Taron Egerton (Rocketman)
beat 4 others
  • Daniel Craig (Knives Out)
  • Roman Griffin Davis (Jojo Rabbit)
  • Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
  • Eddie Murphy (Dolemite Is My Name)
Paramount
2019Christian Bale (Vice)
beat 4 others
  • Lin-Manuel Miranda (Mary Poppins Returns)
  • Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)
  • Robert Redford (The Old Man & the Gun)
  • John C. Reilly (Stan & Ollie)
Annapurna Pictures
2018James Franco (The Disaster Artist)
beat 4 others
  • Steve Carell (Battle of the Sexes)
  • Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver)
  • Hugh Jackman (The Greatest Showman)
  • Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)
A24
2017Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
beat 4 others
  • Colin Farrell (The Lobster)
  • Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins)
  • Jonah Hill (War Dogs)
  • Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool)
Lionsgate
2016Matt Damon (The Martian)
beat 4 others
  • Christian Bale (The Big Short)
  • Steve Carell (The Big Short)
  • Al Pacino (Danny Collins)
  • Mark Ruffalo (Infinitely Polar Bear)
20th Century Fox
2015Michael Keaton (Birdman)
beat 4 others
  • Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
  • Bill Murray (St. Vincent)
  • Joaquin Phoenix (Inherent Vice)
  • Christoph Waltz (Big Eyes)
Fox Searchlight
2014Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
beat 4 others
  • Christian Bale (American Hustle)
  • Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
  • Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis)
  • Joaquin Phoenix (Her)
Paramount
2013Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables)
beat 4 others
  • Jack Black (Bernie)
  • Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
  • Ewan McGregor (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen)
  • Bill Murray (Hyde Park on Hudson)
Universal
2012Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
beat 4 others
  • Brendan Gleeson (The Guard)
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50)
  • Ryan Gosling (Crazy, Stupid, Love.)
  • Owen Wilson (Midnight in Paris)
The Weinstein Company
2011Paul Giamatti (Barney's Version)
beat 4 others
  • Johnny Depp (Alice in Wonderland)
  • Johnny Depp (The Tourist)
  • Jake Gyllenhaal (Love & Other Drugs)
  • Kevin Spacey (Casino Jack)
Sony Pictures Classics
2010Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes)
beat 4 others
  • Matt Damon (The Informant!)
  • Daniel Day-Lewis (Nine)
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt ((500) Days of Summer)
  • Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man)
Warner Bros.
2009Colin Farrell (In Bruges)
beat 4 others
  • Javier Bardem (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
  • James Franco (Pineapple Express)
  • Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges)
  • Dustin Hoffman (Last Chance Harvey)
Focus Features
2008Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)
beat 4 others
  • Ryan Gosling (Lars and the Real Girl)
  • Tom Hanks (Charlie Wilson's War)
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Savages)
  • John C. Reilly (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story)
DreamWorks/Warner Bros.
2007Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat)
beat 4 others
  • Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest)
  • Aaron Eckhart (Thank You for Smoking)
  • Chiwetel Ejiofor (Kinky Boots)
  • Will Ferrell (Stranger than Fiction)
20th Century Fox
2006Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line)
beat 5 others
  • Pierce Brosnan (The Matador)
  • Jeff Daniels (The Squid and the Whale)
  • Johnny Depp (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
  • Nathan Lane (The Producers)
  • Cillian Murphy (Breakfast on Pluto)
20th Century Fox
2005Jamie Foxx (Ray)
beat 4 others
  • Jim Carrey (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
  • Paul Giamatti (Sideways)
  • Kevin Kline (De-Lovely)
  • Kevin Spacey (Beyond the Sea)
Universal
2004Bill Murray (Lost in Translation)
beat 4 others
  • Jack Black (School of Rock)
  • Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
  • Jack Nicholson (Something's Gotta Give)
  • Billy Bob Thornton (Bad Santa)
Focus Features
2003Richard Gere (Chicago)
beat 4 others
  • Nicolas Cage (Adaptation.)
  • Kieran Culkin (Igby Goes Down)
  • Hugh Grant (About a Boy)
  • Adam Sandler (Punch-Drunk Love)
Miramax
2002Gene Hackman (The Royal Tenenbaums)
beat 4 others
  • Hugh Jackman (Kate & Leopold)
  • Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge!)
  • John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)
  • Billy Bob Thornton (Bandits)
Buena Vista/Touchstone
2001George Clooney (O Brother, Where Art Thou?)
beat 4 others
  • Jim Carrey (How the Grinch Stole Christmas)
  • John Cusack (High Fidelity)
  • Robert De Niro (Meet the Parents)
  • Mel Gibson (What Women Want)
Buena Vista/Touchstone
2000Jim Carrey (Man on the Moon)
beat 4 others
  • Robert De Niro (Analyze This)
  • Rupert Everett (An Ideal Husband)
  • Hugh Grant (Notting Hill)
  • Sean Penn (Sweet and Lowdown)
Universal