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A visual history · Golden Globes

The winners who defined TV Actor (Limited).

44 ceremonies, 1982–2025. 42 different winners.

Who won most recently?
Colin Farrell in 2025 for The Penguin.
Who has won the most?
Al Pacino, James Garner and Robert Duvall, tied on 2 wins each.
  1. The PenguinColin Farrell
  2. BeefSteven Yeun
  3. Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer StoryEvan Peters
  4. DopesickMichael Keaton
  5. I Know This Much Is TrueMark Ruffalo
  6. The Loudest VoiceRussell Crowe
Years explored
1982–2025
Different winners
42
Category leader
Al Pacino · 2
About this record

Best Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Film was first awarded in 1982, so it does not run the full 1944–2025 window.

It was previously known as Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film.

The current name took effect at the 2023 ceremony.

2000–2025

26 ceremonies

19822025

01 / The reigns

25 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
    Al Pacino2 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.
Jack Lemmon'00
Brian Dennehy'01
James Franco'02
Albert Finney'03
Al Pacino'04
Geoffrey Rush'05
Jonathan Rhys Meyers'06
Bill Nighy'07
Jim Broadbent'08
Paul Giamatti'09
Kevin Bacon'10
Al Pacino'11
Idris Elba'12
Kevin Costner'13
Michael Douglas'14
Billy Bob Thornton'15
Oscar Isaac'16
Tom Hiddleston'17
Ewan McGregor'18
Darren Criss'19
Russell Crowe'20
Mark Ruffalo'21
Michael Keaton'22
Evan Peters'23
Steven Yeun'24
Colin Farrell'25

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

HBO leads the recorded network / distributor credits with 11 wins, 2000–2025. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

HBO11 wins
FX3 wins
Showtime3 wins
BBC America2 wins
Netflix2 wins
AMC1 win
Wins by network / distributor
  1. HBO1142%
  2. FX312%
  3. Showtime312%
  4. BBC America28%
  5. Netflix28%
  6. AMC14%
  7. Other415%

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
    Chiwetel Ejiofor
    3 noms
  2. 02
    Kenneth Branagh
    3 noms
  3. 03
    Woody Harrelson
    3 noms
  4. 04
    Antonio Banderas
    2 noms
  5. 05
    Ben Kingsley
    2 noms
  6. 06
    Benedict Cumberbatch
    2 noms

Most losses in this category

  1. 01
    Chiwetel Ejiofor
    3L · 0W
  2. 02
    Idris Elba
    3L · 1W
  3. 03
    Kenneth Branagh
    3L · 0W
  4. 04
    Woody Harrelson
    3L · 0W
  5. 05
    Antonio Banderas
    2L · 0W
  6. 06
    Ben Kingsley
    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
2025Colin Farrell (The Penguin)
beat 5 others
  • Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer)
  • Kevin Kline (Disclaimer)
  • Cooper Koch (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story)
  • Ewan McGregor (A Gentleman in Moscow)
  • Andrew Scott (Ripley)
HBO
2024Steven Yeun (Beef)
beat 5 others
  • Matt Bomer (Fellow Travelers)
  • Sam Claflin (Daisy Jones & the Six)
  • Jon Hamm (Fargo)
  • Woody Harrelson (White House Plumbers)
  • David Oyelowo (Lawmen: Bass Reeves)
Netflix
2023Evan Peters (Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story)
beat 4 others
  • Taron Egerton (Black Bird)
  • Colin Firth (The Staircase)
  • Andrew Garfield (Under the Banner of Heaven)
  • Sebastian Stan (Pam & Tommy)
Netflix
2022Michael Keaton (Dopesick)
beat 4 others
  • Paul Bettany (WandaVision)
  • Oscar Isaac (Scenes from a Marriage)
  • Ewan McGregor (Halston)
  • Tahar Rahim (The Serpent)
Hulu
2021Mark Ruffalo (I Know This Much Is True)
beat 4 others
  • Bryan Cranston (Your Honor)
  • Jeff Daniels (The Comey Rule)
  • Hugh Grant (The Undoing)
  • Ethan Hawke (The Good Lord Bird)
HBO
2020Russell Crowe (The Loudest Voice)
beat 4 others
  • Christopher Abbott (Catch-22)
  • Sacha Baron Cohen (The Spy)
  • Jared Harris (Chernobyl)
  • Sam Rockwell (Fosse/Verdon)
Showtime
2019Darren Criss (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story)
beat 4 others
  • Antonio Banderas (Genius: Picasso)
  • Daniel Brühl (The Alienist)
  • Benedict Cumberbatch (Patrick Melrose)
  • Hugh Grant (A Very English Scandal)
FX
2018Ewan McGregor (Fargo)
beat 4 others
  • Robert De Niro (The Wizard of Lies)
  • Jude Law (The Young Pope)
  • Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks)
  • Geoffrey Rush (Genius: Einstein)
FX
2017Tom Hiddleston (The Night Manager)
beat 4 others
  • Riz Ahmed (The Night Of)
  • Bryan Cranston (All the Way)
  • John Turturro (The Night Of)
  • Courtney B. Vance (The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story)
AMC
2016Oscar Isaac (Show Me a Hero)
beat 4 others
  • Idris Elba (Luther)
  • David Oyelowo (Nightingale)
  • Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall)
  • Patrick Wilson (Fargo)
HBO
2015Billy Bob Thornton (Fargo)
beat 4 others
  • Martin Freeman (Fargo)
  • Woody Harrelson (True Detective)
  • Matthew McConaughey (True Detective)
  • Mark Ruffalo (The Normal Heart)
FX
2014Michael Douglas (Behind the Candelabra)
beat 4 others
  • Matt Damon (Behind the Candelabra)
  • Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dancing on the Edge)
  • Idris Elba (Luther)
  • Al Pacino (Phil Spector)
HBO
2013Kevin Costner (Hatfields & McCoys)
beat 4 others
  • Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock)
  • Woody Harrelson (Game Change)
  • Toby Jones (The Girl)
  • Clive Owen (Hemingway & Gellhorn)
History
2012Idris Elba (Luther)
beat 4 others
  • Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey)
  • William Hurt (Too Big to Fail)
  • Bill Nighy (Page Eight)
  • Dominic West (The Hour)
BBC America
2011Al Pacino (You Don't Know Jack)
beat 4 others
  • Idris Elba (Luther)
  • Ian McShane (The Pillars of the Earth)
  • Dennis Quaid (The Special Relationship)
  • Édgar Ramírez (Carlos)
HBO
2010Kevin Bacon (Taking Chance)
beat 4 others
  • Kenneth Branagh (Wallander: One Step Behind)
  • Chiwetel Ejiofor (Endgame)
  • Brendan Gleeson (Into the Storm)
  • Jeremy Irons (Georgia O'Keeffe)
HBO
2009Paul Giamatti (John Adams)
beat 4 others
  • Ralph Fiennes (Bernard and Doris)
  • Kevin Spacey (Recount)
  • Kiefer Sutherland (24: Redemption)
  • Tom Wilkinson (Recount)
HBO
2008Jim Broadbent (Longford)
beat 4 others
  • Adam Beach (Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee)
  • Ernest Borgnine (A Grandpa for Christmas)
  • Jason Isaacs (The State Within)
  • James Nesbitt (Jekyll)
HBO
2007Bill Nighy (Gideon's Daughter)
beat 6 others
  • Andre Braugher (Thief)
  • Robert Duvall (Broken Trail)
  • Michael Ealy (Sleeper Cell)
  • Chiwetel Ejiofor (Tsunami: The Aftermath)
  • Ben Kingsley (Mrs. Harris)
  • Matthew Perry (The Ron Clark Story)
BBC America
2006Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Elvis)
beat 4 others
  • Kenneth Branagh (Warm Springs)
  • Ed Harris (Empire Falls)
  • Bill Nighy (The Girl in the Café)
  • Donald Sutherland (Human Trafficking)
CBS
2005Geoffrey Rush (The Life and Death of Peter Sellers)
beat 4 others
  • Mos Def (Something the Lord Made)
  • Jamie Foxx (Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story)
  • William H. Macy (The Wool Cap)
  • Patrick Stewart (The Lion in Winter)
HBO
2004Al Pacino (Angels in America)
beat 4 others
  • Antonio Banderas (And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself)
  • James Brolin (The Reagans)
  • Troy Garity (Soldier's Girl)
  • Tom Wilkinson (Normal)
HBO
2003Albert Finney (The Gathering Storm)
beat 4 others
  • Michael Gambon (Path to War)
  • Michael Keaton (Live from Baghdad)
  • William H. Macy (Door to Door)
  • Linus Roache (RFK)
HBO
2002James Franco (James Dean)
beat 4 others
  • Kenneth Branagh (Conspiracy)
  • Ben Kingsley (Anne Frank: The Whole Story)
  • Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers)
  • Barry Pepper (61*)
TNT
2001Brian Dennehy (Death of a Salesman)
beat 4 others
  • Alec Baldwin (Nuremberg)
  • Brian Cox (Nuremberg)
  • Andy García (For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story)
  • James Woods (Dirty Pictures)
Showtime
2000Jack Lemmon (Inherit the Wind)
beat 4 others
  • Jack Lemmon (Tuesdays with Morrie)
  • Liev Schreiber (RKO 281)
  • Sam Shepard (Dash and Lilly)
  • Tom Sizemore (Witness Protection)
Showtime