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A visual history · Oscars

The winners who defined Supp. Actor.

89 ceremonies, 1937–2025. 80 different winners. The longest run belongs to Jason Robards, with 2 straight wins.

Who won most recently?
Kieran Culkin in 2025 for A Real Pain.
Who has won the most?
Walter Brennan, 3 wins (1937, 1939, 1941).
  1. A Real PainKieran Culkin
  2. OppenheimerRobert Downey Jr.
  3. Everything Everywhere All at OnceKe Huy Quan
  4. CODATroy Kotsur
  5. Judas and the Black MessiahDaniel Kaluuya
  6. Once Upon a Time in HollywoodBrad Pitt
Years explored
1937–2025
Different winners
80
Category leader
Walter Brennan · 3
About this record

Best Supporting Actor was first awarded in 1937, so it does not run the full 1929–2025 window.

2000–2025

26 ceremonies

19372025

01 / The reigns

24 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 distributor.

  1. 01
    Christoph Waltz2 wins
  2. 02
    Mahershala Ali2 wins
One band per year, because no winner has gone back-to-back in the years on record. Colored by distributor; scroll sideways for the full run.
Michael Caine'00
Benicio del Toro'01
Jim Broadbent'02
Chris Cooper'03
Tim Robbins'04
Morgan Freeman'05
George Clooney'06
Alan Arkin'07
Javier Bardem'08
Heath Ledger'09
Christoph Waltz'10
Christian Bale'11
Christopher Plummer'12
Christoph Waltz'13
Jared Leto'14
J. K. Simmons'15
Mark Rylance'16
Mahershala Ali'17
Sam Rockwell'18
Mahershala Ali'19
Brad Pitt'20
Daniel Kaluuya'21
Troy Kotsur'22
Ke Huy Quan'23
Robert Downey Jr.'24
Kieran Culkin'25

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

Warner Bros. leads the recorded distributor credits with 5 wins, 2000–2025. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

Warner Bros.5 wins
Universal4 wins
Miramax3 wins
Searchlight3 wins
Sony3 wins
A242 wins
Wins by distributor
  1. Warner Bros.519%
  2. Universal415%
  3. Miramax312%
  4. Searchlight312%
  5. Sony312%
  6. A2428%
  7. Other623%

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
    Mark Ruffalo
    4 noms
  2. 02
    Philip Seymour Hoffman
    3 noms
  3. 03
    Djimon Hounsou
    2 noms
  4. 04
    Edward Norton
    2 noms
  5. 05
    Ethan Hawke
    2 noms
  6. 06
    Jeff Bridges
    2 noms

Most losses in this category

  1. 01
    Mark Ruffalo
    4L · 0W
  2. 02
    Philip Seymour Hoffman
    3L · 0W
  3. 03
    Christopher Plummer
    2L · 1W
  4. 04
    Djimon Hounsou
    2L · 0W
  5. 05
    Edward Norton
    2L · 0W
  6. 06
    Ethan Hawke
    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.

YearWinnerDistributor
2025Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)
beat 4 others
  • Yura Borisov (Anora)
  • Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown)
  • Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)
  • Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice)
Searchlight Pictures
2024Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
beat 4 others
  • Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction)
  • Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon)
  • Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
  • Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)
Universal Pictures
2023Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
beat 4 others
  • Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin)
  • Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway)
  • Judd Hirsch (The Fabelmans)
  • Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin)
A24
2022Troy Kotsur (CODA)
beat 4 others
  • Ciarán Hinds (Belfast)
  • Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog)
  • J. K. Simmons (Being the Ricardos)
  • Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)
Apple TV+
2021Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah)
beat 4 others
  • Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
  • Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night in Miami...)
  • Paul Raci (Sound of Metal)
  • LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah)
Warner Bros.
2020Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
beat 4 others
  • Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood)
  • Anthony Hopkins (The Two Popes)
  • Al Pacino (The Irishman)
  • Joe Pesci (The Irishman)
Columbia Pictures
2019Mahershala Ali (Green Book)
beat 4 others
  • Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman)
  • Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born)
  • Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
  • Sam Rockwell (Vice)
Universal Pictures
2018Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
beat 4 others
  • Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project)
  • Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
  • Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water)
  • Christopher Plummer (All the Money in the World)
Fox Searchlight Pictures
2017Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
beat 4 others
  • Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
  • Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)
  • Dev Patel (Lion)
  • Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)
A24
2016Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
beat 4 others
  • Christian Bale (The Big Short)
  • Tom Hardy (The Revenant)
  • Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
  • Sylvester Stallone (Creed)
Touchstone Pictures
2015J. K. Simmons (Whiplash)
beat 4 others
  • Robert Duvall (The Judge)
  • Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)
  • Edward Norton (Birdman)
  • Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)
Sony Pictures Classics
2014Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
beat 4 others
  • Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
  • Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
  • Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
  • Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Focus Features
2013Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
beat 4 others
  • Alan Arkin (Argo)
  • Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
  • Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
The Weinstein Company
2012Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
beat 4 others
  • Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn)
  • Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
  • Nick Nolte (Warrior)
  • Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close)
Focus Features
2011Christian Bale (The Fighter)
beat 4 others
  • John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)
  • Jeremy Renner (The Town)
  • Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right)
  • Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)
Paramount Pictures
2010Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)
beat 4 others
  • Matt Damon (Invictus)
  • Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)
  • Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)
  • Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
The Weinstein Company
2009Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
beat 4 others
  • Josh Brolin (Milk)
  • Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder)
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
  • Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)
Warner Bros.
2008Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)
beat 4 others
  • Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson's War)
  • Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild)
  • Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton)
Miramax
2007Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)
beat 4 others
  • Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children)
  • Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond)
  • Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls)
  • Mark Wahlberg (The Departed)
Fox Searchlight Pictures
2006George Clooney (Syriana)
beat 4 others
  • Matt Dillon (Crash)
  • Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man)
  • Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain)
  • William Hurt (A History of Violence)
Warner Bros.
2005Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby)
beat 4 others
  • Alan Alda (The Aviator)
  • Thomas Haden Church (Sideways)
  • Jamie Foxx (Collateral)
  • Clive Owen (Closer)
Warner Bros.
2004Tim Robbins (Mystic River)
beat 4 others
  • Alec Baldwin (The Cooler)
  • Benicio del Toro (21 Grams)
  • Djimon Hounsou (In America)
  • Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai)
Warner Bros.
2003Chris Cooper (Adaptation)
beat 4 others
  • Ed Harris (The Hours)
  • Paul Newman (Road to Perdition)
  • John C. Reilly (Chicago)
  • Christopher Walken (Catch Me If You Can)
Columbia Pictures
2002Jim Broadbent (Iris)
beat 4 others
  • Ethan Hawke (Training Day)
  • Ben Kingsley (Sexy Beast)
  • Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)
  • Jon Voight (Ali)
Miramax
2001Benicio del Toro (Traffic)
beat 4 others
  • Jeff Bridges (The Contender)
  • Willem Dafoe (Shadow of the Vampire)
  • Albert Finney (Erin Brockovich)
  • Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator)
USA Films
2000Michael Caine (The Cider House Rules)
beat 4 others
  • Tom Cruise (Magnolia)
  • Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile)
  • Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
  • Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense)
Miramax