Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead

The Film Independent's Spirit Award for Best Male Lead is one of the annual awards given by Film Independent.

Winners and nominees

1980s

*"'1985: M. Emmet Walsh - "Blood Simple"
**Rubén Blades - "Crossover Dreams"
**Tom Bower - "Wildrose"
**Treat Williams - "Smooth Talk"
*"'1986: James Woods - "Salvador"
**Roberto Benigni - "Down by Law"
**Willem Dafoe - "Platoon"
**Dennis Hopper - "Blue Velvet"
**Victor Love - "Native Son"
*"'1987: Dennis Quaid - "The Big Easy"
**Spalding Gray - "Swimming to Cambodia"
**Terry O'Quinn - "The Stepfather"
**Mickey Rourke - "Barfly"
**James Woods - "Best Seller"
*"'1988: Edward James Olmos - "Stand and Deliver"
**Eric Bogosian - "Talk Radio"
**Harvey Fierstein - "Torch Song Trilogy"
**Chris Mulkey - "Patti Rocks"
**James Woods - "The Boost"
*"'1989: Matt Dillon - "Drugstore Cowboy"
**Nicolas Cage - "Vampire's Kiss"
**Charles Lane - "Sidewalk Stories"
**Randy Quaid - "Parents"
**James Spader - "Sex, Lies, and Videotape"

1990s

*"'1990: Danny Glover - "To Sleep with Anger"
**Martin Priest - "The Plot Against Harry"
**Christopher Reid - "House Party"
**Michael Rooker - ""
**Christian Slater - "Pump Up the Volume"
*"'1991: River Phoenix - "My Own Private Idaho"
**Doug E. Doug - "Hangin' with the Homeboys"
**Robert Duvall - "Rambling Rose"
**Gary Oldman - "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead"
**William Russ - "Pastime"
*"'1992: Harvey Keitel - "Bad Lieutenant"
**Craig Chester - "Swoon"
**Laurence Fishburne - "Deep Cover"
**Peter Greene - "Laws of Gravity"
**Michael Rapaport - "Zebrahead"
*"'1993: Jeff Bridges - "American Heart"
**Mitchell Lichtenstein - "Hsi yen (The Wedding Banquet)"
**Matthew Modine - "Equinox"
**Vincent D'Onofrio - "Household Saints"
**Tyrin Turner - "Menace II Society"
*"'1994: Samuel L. Jackson - "Pulp Fiction"
**Sihung Lung - "Yin shi nan nu (Eat Drink Man Woman)"
**William H. Macy - "Oleanna"
**Campbell Scott - "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle"
**Jon Seda - "I Like It Like That"
*"'1995: Sean Penn - "Dead Man Walking"
**Nicolas Cage - "Leaving Las Vegas"
**Tim Roth - "Little Odessa"
**Jimmy Smits - "My Family"
**Kevin Spacey - "Swimming with Sharks"
*"'1996: William H. Macy - "Fargo"
**Chris Cooper - "Lone Star"
**Chris Penn - "The Funeral"
**Tony Shalhoub - "Big Night"
**Stanley Tucci - "Big Night"
*"'1997: Robert Duvall - "The Apostle"
**Peter Fonda - "Ulee's Gold"
**Philip Baker Hall - "Sydney"
**Christopher Guest - "Waiting for Guffman"
**John Turturro - "Box of Moon Light"
*"'1998: Ian McKellen - "Gods and Monsters"
**Dylan Baker - "Happiness"
**Nick Nolte - "Affliction"
**Sean Penn - "Hurlyburly"
**Courtney B. Vance - "Blind Faith"
*"'1999: Richard Farnsworth - "The Straight Story"
**John Cusack - "Being John Malkovich"
**Terence Stamp - "The Limey"
**David Strathairn - "Limbo"
**Noble Willingham - "The Corndog Man"

2000s

*"'2000: Javier Bardem - "Before Night Falls"
**Adrien Brody - "Restaurant"
**Billy Crudup - "Jesus' Son"
**Hill Harper - "The Visit"
**Mark Ruffalo - "You Can Count on Me"
*"'2001: Tom Wilkinson - "In the Bedroom"
**Brian Cox - "L.I.E."
**Ryan Gosling - "The Believer"
**Jake Gyllenhaal - "Donnie Darko"
**John Cameron Mitchell - "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
*"'2002: Derek Luke - "Antwone Fisher"
**Graham Greene - "Skins"
**Danny Huston - "Ivansxtc"
**Jeremy Renner - "Dahmer"
**Campbell Scott - "Roger Dodger"
*"'2003: Bill Murray - "Lost in Translation"
**Peter Dinklage - "The Station Agent"
**Paul Giamatti - "American Splendor"
**Ben Kingsley - "House of Sand and Fog"
**Lee Pace - "Soldier's Girl"
*"'2004: Paul Giamatti - "Sideways"
**Kevin Bacon - "The Woodsman"
**Jeff Bridges - "The Door in the Floor"
**Jamie Foxx - ""
**Liam Neeson - "Kinsey"
*"'2005: Philip Seymour Hoffman - "Capote"
**Jeff Daniels - "The Squid and the Whale"
**Terrence Howard - "Hustle & Flow"
**Heath Ledger - "Brokeback Mountain"
**David Strathairn - "Good Night, and Good Luck."
*"'2006: Ryan Gosling - "Half Nelson"
**Aaron Eckhart - "Thank You for Smoking"
**Edward Norton - "The Painted Veil"
**Ahmad Razvi - "Man Push Cart"
**Forest Whitaker - "American Gun"
*"'2007: Philip Seymour Hoffman - "The Savages"
**Pedro Castaneda - "August Evening"
**Don Cheadle - "Talk to Me"
**Frank Langella - "Starting Out in the Evening"
**Tony Leung - "Lust, Caution (Se, jie)"