Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture
The Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture is an annual award given by the International Press Academy as one of its Satellite Awards. The category has gone through several changes since its inception.
- From 1996 to 2010, two categories based on genre were presented, Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and Best Actor – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical
- In 2011, the IPA pared down its Satellite nominations in the motion picture categories from 22 to 19 classifications; the change reflects the merger of drama and comedy under a general Best Picture heading, including the Best Actor/Actress headings and the Supporting headings.
- In 2016 and 2017, two winners were announced within the Best Actor category, one for the performance by an actor in a major studio film and other for a performance in an independent film.
Multiple nominations
;9 nominations;7 nominations
;6 nominations
;5 nominations
;4 nominations
;3 nominations
- Christian Bale
- Steve Carell
- George Clooney
- Matt Damon
- Colin Firth
- Paul Giamatti
- Brendan Gleeson
- Tom Hanks
- Tommy Lee Jones
- Eddie Murphy
- Bill Murray
- Jack Nicholson
- Edward Norton
- Gary Oldman
- Mark Ruffalo
- Billy Bob Thornton
- Javier Bardem
- Jeff Bridges
- Josh Brolin
- Nicolas Cage
- Michael Caine
- Jim Carrey
- Michael Cera
- Don Cheadle
- Sacha Baron Cohen
- Tom Cruise
- Benedict Cumberbatch
- Michael Douglas
- Robert Downey Jr.
- Robert Duvall
- Michael Fassbender
- James Franco
- Andrew Garfield
- Richard Gere
- Tom Hardy
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Kevin Kline
- Frank Langella
- William H. Macy
- Lin-Manuel Miranda
- Cillian Murphy
- Robert Redford
- Eddie Redmayne
- Jeremy Renner
- Sam Rockwell
- Geoffrey Rush
- Adam Sandler
- Will Smith
- Forest Whitaker
- Robin Williams