So, you’re looking to settle a bet or just trying to remember who actually walked away with the gold last year. It’s funny how the award cycle works; one minute everyone is screaming about snubs and the next, we’ve basically forgotten the names on the trophies.
If you are thinking about the most recent Academy Awards, the 97th Oscars held in March 2025, the answer is Adrien Brody.
He won for his role in The Brutalist. Honestly, it was a massive moment because it had been over twenty years since he became the youngest person ever to win the category for The Pianist. People were calling it the "Brody-ssance," which is a bit cheesy, but the performance actually lived up to the hype. He played László Tóth, a Hungarian architect surviving post-war America. It’s a three-and-a-half-hour movie. Yeah, it’s a commitment. But his performance was the glue that kept that whole epic together.
The Best Actor Race That Kept Everyone Guessing
Usually, by the time the Oscars roll around, we kind of know who’s going to win. There’s a pattern. You win the Golden Globe, you win the SAG, and then you cruise to the Dolby Theatre. 2025 wasn't quite like that.
For a long time, it felt like Colman Domingo was going to take it for Sing Sing. People love him, and that movie was such a heartbreaker. Then you had Timothée Chalamet doing the whole Bob Dylan thing in A Complete Unknown. The Academy usually eats up biopics about legendary musicians, so he was a huge threat.
But when the envelope opened, it was Brody. It was one of those rare times where the "prestige epic" actually beat the "biopic" and the "indie darling."
Who else was in the room?
The 2025 lineup was actually stacked. You had:
- Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) - WINNER
- Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown)
- Colman Domingo (Sing Sing)
- Ralph Fiennes (Conclave)
- Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)
Ralph Fiennes in Conclave was the dark horse. If you haven't seen it, he plays a Cardinal trying to manage the election of a new Pope. It’s basically a political thriller but with more robes. A lot of critics thought he’d swoop in and win because he’s "overdue," but the momentum just stayed with Brody.
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What Happened at the 2026 Golden Globes?
If you’re asking "who won Best Actor" because you just saw something on the news this morning, you might be thinking of the 2026 Golden Globes that just happened a few days ago in January.
The Globes split the award into two categories, which always makes things a bit more confusing.
Wagner Moura won Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for The Secret Agent. If you know him from Narcos, this was a huge pivot, and he absolutely nailed it.
Meanwhile, Timothée Chalamet finally got his trophy in the Musical or Comedy category for Marty Supreme. It’s a Josh Safdie movie where he plays a professional ping-pong player. It sounds weird, but it’s Safdie, so it’s intense. Chalamet’s win there has already started the 2026 Oscar buzz, so we're basically starting the whole circus all over again.
Why the Best Actor Win Still Matters
Some people say the Oscars don't matter anymore, but for an actor like Adrien Brody, it completely changed his trajectory—again. Winning twice puts you in a very small club. We're talking about the Daniel Day-Lewises and the Tom Hankses of the world.
It also changes which movies get made. The Brutalist was a hard sell. It’s long, it’s dense, and it’s shot on 70mm VistaVision. Without a Best Actor win to anchor it, a movie like that might just disappear into the streaming void.
How to Stay Ahead of the Next Awards Season
If you’re trying to track the next Best Actor winner for the 2026 Oscars (the 98th Academy Awards), keep an eye on the SAG Awards coming up next month. The Screen Actors Guild is usually the best predictor of who the actual actors in Hollywood want to see win.
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Currently, the frontrunners for the 2026 trophy are Wagner Moura, Timothée Chalamet, and maybe Paul Mescal for Hamnet.
To verify these wins yourself, you can check the official Academy Awards database or the SAG-AFTRA honors list. Most major film festivals like Venice and TIFF also provide early clues on who will be the "actor to beat" before the year even ends.
Next Steps for Film Fans:
- Watch The Brutalist if you have four hours to spare and want to see why Brody won.
- Keep a lookout for the 2026 Oscar nominations, which are usually announced in late January.
- Compare the Golden Globe winners from this month with the upcoming SAG nominations to see if a clear favorite emerges for the next big ceremony.