2001 - RUSSEL CROWE: For Gladiator. The brooding Australian dished out a powerful, physical performance in the Ridley Scott epic on Rome at the start of its decay.
2002 - DENZEL WASHINGTON: Star of films such as Glory, Philadelphia, Pelican Brief and Crimson Tide, Denzel played a corrupt cop showing Ethan Hawke the ropes in 'Training Day' for his first Oscar as a leading man.
2003 - ADRIEN BRODY: In "The Pianist", inspiring film by Roman Polanski, Brody played a musician who survived extermination, hiding in Nazi-occupied Poland.
2004 - SEAN PENN: Known for his intensity and latent violence, Director Clint Eastwood got the most out of him in Mystic River, a drama which also starred Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon.
2005 - JAMIE FOXX: Foxx wowed the academy, if not the box office, with a stellar portrayal of blind musician Ray Charles in the biopic "Ray".
2006 - PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN: This year around, too, the Academy favoured a biography. Hoffman plays Capote, an eccentric writer, who develops a relationship with a killer while researching for his book.
2007 - FOREST WHITAKER: In "The Last King of Scotland", Whitaker was terrifying as Idi Amin, the Ugandan Dictator.
2008 - DANIEL DAY-LEWIS: After his Oscar for playing a paraplegic in "My Left Foot" (1989), it was a long wait for this brilliant actor. "There Will Be Blood" won him the golden statue again.
2009 - SEAN PENN: For the second time in a decade, Sean Penn bagged the Oscar, this time for his role as Harvey Milk, a gays rights activist.
2010 - JEFF BRIDGES: Perhaps because it was long overdue, Jeff Bridges was given the Oscar for his portrayal of an ageing country singer in Crazy Heart, which critics believed was far from his most impressive performance.