One leading man overcame a stacked category of his contemporaries to secure his win at the 2026 Actor Awards Presented by SAG-AFTRA.
Michael B. Jordan ultimately took home the award for Male Actor in a Leading Role for Sinners during the Sunday, March 1, ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles.
“I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Jordan, 39, began as the audience rose to give him a standing ovation. “I’m so honored and privileged to be nominated in this category with people and actors and humans that I love, and I love their work and I love what they contribute to our craft.”
He went on to reflect on the challenges he faced in his early years as an actor, saying, “That kid from New Jersey is standing here right now. Mom, thank you for driving me back and forth to New York when we didn’t have money for the Holland Tunnel, or when we were looking for gas money and parking spaces,” he shared. “And I want to thank [Sinners director] Ryan Coogler, for giving me the opportunity to show what I can do and be fearless and create a safe space where we could find truth.”
Marty Supreme’s Timothée Chalamet, One Battle After Another’s Leonardo DiCaprio, Blue Moon’s Ethan Hawke and Bugonia’s Jesse Plemons were also nominated in the Male Actor in a Leading Role category.
With the exception of Hawke, 55, all of the nominees were already Actor Award winners prior to Sunday’s show. Hawke has a total of five nods throughout his career but has yet to secure the accolade.
For his part, DiCaprio, 51, previously earned an Actor Award for Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role in 2016 for his role in The Revenant. He also has more career nominations than any other actor in the category. His 15 nods include one this year for Cast in a Motion Picture for One Battle After Another.
Chalamet, 30, followed closely behind DiCaprio, with one past win and nine nominations throughout his time in the spotlight, including a nod for Cast in a Motion Picture for Marty Supreme this year. Ahead of Sunday’s ceremony, he was already the reigning Male Actor in a Leading Role recipient after taking home the award in 2025 for A Complete Unknown.
“I can’t downplay the significance of this award because it means the most to me. I know we’re in a subjective business,” Chalamet said in his acceptance speech at the time. “The truth is, I’m really in pursuit of greatness. I know people don’t usually talk like that. But I want to be one of the greats. I’m inspired by the greats. I’m inspired by the greats here tonight.”
After noting that he is “as inspired by Daniel Day Lewis, Marlon Brando and Viola Davis as [he is] by Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps,” Chalamet acknowledged, “I wanna be up there.”
“I’m deeply grateful for that,” he added. “This doesn’t signify that but it’s a little more fuel, a little more ammo to keep going.”
As for Plemons, 37, out of his four nominations over the years, he previously won an Actor Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series for Breaking Bad in 2014.
Meanwhile, Jordan is a one-time Actor Award winner and three-time nominee. He and his Black Panther costars previously earned Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture in 2019, and he’s nominated in the category again this year for Sinners.
