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 - Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
  • 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 - Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story
  • 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)
• 2008: Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
  • Javier Bardem - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
  • Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
  • Sean Penn - Milk
  • Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
• 2009: TBA
  • Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
  • Colin Firth - A Single Man
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt - (500) Days of Summer
  • Souleymane Sy Savane - Goodbye Solo
  • Adam Scott - The Vicious Kind