The Ariel Award for Best Actor (Spanish: Premio Ariel a Mejor Actor) is an award presented by the

Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas The Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences ( es, Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas, AMACC) is a professional honorary organization founded on July 3, 1946, in Mexico City to promote the dissemination, research, ...

(AMACC) in Mexico. It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a

leading In typography, leading ( ) is the space between adjacent lines of type; the exact definition varies. In hand typesetting, leading is the thin strips of lead (or aluminium) that were inserted between lines of type in the composing stick to incr ...

role while working within the Mexican

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, ...

. In 1947, the 1st and 2nd Ariel Awards were held, with

Domingo Soler Domingo Soler (born Domingo Díaz Pavia; 17 April 1901 – 13 June 1961) was a Mexican actor and occasional screenwriter of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. He appeared in over 150 films and wrote the screenplays for 2 films. Soler won an Ariel ...

and

David Silva David Josué Jiménez Silva (born 8 January 1986) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Real Sociedad. Silva plays mainly as a central or an attacking midfielder but can also play as a winger or second striker. He is ...

winning for the films ''

La Barraca LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' and ''Campeón Sin Corona'', respectively. With the exception of the years 1959 to 1971, when the Ariel Awards were suspended, the award has been given annually. Nominees and winners are determined by a committee formed every year consisting of academy members (active and honorary), previous winners and individuals with at least two Ariel nominations; the committee members submit their votes through the official AMACC website. Since its inception, the award has been given to 49 actors.

Damián Alcázar Damián Alcázar (born January 8, 1953) is a Mexican actor and politician, who is best known outside of Mexico as Lord Sopespian in '' The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian''. He was a deputy in the Constituent Assembly of Mexico City. Care ...

has received the most awards in this category with five Ariels and also is the most nominated performer with eight nominations;

Arturo de Córdova Arturo García Rodríguez (8 May 1908 – 3 November 1973), known professionally as Arturo de Córdova, was a Mexican actor who appeared in over a hundred films. Biography Career Arturo García Rodríguez was born in Mérida, Yucatán on 8 May 1 ...

and

Pedro Infante Pedro Infante Cruz (; 18 November 1917 – 15 April 1957) was a Mexican ranchera music singer and actor, whose career spanned the golden age of Mexican cinema. His popularity spread across Latin America. Infante was born in Mazatlán, Sinalo ...

follow with seven nominations each. Actors

Pedro Armendáriz Pedro Gregorio Armendáriz Hastings (May 9, 1912 – June 18, 1963) was a Mexican film actor who made films in both Mexico and the United States. With Dolores del Río and María Félix, he was one of the best-known Latin American movie stars ...

and Pedro Armendáriz, Jr., father and son, also won the award for Best Actor. In 1972,

Alfonso Arau Alfonso Arau Incháustegui (born 11 January 1932) is a Mexican filmmaker, actor, and singer. He worked as an actor and director in both Mexican and Hollywood productions for over 40 years, before his international breakthrough with the 1992 fil ...

won for his self-directed leading role in ''El Águila Descalza''. Spanish actor

Javier Bardem Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (; born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. Known for his roles in blockbusters and foreign films, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the psychopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in ...

was nominated in 2011 for his performance in ''

Biutiful ''Biutiful'' is a 2010 psychological drama film directed, produced and co-written by Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring Javier Bardem. The project marks González Iñárritu's first film in his native Spanish language since his debut ...

'', for which he was also nominated for the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and a

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

, and won the

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

and the

Prix d'interprétation masculine The Best Actor Award (french: Prix d'interprétation masculine) is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival since 1946. It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance and chosen by the jury from the films in official co ...

at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

. Six films have featured two nominated performances for Best Actor, ''De Todos Modos Juan Te Llamas'' (Jorge Russek and Juan Ferrara), ''Cuartelazo'' (Héctor Ortega and Bruno Rey), ''Vidas Errantes'' (

José Carlos Ruiz José Carlos Ruiz (born 17 November 1936) is a Mexican film and television actor. He starred in telenovelas such as ''María Isabel'', ''Soñadoras'', '' Mariana de la noche'', ''Sortilegio'', ''Soy Tu Dueña'', '' Un Refugio para el Amor'', '' ...

and Ignacio Guadalupe), ''Chido Guan, El Tacos de Oro'' (

Fernando Arau Fernando Arau (born November 3, 1953) is a Mexican comedian, actor, producer and director. He is best known for his TV roles, as Chicho in Televisa's hugely successful comedy " Cachun Cachun Ra Ra" (1981–1987) and Univision's daily morning sho ...

and Mario Almada), ''Dulces Compañías'' (

Roberto Cobo Roberto Garcìa Romero (20 February 1930 – 2 August 2002), better known as Roberto Cobo, was a Mexican actor. He appeared in more than eighty films between 1947 and 2002. Partial filmography References External links * 1930 births ...

and Ramiro Huerta), and '' 600 Millas'' (

Kristyan Ferrer Kristyan Ferrer (born Kristyan Antonio Ferrer Medel; 14 February 1995) is a Mexican actor in various roles since 2001. He played the role of El Smiley in the award-winning film '' Sin Nombre'', directed by US director Cary Joji Fukunaga. For his ...

and

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English actor and producer. He began acting on films and television series in the 1980s. He was among a group of prominent British actors of the era, the " Brit Pack". He made his television debut ...

); Russek and Ruiz won the award. As of the 2022 ceremony, Raúl Briones is the most recent winner for his role in the film '' Una Película de Policías''.