Match the Best Actor Oscar Winners - 2000s Quiz

Answer: Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe picked up his first Best Actor Oscar for portraying Maximus Decimus Meridius in "Gladiator". He was nominated the previous year in the same category for "The Insider". Directed by Ridley Scott, "Gladiator" followed the tale of a Roman General (Crowe) who was tapped to become emperor but instead ended up as a slave gladiator after the last emperor's son (Joaquin Phoenix) usurped power.

The other nominees in the Best Actor category were Javier Bardem ("Before Night Falls"), Tom Hanks ("Cast Away"), Ed Harris ("Pollock"), and Geoffrey Rush ("Quills").

Answer: Denzel Washington

Following in Sidney Poitier's footsteps, Denzel Washington became only the second African-American man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, picking up the award for portraying crooked narcotics detective Alonzo Harris in "Training Day". He had previously won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "Glory", and he had prior Best Actor nominations for "Malcolm X" and "The Hurricane" and a Best Supporting Actor nomination for "Cry Freedom".

In "Training Day", Harris tried unsuccessfully to convert a trainee detective Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) to his way of doing business in a gang-ridden area of Los Angeles.

The other nominees for the Best Actor category were Russell Crowe ("A Beautiful Mind"), Sean Penn ("i am sam"), Will Smith ("Ali"), and Tom Wilkinson ("In the Bedroom").

Answer: Adrien Brody

With his first nomination, Adrien Brody won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Polish classical composer and pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman in "The Pianist". At 29, he was the youngest man to that date to win the category, and his win was also memorable for the huge kiss that he planted on presenter Halle Berry when he accepted his award. "The Pianist" was based on the true story of the Jewish Szpilman, who was playing live on the radio in Warsaw when the Germans attacked and then survived the Holocaust by hiding in different locations around Warsaw.

The other nominees for the Best Actor Oscar were Nicolas Cage ("Adaptation"), Michael Caine ("The Quiet American"), Daniel Day-Lewis ("Gangs of New York"), and Jack Nicholson ("About Schmidt").

Answer: Sean Penn

Sean Penn picked up his first Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Jimmy Markum in "Mystic River". He had previously been nominated in the same category for "Dead Man Walking", "Sweet and Lowdown", and "i am sam". In the Clint Eastwood-directed "Mystic River", a group of childhood friends are torn apart by the repercussions of the molestation of one of the boys when they were young and the recent murder of Markum's daughter.

The other contenders for the Best Actor Oscar were Johnny Depp ("Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"), Ben Kingsley ("House of Sand and Fog"), Jude Law ("Cold Mountain"), and Bill Murray ("Lost in Translation").

Answer: Jamie Foxx

Nominated in both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories in 2005, Jamie Foxx received his first Academy Award for channeling Ray Charles in the biopic "Ray". His Best Supporting Actor nomination was for "Collateral". For his performance, Foxx became only the second actor to win the five major acting awards (Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Critics' Choice); Geoffrey Rush was the first for "Shine".

The musical film "Ray" covered the early years and eventual stardom of Charles.

The real Ray Charles reviewed the script but died a few months before the film's premier. The other nominees for the Best Actor award were Don Cheadle ("Hotel Rwanda"), Johnny Depp ("Finding Neverland"), Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Aviator"), and Clint Eastwood ("Million Dollar Baby").

Answer: Philip Seymour Hoffman

With his first nomination, Philip Seymour Hoffman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Truman Capote in "Capote". Like Jamie Foxx, he also picked up the five major acting awards for his performance, becoming the third man to do so.

The biopic "Capote" was based on the biography written by Gerald Clarke and focused on the period of time in which Capote researched and wrote "In Cold Blood". The other nominees for the Best Actor Oscar were Terrence Howard ("Hustle & Flow"), Heath Ledger ("Brokeback Mountain"), Joaquin Phoenix ("Walk the Line"), and David Strathairn ("Good Night, and Good Luck").

Answer: Forest Whitaker

Forest Whitaker received his first Oscar nomination and his first Best Actor win for portraying Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland". Like Jamie Foxx and Philip Seymour Hoffman, he also picked up the five major acting awards for his performance. "The Last King of Scotland" told a fictionalized story of a Scottish doctor (James McAvoy) who served as Idi Amin's personal physician and who eventually became disenchanted with the dictator.

The other nominees in the Best Actor category were Leonardo DiCaprio ("Blood Diamond"), Ryan Gosling ("Half Nelson"), Will Smith ("The Pursuit of Happyness"), and Peter O'Toole ("Venus") in his eighth and final nomination without a win.

Answer: Daniel Day-Lewis

At the 80th Academy Award ceremony, Daniel Day-Lewis picked up his second Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Daniel Plainview in "There Will Be Blood". He had previously won in 1990 for the film "My Left Foot", and he had previous nominations in the same category for "In the Name of the Father" and "Gangs of New York". Continuing the trend established by Jamie Foxx, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Forest Whitaker, Daniel Day-Lewis also swept the five major acting awards for his performance.

The Paul Thomas Anderson-directed "There Will Be Blood" told the story of ruthless oilman Plainview and his relationship with his deaf adopted son and a charlatan preacher. The other Best Actor nominees were George Clooney ("Michael Clayton"), Johnny Depp ("Sweeney Todd"), Tommy Lee Jones ("In the Valley of Elah"), and Viggo Mortensen ("Eastern Promises").

Answer: Sean Penn

Five years after picking up the award for "Mystic River", Sean Penn picked up his second Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk in the biopic "Milk". The film followed Milk, starting with his life in New York City to his move to San Francisco where he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to hold major public office in the state. Josh Brolin picked up a Best Supporting Actor nod for his role as Dan White, the man who assassinated Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone.

The other nominees in the Best Actor category were Richard Jenkins ("The Visitor"), Frank Langella ("Frost/Nixon"), Brad Pitt ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), and Mickey Rourke ("The Wrestler").

Answer: Jeff Bridges

Having previously been nominated in this category way back in 1985 for "Starman", Jeff Bridges was awarded the Best Actor Oscar for his role as alcoholic country singer Otis "Bad" Blake in "Crazy Heart". Bridges also had nominations in the Best Supporting Actor category dating as far back as 1972 for "The Last Picture Show", "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot", and "The Contender".

In "Crazy Heart", the has-been Blake loved and lost a woman (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who rescued him from his life of obscurity but couldn't handle his alcoholism.

He eventually got his life on track and reconnected with her. The other nominees in the Best Actor category were George Clooney ("Up in the Air"), Colin Firth ("A Single Man"), Morgan Freeman ("Invictus"), and Jeremy Renner ("The Hurt Locker").