BENJAMONSTER AWARDS 2025: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited/Anthology Series

Today's award is Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited/Anthology Series!

Past Awards in This Category: 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020

This year's nominees are...

MARK DUPLASS as Michael Barnett in Good American Family (Hulu)

COLIN FARRELL as Oswald Cobb in The Penguin (HBO)

STEPHEN GRAHAM as Eddie Miller in Adolescence (Netflix)

KEVIN KLINE as Stephen Brigstocke in Disclaimer (Apple TV+)

COOPER KOCH as Erik Menendez in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (Netflix)

JOSH ANDRES RIVERA as Aaron Hernandez in American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez (FX)

And the Winner Is...

JOSH ANDRES RIVERA

American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez (FX)

I thought that American Sports Story was more dismissed than it should have been by critics and viewers. Yes, it was Ryan Murphy, so it had his usual oddities. But it was actually a pretty compelling watch aided in large part by the strong lead performance by Josh Andres Rivera as Aaron Hernandez. Rivera seemed to capture what we have read about Hernandez: that he was well-meaning a lot of the time but couldn't get out of his own way due to a wide variety of reasons both in and out of his control. Rivera gave a human side to someone who has been at times a deserving villain and at other times almost a bit of a caricature. By the time he committed some horrible acts in the show, we had gotten to know him and while it didn't excuse the behavior, it gave more context. I look forward to seeing what Rivera does next.

Thoughts on the Rest of the Nominees:

I wouldn't say this was one of the strongest categories but there were still good performances even though I had some issues with some of the shows they were in. That starts with Colin Farrell, who was a compelling character in The Penguin even if he was being rightfully compared to a DC Comics version of Tony Soprano. Disclaimer was a mess but Kevin Kline was easily the best part of it with a really interesting performance. Cooper Koch had a similar task as Josh Andres Rivera, to give a, ahem, monster some humanity and he did it well in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. As far as better shows go, Stephen Graham was a near winner for this award with his heartbreaking turn in Adolescence and Mark Duplass brought both comedy and frustration in how pathetic his character was on Good American Family.

Tomorrow: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series!

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