2025 Screen Awards: Best Lead Actor in a TV Series Nominees

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Last week, the inaugural Screen Awards were announced, and now the nominees for Best Lead Actor in a TV series have been revealed. A jury comprised of critics from ScreenRant, Collider, CBR, and MovieWeb selected these five actors as delivering the best lead performances in 2025 TV and streaming shows. Many of these actors have already received nominations or awards from other industry organizations this year.

I’m excited to be covering the Best Lead Actor in a TV Series category for ScreenRant, and I also create our weekly streaming guides. While a few actors are already well-known from their recent Emmy wins, this award is truly competitive, with five excellent nominees. You can find the complete list of 2025 Screen Awards nominations throughout the month on our dedicated hub, and we’ll announce the winners on December 24th.

Here are the nominees for Best Lead Performance by an Actor – TV:

Adam Scott (Severance)

Adam Scott is the star and a producer of the popular Apple TV+ series Severance, which has earned him four Emmy nominations. He first became well-known for his roles in funny and beloved shows like Parks and Recreation and Party Down, and now leads Apple TV+’s most successful show ever.

In the first season of the show, which premiered in 2022, actor Scott played Mark Scout, introducing audiences to the strange and sterile environment of Lumon Industries. Nearly a year later, in January 2025, the long-awaited second season launched, with Scott again driving the plot as he uncovered a compelling and unsettling conspiracy. His performance expertly combined science fiction, thriller, and mystery into a truly memorable story.

Ethan Hawke (The Lowdown)

Ethan Hawke, a four-time Oscar nominee, has been a familiar face in film and television for years, and he continues to impress. Recently nominated for a Golden Globe for his work in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, Hawke now stars in the new FX series The Lowdown. He plays Lee Rayborn, a charming but problematic bookstore owner who secretly tries to solve crimes as a somewhat clumsy detective in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Ethan Hawke joined forces with Sterlin Harjo, the creator of Reservation Dogs, to star in and produce a new series called The Lowdown. Though it hasn’t gotten a lot of attention, the show has been critically acclaimed, earning a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and being named the best TV program of the year by the AFI. Hawke is captivating as Lee, a character who is both perceptive and impulsive, offering a glimmer of hope that honesty can overcome wrongdoing.

Noah Wyle (The Pitt)

Noah Wyle was nominated for an Emmy five times in the 1990s for his role as John Carter on ER, but didn’t win until this year when he took home two Emmys for The Pitt. The actor, who plays Dr. Michael Robinavitch, a leading physician at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center in HBO Max’s popular medical drama, felt the wins were a long time in the making.

At the 2025 Emmys, The Pitt was a major winner, taking home awards for Outstanding Drama Series – beating out Severance, which had the most nominations with 27 – and Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Kimble Wyle, who was also an executive producer on the show. After a hugely successful first season, The Pitt is quickly becoming recognized as one of the greatest TV series ever made, currently ranked #41 on IMDb’s Top 250. Wyle delivers a powerful performance as Dr. Robby, portraying the bravery and challenges faced by a modern emergency room doctor with remarkable skill.

Seth Rogen (The Studio)

For almost twenty years, Seth Rogen has been a well-known face thanks to the hugely popular movie Superbad, which came out in 2007. This year, he finally received major recognition at the Emmys for The Studio, an Apple TV series he co-created and stars in. The show won both Outstanding Comedy Series and earned Rogen the award for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

Hollywood often loves making movies and shows about Hollywood, especially when awards season rolls around – think of films like La La Land. But The Studio stands out because it satirizes the industry rather than glorifying it. The film follows Matt Remick, played by Seth Rogen, a true movie fan who lands his dream job as head of a major studio, only to find that actually making movies is a lot harder than simply loving them.

Tim Robinson (The Chair Company)

Tim Robinson, similar to comedians like Nathan Fielder and Eric Andre, has developed a truly unique comedic style. This has quickly launched him from a short time on Saturday Night Live to become one of today’s most exciting comedic voices. He’s known for humor that’s both incredibly strange and uncomfortably funny, and he seems to have really hit his stride with his new HBO series, The Chair Company, which has earned a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes.

What makes The Chair Company stand out is its unique style, largely thanks to Robinson, who not only stars in the show but also created and oversaw it. The result is one of the most original and surprisingly tense shows of the year. Robinson plays William Ronald Trosper, a seemingly ordinary suburban dad on a mission to uncover wrongdoing at a chair-making company, and audiences were completely captivated by his unpredictable character and the show’s quirky humor throughout 2025.

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2025-12-15 19:19