The award was established at the
1st Hong Kong Film Awards (1982) and the first winner and the sole participant in this category was
Michael Hui for his role in the film
Security Unlimited. From the
2nd Hong Kong Film Awards (1983), there are 5, sometimes 6, nominations for the category of Best Actor from which one actor is chosen the winner of the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor, except the 2nd Awards when
Sammo Hung and
Karl Maka shared the award. The most recent recipient of the award was
Sean Lau, who was honoured at the
43rd Hong Kong Film Awards (2025), for his performance in
Papa. The actor with most awards in this category is
Tony Leung Chiu-wai with six wins. He also holds the record for the actor with the most awards in the Best Supporting Actor category.
Jackie Chan holds the record for an actor with the most nominations without ever winning, until the
24th Hong Kong Film Awards (2005) he was nominated 10 times without a single award. ==Winners and nominees==