Russell Crowe was presented with an award from a British magazine.
The Empire Award for Best Actor is an Empire Award presented annually by the British film magazine Empire to honor an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role while working within the film industry . Russell Crowe . He came to international attention for his role as the Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator , directed by Ridley Scott , for which Crowe won an Academy Award for Best Actor , a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor , an Empire Award for Best Actor and a London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and 10 further nominations for best actor . In 2001 , Crowe 's portrayal of mathematician and Nobel Prize winner John F. Nash in the biopic A Beautiful Mind brought him numerous awards , including a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role , a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role .