Nominees:
Winner is marked with an asterisk (*) and highlighted in bold.

Kevin Kline as Cyrano de Bergerac, PBS' "Cyrano de Bergerac"

*Brendan Gleeson as Winston Churchill, HBO's "Into the Storm"

Ian McKellen as King Lear, PBS' "King Lear"

Kevin Bacon as Lt. Col. Mike Strobl, HBO's "Taking Chance"

Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, FOX's "24: Redemption" (pictured)

Kenneth Branagh as Kurt Wallander, PBS' "Wallander: One Step Behind"