Multiple choice general knowledge Oscar Winner for Best Actor 2000 Javier Bardem - Before Night Falls as Reinaldo Arenas Russell Crowe - Gladiator as Maximus Decimus Meridius Tom Hanks - Cast Away as Chuck Noland Geoffrey Rush - Quills as The Marquis de Sade Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself B Correct answer Explanation Russell Crowe won the Academy Award for Best Actor for 'Gladiator' (2000) at the 73rd Academy Awards. He portrayed Maximus Decimus Meridius, a Roman general who becomes a gladiator. Tom Hanks and Javier Bardem were nominated but did not win.