Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer

The Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Performer (Actor/Actress) is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Broadcast Film Critics Association. It is given for the best performance by a child actor in a motion picture.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed in bold type.

Best Child Performer (1996–2003)

• 1996: Jonathan Lipnicki – Jerry Maguire
• 1997: Jurnee Smollett – Eve's Bayou
• 1998: Ian Michael Smith – Simon Birch
• 1999: Haley Joel Osment – The Sixth Sense
• 2000: Jamie Bell – Billy Elliot
• 2001:
  • Dakota Fanning – I Am Sam
  • Haley Joel Osment – A.I. Artificial Intelligence
  • Daniel Radcliffe – Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
• 2002:
  • Kieran Culkin – Igby Goes Down
  • Tyler Hoechlin – Road to Perdition
  • Nicholas Hoult – About a Boy
  • Daniel Radcliffe – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• 2003:
  • Keisha Castle-Hughes – Whale Rider
  • Evan Rachel Wood – Thirteen
  • Sarah Bolger – In America
  • Emma Bolger – In America

Best Young Actor (2004–2007)

• 2004:
  • Freddie Highmore – Finding Neverland
  • Liam Aiken – Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
  • Cameron Bright – Birth
  • Daniel Radcliffe – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
  • William Ullrich – Beyond the Sea
• 2005:
  • Freddie Highmore – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  • Jesse Eisenberg – The Squid and the Whale
  • Alex Etel – Millions
  • Owen Kline – The Squid and the Whale
  • Daniel Radcliffe – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• 2006:
  • Paul Dano – Little Miss Sunshine
  • Cameron Bright – Thank You for Smoking
  • Joseph Cross – Running with Scissors
  • Freddie Highmore – A Good Year
  • Jaden Smith – The Pursuit of Happyness
• 2007:
  • Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada – The Kite Runner
  • Michael Cera – Juno
  • Freddie Highmore – August Rush
  • Michael Cera – Superbad
  • Edward Sanders – Sweeney Todd

Best Young Actress (2004–2007)

• 2004:
  • Emmy Rossum – The Phantom of the Opera
  • Emily Browning – Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
  • Dakota Fanning – Man on Fire
  • Lindsay Lohan – Mean Girls
  • Emma Watson – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• 2005:
  • Dakota Fanning – War of the Worlds
  • Flora Cross – Bee Season
  • Georgie Henley – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
  • Q'orianka Kilcher – The New World
  • Emma Watson – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• 2006:
  • Abigail Breslin – Little Miss Sunshine
  • Ivana Baquero – Pan's Labyrinth
  • Shareeka Epps – Half Nelson
  • Dakota Fanning – Charlotte's Web
  • Keke Palmer – Akeelah and the Bee
• 2007:
  • Nikki Blonsky – Hairspray
  • Dakota Blue Richards – The Golden Compass
  • Abigail Breslin – No Reservations
  • AnnaSophia Robb – Bridge to Terabithia
  • Saoirse Ronan – Atonement

Best Young Performer (2008)

• Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire
• Dakota Fanning – The Secret Life of Bees
• David Kross – The Reader
• Brandon Walters – Australia

Best Young Actor/Actress (2009)

• Saoirse Ronan – The Lovely Bones
• Jae Head – The Blind Side
• Bailee Madison – Brothers
• Max Records – Where the Wild Things Are
• Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Road

2010s

• 2010:
  • Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit
  • Elle Fanning – Somewhere
  • Jennifer Lawrence – Winter's Bone
  • Chloë Grace Moretz – Kick-Ass
  • Chloë Grace Moretz – Let Me In
  • Kodi Smit-McPhee – Let Me In

• 2011:
  • Thomas Horn – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
  • Asa Butterfield – Hugo
  • Elle Fanning – Super 8
  • Ezra Miller – We Need to Talk about Kevin
  • Shailene Woodley – The Descendants
  • Saoirse Ronan – Hanna

• 2012:
  • Quvenzhané Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild as Hushpuppy
  • Elle Fanning – Ginger & Rosa as Ginger
  • Kara Hayward – Moonrise Kingdom as Suzy Bishop
  • Tom Holland – The Impossible as Lucas
  • Logan Lerman – The Perks of Being a Wallflower as Charlie
  • Suraj Sharma – Life of Pi as Piscine Moliter "Pi" Patel

• 2013:
  • Adèle Exarchopoulos – Blue Is the Warmest Colour as Adèle
  • Asa Butterfield – Ender's Game as Andrew "Ender" Wiggin
  • Liam James – The Way Way Back as Duncan
  • Sophie Nélisse – The Book Thief as Liesel Meminger
  • Tye Sheridan – Mud as Ellis

• 2014:
  • Ellar Coltrane – Boyhood as Mason Evans, Jr.
  • Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars as Augustus Waters
  • Mackenzie Foy – Interstellar as Young Murphy Cooper
  • Jaeden Lieberher – St. Vincent as Oliver Bronstein
  • Tony Revolori – The Grand Budapest Hotel as Young Zero Moustafa
  • Quvenzhané Wallis – Annie as Annie Bennett
  • Noah Wiseman – The Babadook as Samuel

• 2015:
  • Abraham Attah – Beasts of No Nation as Agu
  • RJ Cyler – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl as Earl
  • Shameik Moore – Dope as Malcolm Adekanbi
  • Milo Parker – Mr. Holmes as Roger Munro
  • Jacob Tremblay – Room as Jack Newsome