CarterMatt Awards 2017 results: Who scored the title of Top Actor?

Welcome to the CarterMatt Awards results! Throughout the final days of December we’re going to be sharing with you the end results of one of the greatest editions of these awards ever since we first started them six years ago. Hundreds of thousands of you voted, making this edition incredibly competitive and also a total blast to be a part of. We hope that some of your favorites end up being among the winners this year!

The Top Actor category routinely is one of the most-popular ones in the awards, and that makes sense when you consider the sheer number of worthy performers and the size of some of their fanbases. Whether it be drama, comedy or everything in between, there’s a whole lot to like about these powerful, charismatic, and vulnerable performances happening across the board on TV these days. You want to see actors deliver something different and push the boundaries — we like to think that this is happening more in the modern TV era than ever before.

So was Lee Pace of Halt and Catch Fire able to take home the title for the third straight year, or did someone new emerge as champion? Read on and find out!

Get ready to welcome in a new champion into the Top Actor trophy case…

Sam Heughan of Outlander is your winner for Top Actor

We’re not going to even pretend like this was a close showdown, because it wasn’t. Sam got off to a strong start in the voting and ended up posting a commanding 61% — one of the strongest vote totals that we’ve seen throughout the entire CarterMatt Awards this year. Pace was second with 22%, putting in a respectable showing for the final season of Halt and Catch Fire.

It’s not difficult to see why Heughan was able to take Top Actor this year — his performance as Jamie Fraser is magnetic, vulnerable, and powerful. He’s a strong physical and emotional presence and shines through every scene with grace and commitment. Few actors are blessed with the sort of material Heughan is where he gets to bridge so many different layers; Sam takes that material and runs with it, giving you an immersive experience where you can’t wait to see what he does next.

We’ve bemoaned over the years some of the snubs that Sam has endured from major awards shows; we hope that this trend comes to an end at the Emmys next summer, but for now, this 2017 CarterMatt Awards victory is emblematic of the passion fans have for his work. In their eyes, he is always deserving of recognition.

Are you happy with this CarterMatt Awards victory? Be sure to share in the comments!