Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
* Tom Hanks – Forrest Gump as Forrest Gump
Morgan Freeman – The Shawshank Redemption as Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding
Paul Newman – Nobody’s Fool as Donald “Sully” Sullivan
Tim Robbins – The Shawshank Redemption as Andy Dufresne
John Travolta – Pulp Fiction as Vincent Vega

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
* Jodie Foster – Nell as Nell Kellty
Jessica Lange – Blue Sky as Carly Marshall
Meg Ryan – When a Man Loves a Woman as Alice Green
Susan Sarandon – The Client as Regina “Reggie” Love
Meryl Streep – The River Wild as Gail Hartman

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
* Martin Landau – Ed Wood as Bela Lugosi
Samuel L. Jackson – Pulp Fiction as Jules Winnfield
Chazz Palminteri – Bullets over Broadway as Cheech
Gary Sinise – Forrest Gump as Lieutenant Dan Taylor
John Turturro – Quiz Show as Herb Stempel

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
* Dianne Wiest – Bullets over Broadway as Helen Sinclair
Jamie Lee Curtis – True Lies as Helen Tasker
Sally Field – Forrest Gump as Mrs. Gump
Uma Thurman – Pulp Fiction as Mia Wallace
Robin Wright – Forrest Gump as Jenny Curran-Gump