2026 Tonys: Daniel Radcliffe (‘Every Brilliant Thing’) Could Become the Fourth Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play Winner from a Solo Show

Over the past two decades, Daniel Radcliffe has emerged one of the most familiar faces on the Broadway stage.

Since his debut on the Great White Way in the 2008 revival of Equus, Radcliffe has headlined productions of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Lifespan of a Fact and Merrily We Roll Along, the last resulting in a Tony Award win for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical.

This year, Radcliffe is back on Broadway and again a Tony contender, this time in Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for his turn in Every Brilliant Thing. The interactive solo show, in which Radcliffe portrays a narrator whose mother’s suicide attempt inspires him to help her by documenting the joys in life, has proven a critical and commercial smash.

Should Radcliffe prevail at the Tonys, he will mark only the fourth actor to date to win this prize for a solo performance.

It’s a feat that hasn’t been accomplished in over two decades, with Jefferson Mays’ 2004 victory for portraying more than 30 characters in I Am My Own Wife. In 1990, Robert Morse scored this award (and later an Emmy, to boot) for his portrayal of Truman Capote in Tru. Morse’s Tony arrived nearly 25 years after the first solo show win in this category, in 1966, with Hal Holbrook’s win for Mark Twain Tonight!

What are the odds Radcliffe prevails, emerging the fourth winner from a one-man show? Let’s dive into this year’s stacked race for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play.

It’s a robust lineup that features three Tony winners (Radcliffe, Nathan Lane and John Lithgow), a past Tony nominee (Mark Strong) and one newcomer in his Broadway debut (Will Harrison).

If there’s an underdog in the race, it’s likely to be Harrison, nominated for his turn in Punch. While Harrison earned raves for his portrayal of a young man who makes a fatal mistake that lands him in prison, he marks the lone recognition for his production, which closed in November. The last contender to take this Tony as the only nomination for his show was Christopher Plummer, winner of the 1997 prize for Barrymore. It would be a significant upset should Harrison triumph.

Entering Tony night with no shortage of recognition is Oedipus, nominated for seven prizes, including here for leading man Strong. Notices for his turn in the titular role were first-rate and if voters are keen on honoring a contender who doesn’t already have a Tony on his awards mantel, such could give him an edge over the likes of Lane, Lithgow and Radcliffe. It should be noted, however, that when Oedipus contended at the 2025 Olivier Awards for its West End run of this production, it triumphed in Best Play Revival and Best Play Actress (for Lesley Manville) but not Best Play Actor. That award instead went to…

Lithgow, Olivier winner and now Tony nominee for his portrayal of author Roald Dahl in Giant. There is strong precedent for Olivier honorees matching the Tony winner in this category, with Bryan Cranston (Network), Mark Rylance (Jerusalem), Richard Griffiths (The History Boys) and Brian Dennehy (Death of a Salesman) scoring both prizes. Lithgow also also triumphed at the Drama Desk Awards, sharing Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play honors with Manville. Of the past 10 Drama Desk winners who were also Tony nominees in Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play, eight went on to also score the Tony.

At the same time, Giant earned a total of just four Tony nominations, a number dwarfed by Oedipus’ seven and Death of a Salesman’s nine, perhaps a sign of softer support for Lithgow’s production.

Finally, there is Lane, who has earned exceptional notices for his portrayal of Willy Loman in the latest revival of Death of a Salesman, which earned the most Tony nominations of any play this year. Heavily favored to triumph in other categories, including Best Revival of a Play, Best Direction of a Play (Joe Mantello) and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play (Laurie Metcalf), it would make perfect sense for Lane to also prevail.

It can’t be overlooked, however, how the role of Willy Loman has hardly translated into an instant Tony win. In fact, to date, only one actor (Dennehy) has won this prize for portraying Loman, with Wendell Pierce, Philip Seymour Hoffman and George C. Scott nominated but coming up short for the victory.

Ultimately, this rings of a race with two front-runners, Lithgow and Lane, and another two contenders, Radcliffe and Strong, trailing but not out.

What may give Radcliffe an edge over Strong is that, unlike Oedipus, which closed in February, Every Brilliant Thing is still running, as voters take to their Tony ballots. Moreover, while one-man shows have rarely prevailed in this category, there has been a recent trend of solo shows faring well elsewhere at the Tonys, with Sarah Snook (The Picture of Dorian Gray), Jodie Comer (Prima Facie) and Deirdre O’Connell (Dana H.) taking honors in Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play over the past four years.

Long story short – expect Lithgow or Lane to take this but keep a close eye on both Radcliffe and Strong.

The 79th Annual Tony Awards will take place on Sunday, June 7, 2026. The ceremony, hosted by Grammy Award-winning artist Pink, returns to Radio City Music Hall in New York City and broadcast live on CBS and Paramount+.

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Andrew Carden

Andrew Carden is a contributing writer at Gold Derby and writes about all things Oscar on his blog, The Awards Connection. When he’s not on Twitter, lamenting Thelma Ritter’s 0-for-6 record in Best Supporting Actress, Andrew works in Massachusetts politics.

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