AACTA_Award_for_Best_Guest_or_Supporting_Actor_in_a_Television_Drama
The AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama is an accolade given by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), a non-profit organisation whose aim is to "identify, award, promote and celebrate Australia's greatest achievements in film and television."[1] The award is handed out at the annual AACTA Awards, which rewards achievements in feature film, television, documentaries and short films.[2] From 2000 to 2010, the category was presented by the Australian Film Institute (AFI), the Academy's parent organisation, at the annual Australian Film Institute Awards (known as the AFI Awards).[3] When the AFI launched the Academy in 2011, it changed the annual ceremony to the AACTA Awards, with the current prize being a continuum of the AFI Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama.[3]
The award was first presented in 2000 as Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Television Drama Series until 2002, when the title was changed to Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama. In the following year, the title was changed to Best Actor in a Supporting or Guest Role in a Television Drama or Comedy. By 2006, a separate comedy accolade was established, and the name changed to the current one.[4]
The AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama is given for performances in television drama series, miniseries, telefeature, children's animation or children's drama series.[5] Candidates for this award must be human and male, and cannot be nominated for best lead actor in a television drama in the same year, for the same production.[5] Damon Herriman has received four nominations, more than any other actor, winning one in 2016.