This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Breakthrough Performance, first awarded in 1992. In 2010 and 2011, it was renamed Best Breakout Star. In 2012, it returned to its original name but was turned into a non-voting category, where an academy of outstanding directors honors a silver screen newcomer with extraordinary talent. In 2017, it was renamed Next Generation, and was converted to a voting category.
From 1999 to 2005, and in 2009, it was split into two categories: Best Male Breakthrough Performance and Best Female Breakthrough Performance.
| Year | Winners and nominees | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Edward Furlong | John Connor | |
| Anna Chlumsky | My Girl | Vada Sultenfuss | |
| Ice-T | New Jack City | Scotty Appleton | |
| Campbell Scott | Dying Young | Victor Geddes | |
| Kimberly Williams | Father of the Bride | Annie Banks | |
| 1993 | Marisa Tomei | My Cousin Vinny | Mona Lisa Vito |
| Halle Berry | Boomerang | Angela Lewis | |
| Whitney Houston | The Bodyguard | Rachel Marron | |
| Kathy Najimy | Sister Act | Sister Mary Patrick | |
| Rosie O'Donnell | A League of Their Own | Doris Murphy | |
| 1994 | Alicia Silverstone | The Crush | Adrian Forrester |
| Ralph Fiennes | Schindler's List | Amon Göth | |
| Jason Scott Lee | Bruce Lee | ||
| Ross Malinger | Sleepless in Seattle | Jonah Baldwin | |
| Jason James Richter | Free Willy | Jesse | |
| 1995 | Kirsten Dunst | Interview with the Vampire | Claudia |
| Tim Allen | The Santa Clause | Scott Calvin | |
| Cameron Diaz | The Mask | Tina Carlyle | |
| Hugh Grant | Four Weddings and a Funeral | Charles | |
| Mykelti Williamson | Forrest Gump | Bubba Blue | |
| 1996 | George Clooney | From Dusk till Dawn | Seth Gecko |
| Sean Patrick Flanery | Powder | Jeremy "Powder" Reed | |
| Natasha Henstridge | Species | Sil | |
| Lela Rochon | Waiting to Exhale | Robin Stokes | |
| Chris Tucker | Friday | Smokey | |
| 1997 | Matthew McConaughey | A Time to Kill | Jake Brigance |
| Vivica A. Fox | Independence Day | Jasmine Dubrow | |
| Courtney Love | The People vs. Larry Flynt | Althea Leasure | |
| Ewan McGregor | Trainspotting | Mark "Rent Boy" Renton | |
| Renée Zellweger | Jerry Maguire | Dorothy Boyd | |
| 1998 | Heather Graham | Boogie Nights | Rollergirl |
| Joey Lauren Adams | Chasing Amy | Alyssa Jones | |
| Rupert Everett | My Best Friend's Wedding | George Downes | |
| Sarah Michelle Gellar | I Know What You Did Last Summer | Helen Shivers | |
| Jennifer Lopez | Selena | Selena | |
| 1999 | James Van Der Beek | Varsity Blues | Jonathan "Mox" Moxon |
| Ray Allen | He Got Game | Jesus Shuttlesworth | |
| Joseph Fiennes | Shakespeare in Love | William Shakespeare | |
| Josh Hartnett | John Tate | ||
| Chris Rock | Lethal Weapon 4 | Detective Lee Butters | |
| Katie Holmes | Disturbing Behavior | Rachel Waggner | |
| Cate Blanchett | Elizabeth | Elizabeth I | |
| Brandy | I Still Know What You Did Last Summer | Karla Wilson | |
| Rachael Leigh Cook | She's All That | Laney Boggs | |
| Catherine Zeta-Jones | The Mask of Zorro | Elena Montero |
| Year | Winners and nominees | Film/Show | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Ceremony not held due to COVID-19 pandemic; Greatest of All Time special aired instead | ||
| 2021 | Regé-Jean Page | Bridgerton | Simon, Duke of Hastings |
| Maria Bakalova | Borat Subsequent Moviefilm | Tutar | |
| Antonia Gentry | Ginny & Georgia | Ginny Miller | |
| Paul Mescal | Normal People | Connell Waldren | |
| Emily in Paris | Mindy Chen | ||
| 2022 | Sophia Di Martino | Loki | Sylvie |
| Ariana DeBose | West Side Story | Anita | |
| Hannah Einbinder | Hacks | Ava Daniels | |
| Alana Haim | Licorice Pizza | Alana Kane | |
| Squid Game | Kang Sae-byeok | ||
| 2023 | Joseph Quinn | Stranger Things | Eddie Munson |
| Bad Bunny | Bullet Train | The Wolf | |
| Bella Ramsey | The Last of Us | Ellie | |
| Emma D'Arcy | House of the Dragon | Rhaenyra Targaryen | |
| Bodies Bodies Bodies | Alice | ||