Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1831
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Aasif Mandvi represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 31 years in, and Aasif is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Aasif Mandvi appears in 27 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Aasif. Spider-Man 2 is the clearest case: a film rated 7.5 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for comedy, fantasy, adventure. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Chris Bailey, Sammi Cohen, Fred Wolf and others, Aasif Mandvi helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Spider-Man 2 (2004) as Mr. Aziz · Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995) as Arab Cabbie · The Proposal (2009) as Bob Spaulding
Career snapshot
Ranked #1831 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
27
1995–2026
Career length
31 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.5
Spider-Man 2
Average Nutevio score
6.2
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.4
Crush
Most frequent director
Chris Bailey
1 film together
Longest collaboration
1×
With Chris Bailey
Most common genre
Comedy
16 titles
Average runtime
1h 46m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.9
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.5
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2000s
6.8 average MV
The 2000s are where the work and the material meet. The Proposal, Music and Lyrics, Freedomland — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2000s
6.8
Across 4 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2000s
6.5
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1990s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Analyze This, Random Hearts, The Siege.
Most productive era
2010s
12 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.22 films | 7.31 film | 6.66 films | 6.01 film |
| Action | 6.63 films | 7.51 film | 6.51 film | 6.61 film |
| Thriller | 6.63 films | 5.71 film | 6.72 films | — |
| Comedy | 6.32 films | 6.92 films | 6.27 films | 5.35 films |
| Crime | 6.52 films | 5.71 film | 6.51 film | 6.01 film |
| Romance | 5.91 film | 6.92 films | 6.73 films | 7.11 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1995Die Hard: With a Vengeance
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Arab Cabbie.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2004Spider-Man 2
7.5 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2026Fallen Angels
The current state of the argument, as Fred Sterroll.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
27 of 27 films
as Mr. Aziz
Directed by Sam Raimi
as Bob Spaulding
Directed by Anne Fletcher
as Coach Murray
Directed by Sammi Cohen
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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The defining work
#1
Mr. Aziz
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Performance score7.3
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Mr. Aziz gives Aasif Mandvi a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Bob Spaulding
The Proposal (2009)
Performance score7.2
The Proposal asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Bob Spaulding is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Arab Cabbie
Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)
Performance score7.2
Die Hard: With a Vengeance asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Arab Cabbie is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Coach Murray
Crush (2022)
Performance score7.0
Crush asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Coach Murray is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Mr. Aziz
Start here. Spider-Man 2 is the clearest statement of what Aasif Mandvi does — accessible, 127 minutes, and rated 7.5 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Aasif at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)
Keeps the action register of Spider-Man 2 but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Proposal (2009)
A deliberate change of key after Die Hard: With a Vengeance — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Million Dollar Arm (2014)
Keeps the drama register of The Proposal but asks for a colder reading of it.
Crush (2022)
A deliberate change of key after Million Dollar Arm — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
John McTiernan
Director
1 film together
Notably Die Hard: With a Vengeance
Edward Zwick
Director
1 film together
Notably The Siege
Sydney Pollack
Director
1 film together
Notably Random Hearts
Harold Ramis
Director
1 film together
Notably Analyze This
Sam Raimi
Director
1 film together
Notably Spider-Man 2
Joe Roth
Director
1 film together
Notably Freedomland
Marc Lawrence
Director
1 film together
Notably Music and Lyrics
Anne Fletcher
Director
1 film together
Notably The Proposal
Ryan Fleck
Director
1 film together
Notably It's Kind of a Funny Story
J.C. Chandor
Director
1 film together
Notably Margin Call
Larry Charles
Director
1 film together
Notably The Dictator
Jonathan Dayton
Director
1 film together
Notably Ruby Sparks
David Koepp
Director
1 film together
Notably Premium Rush
Shawn Levy
Director
1 film together
Notably The Internship
Brett Ratner
Director
1 film together
Notably Movie 43
Craig Gillespie
Director
1 film together
Notably Million Dollar Arm
Garry Marshall
Director
1 film together
Notably Mother's Day
Silas Howard
Director
1 film together
Notably A Kid Like Jake
Fred Wolf
Director
1 film together
Notably Drunk Parents
Sammi Cohen
Director
1 film together
Notably Crush
Chris Bailey
Director
1 film together
Notably Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Sam Raimi
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Spider-Man 2John McTiernan
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Die Hard: With a VengeanceAnne Fletcher
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The ProposalSammi Cohen
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CrushJonathan Dayton
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ruby SparksJ.C. Chandor
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Margin CallRyan Fleck
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
It's Kind of a Funny StoryCraig Gillespie
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Million Dollar ArmChris Bailey
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Paws of Fury: The Legend of HankHarold Ramis
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Analyze ThisDavid Koepp
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Premium RushMarc Lawrence
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Music and LyricsLarry Charles
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The DictatorEdward Zwick
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The SiegeShawn Levy
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The InternshipSilas Howard
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Kid Like JakeGarry Marshall
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mother's DaySydney Pollack
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Random HeartsJoe Roth
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
FreedomlandFred Wolf
Director
1 film together · 5.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Drunk ParentsBrett Ratner
Director
1 film together · 5.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Movie 43Six degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Spider-Man 2
as Mr. Aziz
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Ruby Sparks
as Cyrus Modi
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Spider-Man 2
as Mr. Aziz
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Movie 43
as Robert (segment "iBabe")
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Spider-Man 2
as Mr. Aziz
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Aasif Mandvi has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
31 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Comedy Legend
Awarded
16 catalogue titles in comedy, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Spider-Man 2
as Mr. Aziz
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Die Hard: With a Vengeance
as Arab Cabbie
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Ruby Sparks
as Cyrus Modi
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Freedomland
as Dr. Anil Chatterjee
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Spider-Man 2
as Mr. Aziz
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Spider-Man 2
as Mr. Aziz
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Ruby Sparks
as Cyrus Modi
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Too Soon: Comedy After 9/11
as Self
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
David Krumholtz
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Morgan Freeman
Built a career in the same territory: action and crime
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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