Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#2829
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Barack Obama works on versatility rather than volume, and the catalogue keeps proving that the quieter choice was the correct one.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Barack Obama appears in 37 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Barack. Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom is the clearest case: a film rated 10.0 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 music, documentary, war. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Sam Wrench, Questlove, Rosie Schellenberg and others, Barack Obama 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.
Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom (2023) as Self (archive footage) · Korea: The Never-Ending War (2019) as Self (archive footage) · Before the Flood (2016) as Self
Career snapshot
Ranked #2829 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
37
2009–2026
Career length
17 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
10.0
Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom
Average Nutevio score
6.0
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
10.0
Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom
Most frequent director
Sam Wrench
1 film together
Longest collaboration
1×
With Sam Wrench
Most common genre
Documentary
31 titles
Average runtime
1h 34m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.8
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
6.3
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
2010s
6.9 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, Fantastic Mr. Murray, Korea: The Never-Ending War — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
6.9
Across 10 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2000s
7.1
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2000s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Capitalism: A Love Story.
Most productive era
2020s
26 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 | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | — | 6.72 films | 6.52 films |
| Action | — | 7.32 films | — |
| Thriller | — | 6.72 films | — |
| Comedy | — | 6.01 film | — |
| Crime | — | 6.01 film | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Self (archive footage).
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2023Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 10.0 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
2026David Attenborough's 100 Years on Planet Earth
The current state of the argument, as Self (archive footage).
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.
37 of 37 films
as Self (archive footage)
Directed by Unknown
as Self
Directed by Fisher Stevens
as Self (archive footage)
Directed by John Maggio
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
Self (archive footage)
Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom (2023)
Performance score9.7
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Self (archive footage) gives Barack Obama a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Self
Oyate (2022)
Performance score7.8
Oyate asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Self
Before the Flood (2016)
Performance score7.7
Before the Flood asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Self
Becoming (2020)
Performance score7.6
Becoming asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self 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 Self (archive footage)
Start here. Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom is the clearest statement of what Barack Obama does — accessible, 88 minutes, and rated 10.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Barack 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.
Before the Flood (2016)
Keeps the documentary register of Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom but asks for a colder reading of it.
Korea: The Never-Ending War (2019)
Keeps the documentary register of Before the Flood but asks for a colder reading of it.
Becoming (2020)
Keeps the documentary register of Korea: The Never-Ending War but asks for a colder reading of it.
Oyate (2022)
Keeps the documentary register of Becoming but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Michael Moore
Director
1 film together
Notably Capitalism: A Love Story
Casey Affleck
Director
1 film together
Notably I'm Still Here
Andrew Dominik
Director
1 film together
Notably Killing Them Softly
Guillermo del Toro
Director
1 film together
Notably Pacific Rim
Matt Reeves
Director
1 film together
Notably Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Fisher Stevens
Director
1 film together
Notably Before the Flood
Alex Gibney
Director
1 film together
Notably The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
Reginald Hudlin
Director
1 film together
Notably The Black Godfather
John Maggio
Director
1 film together
Notably Korea: The Never-Ending War
Stéphane Benhamou
Director
1 film together
Notably Fantastic Mr. Murray
Dawn Porter
Director
1 film together
Notably John Lewis: Good Trouble
Nadia Hallgren
Director
1 film together
Notably Becoming
Glenn Weiss
Director
1 film together
Notably Celebrating America
Ava DuVernay
Director
1 film together
Notably Origin
Oliver Parker
Director
1 film together
Notably The Great Escaper
Jeffrey Schwarz
Director
1 film together
Notably Commitment to Life
Oliver Stone
Director
1 film together
Notably Lula
Rosie Schellenberg
Director
1 film together
Notably Queen Elizabeth II: Her Story, Our Century
Questlove
Director
1 film together
Notably Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That's the Weight of the World)
Sam Wrench
Director
1 film together
Notably Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
John Maggio
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Korea: The Never-Ending WarFisher Stevens
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Before the FloodMatt Reeves
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dawn of the Planet of the ApesSam Wrench
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary SpecialNadia Hallgren
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BecomingGuillermo del Toro
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Pacific RimAlex Gibney
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon ValleyMichael Moore
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Capitalism: A Love StoryOliver Parker
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Great EscaperGlenn Weiss
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Celebrating AmericaReginald Hudlin
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Black GodfatherStéphane Benhamou
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fantastic Mr. MurrayAva DuVernay
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
OriginAndrew Dominik
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Killing Them SoftlyCasey Affleck
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
I'm Still HereQuestlove
Director
1 film together · 4.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That's the Weight of the World)Dawn Porter
Director
1 film together · 4.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
John Lewis: Good TroubleOliver Stone
Director
1 film together · 3.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
LulaRosie Schellenberg
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Queen Elizabeth II: Her Story, Our CenturyJeffrey Schwarz
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Commitment to LifeSix 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
Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom
as Self (archive footage)
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Origin
as Self (archive footage)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom
as Self (archive footage)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden
as Self (archive footage)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom
as Self (archive footage)
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. Barack Obama 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.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Documentary Legend
Awarded
31 catalogue titles in documentary, 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
Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom
as Self (archive footage)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom
as Self (archive footage)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Origin
as Self (archive footage)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Killing Them Softly
as Self (archive footage)
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Sara Mardini - Gegen den Strom
as Self (archive footage)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Pacific Rim
as Self (archived footage)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
I'm Still Here
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Pacific Rim
as Self (archived footage)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
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Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Cillian Murphy
Built a career in the same territory: drama and history
Morgan Freeman
Built a career in the same territory: action and crime
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Have your say
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Reference
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