Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#119
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Ben Kingsley represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 45 years in, and Ben is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Ben Kingsley appears in 76 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Ben. Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry 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 action, science fiction, comedy. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Jeff Fowler, Renny Harlin, Rupert Wyatt and others, Ben Kingsley 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.
Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry (2022) as Self · Schindler's List (1993) as Itzhak Stern · Shutter Island (2010) as Dr. Cawley
Career snapshot
Ranked #119 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
76
1982–2027
Career length
45 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
10.0
Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry
Average Nutevio score
6.4
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
10.0
Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry
Most frequent director
Wes Anderson
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Wes Anderson
Most common genre
Drama
37 titles
Average runtime
1h 49m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.1
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
7.0
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
1980s
7.2 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. Without a Clue, Maurice, Gandhi — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
7.2
Across 3 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1980s
7.3
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1980s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Without a Clue, Maurice, Gandhi.
Most productive era
2010s
29 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 | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.52 films | 7.46 films | 6.69 films | 6.614 films | 6.96 films |
| Action | — | 6.32 films | 5.36 films | 6.210 films | 5.25 films |
| Thriller | — | 6.82 films | 6.18 films | 6.510 films | 6.83 films |
| Comedy | 6.71 film | 6.82 films | 5.46 films | 6.45 films | 5.67 films |
| Crime | 6.71 film | 6.53 films | 6.55 films | 6.31 film | 5.92 films |
| Romance | 7.61 film | — | 5.86 films | 5.92 films | 5.21 film |
| Horror | — | 6.21 film | 4.21 film | 6.91 film | 7.21 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1982Gandhi
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Mahatma Gandhi.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2022Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry
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
The current state of the argument, as (voice).
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.
76 of 76 films
as Itzhak Stern
Directed by Steven Spielberg
as Potiphar
Directed by Roger Young
as Dr. Cawley
Directed by Martin Scorsese
as Robert Dinwiddie
Directed by Jon Erwin
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
Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry (2022)
Performance score9.7
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Self gives Ben Kingsley a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Itzhak Stern
Schindler's List (1993)
Performance score8.9
Schindler's List asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Itzhak Stern is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Potiphar
Joseph (1995)
Performance score8.7
Joseph asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Potiphar is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Dr. Cawley
Shutter Island (2010)
Performance score8.6
Shutter Island asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Dr. Cawley 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
Start here. Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry is the clearest statement of what Ben Kingsley does — accessible, 0 minutes, and rated 10.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Ben 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.
Schindler's List (1993)
A deliberate change of key after Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Joseph (1995)
Keeps the drama register of Schindler's List but asks for a colder reading of it.
Shutter Island (2010)
Keeps the drama register of Joseph but asks for a colder reading of it.
Young Washington (2026)
Keeps the drama register of Shutter Island but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Steven Spielberg
Director
2 films together
Notably Schindler's List
Roman Polanski
Director
2 films together
Notably Death and the Maiden
Martin Scorsese
Director
2 films together
Notably Shutter Island
Isabel Coixet
Director
2 films together
Notably Elegy
Brad Anderson
Director
2 films together
Notably Stonehearst Asylum
Wes Anderson
Director
2 films together
Notably The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Richard Attenborough
Director
1 film together
Notably Gandhi
James Ivory
Director
1 film together
Notably Maurice
Barry Levinson
Director
1 film together
Notably Bugsy
Phil Alden Robinson
Director
1 film together
Notably Sneakers
Steven Zaillian
Director
1 film together
Notably Searching for Bobby Fischer
Ivan Reitman
Director
1 film together
Notably Dave
Roger Young
Director
1 film together
Notably Joseph
Roger Donaldson
Director
1 film together
Notably Species
Christian Duguay
Director
1 film together
Notably The Assignment
Nick Willing
Director
1 film together
Notably Alice in Wonderland
Mike Nichols
Director
1 film together
Notably What Planet Are You From?
William Friedkin
Director
1 film together
Notably Rules of Engagement
Jonathan Frakes
Director
1 film together
Notably Thunderbirds
Peter Hyams
Director
1 film together
Notably A Sound of Thunder
Uwe Boll
Director
1 film together
Notably BloodRayne
Paul McGuigan
Director
1 film together
Notably Lucky Number Slevin
John Dahl
Director
1 film together
Notably You Kill Me
Doug Lefler
Director
1 film together
Notably The Last Legion
Kari Skogland
Director
1 film together
Notably Fifty Dead Men Walking
Marco Schnabel
Director
1 film together
Notably The Love Guru
Jonathan Levine
Director
1 film together
Notably The Wackness
Mike Newell
Director
1 film together
Notably Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Larry Charles
Director
1 film together
Notably The Dictator
Philipp Stölzl
Director
1 film together
Notably The Physician
Gavin Hood
Director
1 film together
Notably Ender's Game
Shane Black
Director
1 film together
Notably Iron Man 3
Ridley Scott
Director
1 film together
Notably Exodus: Gods and Kings
Shawn Levy
Director
1 film together
Notably Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
Jon Wright
Director
1 film together
Notably Robot Overlords
Colin Teague
Director
1 film together
Notably Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse
Terrence Malick
Director
1 film together
Notably Knight of Cups
Tarsem Singh
Director
1 film together
Notably Self/less
Robert Zemeckis
Director
1 film together
Notably The Walk
Eran Creevy
Director
1 film together
Notably Collide
Jon Favreau
Director
1 film together
Notably The Jungle Book
Brad Silberling
Director
1 film together
Notably An Ordinary Man
Alain Desrochers
Director
1 film together
Notably Security
Chris Weitz
Director
1 film together
Notably Operation Finale
Per Fly
Director
1 film together
Notably Backstabbing for Beginners
Gideon Raff
Director
1 film together
Notably The Red Sea Diving Resort
Doug Liman
Director
1 film together
Notably Locked Down
Destin Daniel Cretton
Director
1 film together
Notably Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Mary Harron
Director
1 film together
Notably Dalíland
Marc Turtletaub
Director
1 film together
Notably Jules
J.J. Perry
Director
1 film together
Notably The Killer's Game
Nick Hamm
Director
1 film together
Notably William Tell
Chris Columbus
Director
1 film together
Notably The Thursday Murder Club
Jon Erwin
Director
1 film together
Notably Young Washington
Rupert Wyatt
Director
1 film together
Notably Desert Warrior
Renny Harlin
Director
1 film together
Notably Deep Water
Jeff Fowler
Director
1 film together
Notably Sonic the Hedgehog 4
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Steven Spielberg
Director
2 films together · 8.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Schindler's ListMartin Scorsese
Director
2 films together · 7.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Shutter IslandWes Anderson
Director
2 films together · 7.1 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Wonderful Story of Henry SugarRoman Polanski
Director
2 films together · 6.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Death and the MaidenBrad Anderson
Director
2 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Stonehearst AsylumIsabel Coixet
Director
2 films together · 6.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
ElegyJon Erwin
Director
1 film together · 8.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Young WashingtonRoger Young
Director
1 film together · 8.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
JosephJames Ivory
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MauriceDestin Daniel Cretton
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten RingsPaul McGuigan
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Lucky Number SlevinRichard Attenborough
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GandhiPhilipp Stölzl
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 PhysicianRenny Harlin
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Deep WaterMarc Turtletaub
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
JulesSteven Zaillian
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Searching for Bobby FischerRobert Zemeckis
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 WalkJon Favreau
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Jungle BookShane Black
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Iron Man 3Phil Alden Robinson
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SneakersGideon Raff
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Red Sea Diving ResortChris Weitz
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Operation FinaleIvan Reitman
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DaveChris Columbus
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 Thursday Murder ClubGavin Hood
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ender's GameJ.J. Perry
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 Killer's GameTarsem Singh
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Self/lessJonathan Levine
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 WacknessChristian Duguay
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 AssignmentAlain Desrochers
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SecurityMike Newell
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeKari Skogland
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fifty Dead Men WalkingWilliam Friedkin
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Rules of EngagementBarry Levinson
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BugsyNick Hamm
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
William TellPer Fly
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Backstabbing for BeginnersBrad Silberling
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
An Ordinary ManShawn Levy
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Night at the Museum: Secret of the TombLarry Charles
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The DictatorJohn Dahl
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
You Kill MeNick Willing
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Alice in WonderlandRoger Donaldson
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SpeciesMary Harron
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DalílandRidley Scott
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Exodus: Gods and KingsRupert Wyatt
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Desert WarriorTerrence Malick
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Knight of CupsEran Creevy
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CollideDoug Lefler
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Last LegionColin Teague
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's CurseMike Nichols
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
What Planet Are You From?Doug Liman
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Locked DownJonathan Frakes
Director
1 film together · 5.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ThunderbirdsPeter Hyams
Director
1 film together · 4.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Sound of ThunderJon Wright
Director
1 film together · 4.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Robot OverlordsUwe Boll
Director
1 film together · 4.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BloodRayneMarco Schnabel
Director
1 film together · 4.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Love GuruJeff Fowler
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Sonic the Hedgehog 4Six 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
Shutter Island
as Dr. Cawley
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
The King of Kings
as High Priest Caiaphas (voice)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry
as Self
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Knight of Cups
as Storyteller (voice)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry
as Self
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. Ben Kingsley 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
45 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.
Drama Legend
Awarded
37 catalogue titles in drama, 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
Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry
as Self
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry
as Self
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
The King of Kings
as High Priest Caiaphas (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Lucky Number Slevin
as The Rabbi
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry
as Self
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
William Tell
as King Albrecht
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
as Imdad Khan / Croupier
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Schindler's List
as Itzhak Stern
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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Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
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Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Edward Norton
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
Harvey Keitel
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Have your say
Community
Which Ben Kingsley performance holds up best?
Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
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