Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#188
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Bill Irwin represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 46 years in, and Bill is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Bill Irwin appears in 22 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Bill. Interstellar is the clearest case: a film rated 9.4 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, fantasy, adventure. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Christopher Nolan, Guilford Adams, Michael Showalter and others, Bill Irwin 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.
Interstellar (2014) as TARS (voice) · Interstellar (2014) as TARS (voice) · The Odyssey (2026) as Cyclops
Career snapshot
Ranked #188 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
22
1980–2026
Career length
46 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.4
Interstellar
Average Nutevio score
6.0
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.7
Interstellar
Most frequent director
Christopher Nolan
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With Christopher Nolan
Most common genre
Drama
13 titles
Average runtime
1h 51m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.0
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
6.9
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
7.2 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. It Takes a Lunatic, Confirmation, Ricki and the Flash — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
7.2
Across 5 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
7.0
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2010s
1 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. It Takes a Lunatic, Confirmation, Ricki and the Flash.
Most productive era
2020s
8 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 | 6.71 film | — | 6.13 films | 7.74 films | 5.95 films |
| Action | 5.91 film | 6.71 film | — | — | 8.01 film |
| Thriller | — | — | 6.51 film | — | — |
| Comedy | 5.91 film | 6.53 films | 6.91 film | 5.81 film | 6.73 films |
| Sci-Fi | — | — | — | 9.41 film | — |
| Romance | — | 6.41 film | 6.31 film | — | 5.02 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1980Popeye
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Ham Gravy.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2014Interstellar
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 9.4 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
2026The Odyssey
The current state of the argument, as Cyclops.
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.
22 of 22 films
as TARS (voice)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
as TARS (voice)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
as Cyclops
Directed by Christopher Nolan
as Lou Lou Who
Directed by Ron Howard
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Showing 24 of 30 titles · 30 total credits · active 1969–2026
The Odyssey
2026 · Cyclops
American Clown
2025 · Self
This Ordinary Thing
2025 · Self (voice)
The Beast in Me
2025 · TV · James Ingram
4th Dementia
2024 · Lou
Rustin
2023 · A. J. Muste
Spoiler Alert
2022 · Bob
The Dropout
2022 · TV · Channing Robertson
Lust Life Love
2021 · Richard
Irresistible
2020 · Elton Chambers
It Takes a Lunatic
2019 · Self
Legion
2017 · TV · Cary Loudermilk
Confirmation
2016 · Senator Jack Danforth
Quarry
2016 · TV · Harlowe
Ricki and the Flash
2015 · Single Dad
Interstellar
2014 · TARS (voice)
Sleepy Hollow
2013 · TV · Atticus Nevins
Rachel Getting Married
2008 · Paul Buchman
Lady in the Water
2006 · Mr. Leeds
The Manchurian Candidate
2004 · Scoutmaster
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
2000 · Lou Lou Who
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2000 · TV · Nate Haskell
A Midsummer Night's Dream
1999 · Tom Snout
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999 · TV · Dr. Peter Lindstrom
The defining work
#1
TARS (voice)
Interstellar (2014)
Performance score9.0
The performance the rest of the career is read through. TARS (voice) gives Bill Irwin a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
TARS (voice)
Interstellar (2014)
Performance score8.4
Interstellar asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. TARS (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Cyclops
The Odyssey (2026)
Performance score7.8
The Odyssey asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Cyclops is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Lou
4th Dementia (2024)
Performance score7.4
4th Dementia asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Lou 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 TARS (voice)
Start here. Interstellar is the clearest statement of what Bill Irwin does — accessible, 169 minutes, and rated 9.4 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Bill 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.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
A deliberate change of key after Interstellar — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Interstellar (2014)
A deliberate change of key after How the Grinch Stole Christmas — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
4th Dementia (2024)
Keeps the drama register of Interstellar but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Odyssey (2026)
A deliberate change of key after 4th Dementia — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Jonathan Demme
Director
3 films together
Notably The Manchurian Candidate
Christopher Nolan
Director
3 films together
Notably Interstellar
Robert Altman
Director
1 film together
Notably Popeye
John Sayles
Director
1 film together
Notably Eight Men Out
Jim Abrahams
Director
1 film together
Notably Hot Shots!
Bill Duke
Director
1 film together
Notably Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
Michael Hoffman
Director
1 film together
Notably A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ron Howard
Director
1 film together
Notably How the Grinch Stole Christmas
M. Night Shyamalan
Director
1 film together
Notably Lady in the Water
Rick Famuyiwa
Director
1 film together
Notably Confirmation
Jon Stewart
Director
1 film together
Notably Irresistible
Michael Showalter
Director
1 film together
Notably Spoiler Alert
Guilford Adams
Director
1 film together
Notably American Clown
Matthew McConaughey
Actor
1 film together
Notably Interstellar
Anne Hathaway
Actor
1 film together
Notably Interstellar
Michael Caine
Actor
1 film together
Notably Interstellar
Jessica Chastain
Actor
1 film together
Notably Interstellar
Casey Affleck
Actor
1 film together
Notably Interstellar
Wes Bentley
Actor
1 film together
Notably Interstellar
Topher Grace
Actor
1 film together
Notably Interstellar
Mackenzie Foy
Actor
1 film together
Notably Interstellar
Ellen Burstyn
Actor
1 film together
Notably Interstellar
John Lithgow
Actor
1 film together
Notably Interstellar
David Gyasi
Actor
1 film together
Notably Interstellar
Timothée Chalamet
Actor
1 film together
Notably Interstellar
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Christopher Nolan
Director
3 films together · 8.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
InterstellarJonathan Demme
Director
3 films together · 6.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Manchurian CandidateMichael Showalter
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Spoiler AlertRick Famuyiwa
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ConfirmationRon Howard
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
How the Grinch Stole ChristmasJim Abrahams
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hot Shots!John Sayles
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Eight Men OutBill Duke
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Sister Act 2: Back in the HabitMichael Hoffman
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Midsummer Night's DreamJon Stewart
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
IrresistibleRobert Altman
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
PopeyeM. Night Shyamalan
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Lady in the WaterGuilford Adams
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
American ClownSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Recognition
1 win
1 win · latest 2015
Interstellar
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Interstellar
as TARS (voice)
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Eight Men Out
as Eddie Collins
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Interstellar
as TARS (voice)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Odyssey
as Cyclops
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Interstellar
as TARS (voice)
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. Bill Irwin has known it for a long time.”
“Do not go gentle into that good night.”
“Murph, I'm coming back.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
| Nutevio Performer Score | 8.4 | 7.9 |
|---|---|---|
| Career ranking | #45 of 681 | #487 of 681 |
| Awards on file | Unknown | Unknown |
| Oscar wins | Unknown | Unknown |
| Oscar nominations | Unknown | Unknown |
| Average Nutevio score | 9.4 | 8.6 |
| Genres | Sci-Fi, Adventure, Drama | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Drama |
| Directors | Christopher Nolan | Craig Gillespie, Christopher Nolan |
| Performance DNA | Drama, Screen presence, Physical performance | Screen presence, Transformation, Drama |
| Career timeline | 2014–2014 | 2023–2026 |
| Most iconic role | TARS (voice) — Interstellar | Isidor Rabi — Oppenheimer |
| Most rewatchable film | Interstellar | Oppenheimer |
| Filmography | 1 catalogue film | 2 catalogue films |
Films together
Nothing in common in the library yet.
Shared directors
Christopher Nolan
Shared collections
Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked, Adventure Movies, Sci-Fi Movies, Drama Movies
Collaborators in common
Christopher Nolan · Casey Affleck · Matt Damon
Bill Irwin takes it on our scale, largely on the strength of the catalogue's rating of the films Bill chooses.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
46 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Editor's Icon
Awarded
Named by our desk for a body of work we return to when we need to explain what screen acting is for.
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
13 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
Interstellar
as TARS (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Interstellar
as TARS (voice)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Lust Life Love
as Richard
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Lady in the Water
as Mr. Leeds
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Interstellar
as TARS (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
The Odyssey
as Cyclops
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Spoiler Alert
as Bob
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Interstellar
as TARS (voice)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
Across the library
Every Nutevio collection this name turns up in, and how high they rank there.
Collection footprint
Appears in 9 Nutevio collections
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Community
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