Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#7274
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Bob Hoskins represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 39 years in, and Bob is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Bob Hoskins appears in 26 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Bob. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is the clearest case: a film rated 7.6 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 documentary, comedy, drama. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Bill Jones, Nigel Cole, Robert Zemeckis and others, Bob Hoskins 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.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) as Eddie Valiant · Brazil (1985) as Spoor · Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982) as Rock and Roll Manager
Career snapshot
Ranked #7274 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
26
1980–2019
Career length
39 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.6
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Average Nutevio score
6.6
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.9
Pink Floyd: The Wall
Most frequent director
Robert Zemeckis
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Robert Zemeckis
Most common genre
Drama
17 titles
Average runtime
1h 54m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.2
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
6.7
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. Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mona Lisa, Brazil — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
7.2
Across 6 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. Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mona Lisa, Brazil.
Most productive era
2000s
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.04 films | 6.45 films | 6.47 films | 6.71 film |
| Action | — | — | 6.13 films | — |
| Thriller | 7.12 films | — | 6.03 films | — |
| Comedy | 7.62 films | 5.95 films | 6.42 films | 6.71 film |
| Crime | 7.04 films | — | 6.23 films | — |
| Romance | 6.91 film | 6.71 film | 6.23 films | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Harold Shand.
Highest rated performance
7.6 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Career peak
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 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.
26 of 26 films
as Eddie Valiant
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
as Harold Shand
Directed by Unknown
as Spoor
Directed by Terry Gilliam
as Rock and Roll Manager
Directed by Alan Parker
as Boris the Goose (voice)
Directed by Simon Wells
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
Eddie Valiant
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Performance score8.1
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Eddie Valiant gives Bob Hoskins a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Harold Shand
The Long Good Friday (1980)
Performance score7.8
The Long Good Friday asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Harold Shand is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Spoor
Brazil (1985)
Performance score7.7
Brazil asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Spoor is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Rock and Roll Manager
Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)
Performance score7.7
Pink Floyd: The Wall asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Rock and Roll Manager 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 Eddie Valiant
Start here. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is the clearest statement of what Bob Hoskins does — accessible, 104 minutes, and rated 7.6 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Bob 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.
The Long Good Friday (1980)
Keeps the crime register of Who Framed Roger Rabbit but asks for a colder reading of it.
Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)
Keeps the drama register of The Long Good Friday but asks for a colder reading of it.
Brazil (1985)
A deliberate change of key after Pink Floyd: The Wall — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Balto (1995)
A deliberate change of key after Brazil — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Robert Zemeckis
Director
2 films together
Notably Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Alan Parker
Director
1 film together
Notably Pink Floyd: The Wall
Francis Ford Coppola
Director
1 film together
Notably The Cotton Club
Terry Gilliam
Director
1 film together
Notably Brazil
Neil Jordan
Director
1 film together
Notably Mona Lisa
Richard Benjamin
Director
1 film together
Notably Mermaids
Steven Spielberg
Director
1 film together
Notably Hook
Simon Wells
Director
1 film together
Notably Balto
Oliver Stone
Director
1 film together
Notably Nixon
Nora Ephron
Director
1 film together
Notably Michael
Bob Spiers
Director
1 film together
Notably Spice World
Jean-Jacques Annaud
Director
1 film together
Notably Enemy at the Gates
Mira Nair
Director
1 film together
Notably Vanity Fair
Marc Forster
Director
1 film together
Notably Stay
Louis Leterrier
Director
1 film together
Notably Unleashed
Stephen Frears
Director
1 film together
Notably Mrs. Henderson Presents
Allen Coulter
Director
1 film together
Notably Hollywoodland
Joel Coen
Director
1 film together
Notably Paris Je T'aime
Nick Love
Director
1 film together
Notably Outlaw
Neil Marshall
Director
1 film together
Notably Doomsday
Nigel Cole
Director
1 film together
Notably Made in Dagenham
Bill Jones
Director
1 film together
Notably An Accidental Studio
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Robert Zemeckis
Director
2 films together · 7.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Who Framed Roger RabbitTerry Gilliam
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BrazilAlan Parker
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Pink Floyd: The WallJean-Jacques Annaud
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Enemy at the GatesSimon Wells
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BaltoLouis Leterrier
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
UnleashedSteven Spielberg
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HookNeil Jordan
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mona LisaJoel Coen
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Paris Je T'aimeNigel Cole
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Made in DagenhamStephen Frears
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mrs. Henderson PresentsOliver Stone
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
NixonRichard Benjamin
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MermaidsMarc Forster
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
StayFrancis Ford Coppola
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Cotton ClubBill Jones
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
An Accidental StudioAllen Coulter
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HollywoodlandNeil Marshall
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DoomsdayMira Nair
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Vanity FairNora Ephron
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MichaelBob Spiers
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Spice WorldNick Love
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
OutlawSix 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
Brazil
as Spoor
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Pink Floyd: The Wall
as Rock and Roll Manager
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Pink Floyd: The Wall
as Rock and Roll Manager
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Spice World
as Bob Hoskins
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
as Eddie Valiant
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. Bob Hoskins 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
39 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
17 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
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
as Eddie Valiant
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Long Good Friday
as Harold Shand
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
A Christmas Carol
as Fezziwig / Old Joe (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Stay
as Dr. Leon Patterson
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Unleashed
as Bart
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Unleashed
as Bart
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Spice World
as Bob Hoskins
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Spice World
as Bob Hoskins
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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Bonnie Hunt
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Al Pacino
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
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Have your say
Community
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Reference
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