Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#608
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Brendan Gleeson represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 33 years in, and Brendan is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Brendan Gleeson appears in 42 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Brendan. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the clearest case: a film rated 8.1 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 drama, crime, thriller. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Philippa Lowthorpe, Todd Phillips, Martin McDonagh and others, Brendan Gleeson 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.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) as Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody · Braveheart (1995) as Hamish Campbell · Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) as Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody
Career snapshot
Ranked #608 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
42
1992–2025
Career length
33 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.1
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Average Nutevio score
6.8
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.0
Song of the Sea
Most frequent director
Martin McDonagh
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Martin McDonagh
Most common genre
Drama
26 titles
Average runtime
2h 2m
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
1990s
7.2 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Michael Collins, Braveheart, Far and Away — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
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
1990s
7.2
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. Michael Collins, Braveheart, Far and Away.
Most productive era
2010s
18 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 | 7.23 films | 6.98 films | 6.510 films | 6.75 films |
| Action | 8.11 film | 6.74 films | 6.47 films | — |
| Thriller | 6.71 film | 6.45 films | 6.67 films | 5.41 film |
| Comedy | — | 7.32 films | 6.63 films | 6.82 films |
| Crime | — | 7.13 films | 6.02 films | 5.41 film |
| Romance | 6.71 film | 6.91 film | 6.11 film | — |
| Horror | — | 7.21 film | 6.91 film | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1992Far and Away
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Social Club Policeman.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
1995Braveheart
8.1 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
2025H Is for Hawk
The current state of the argument, as Alisdair Macdonald.
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.
42 of 42 films
as Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody
Directed by Mike Newell
as Hamish Campbell
Directed by Mel Gibson
as Conor / Mac Lir (voice)
Directed by Tomm Moore
as General Brigham
Directed by Doug Liman
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
Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Performance score8.1
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody gives Brendan Gleeson a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Hamish Campbell
Braveheart (1995)
Performance score8.1
Braveheart asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Hamish Campbell is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Conor / Mac Lir (voice)
Song of the Sea (2014)
Performance score8.0
Song of the Sea asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Conor / Mac Lir (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
General Brigham
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Performance score7.9
Edge of Tomorrow asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. General Brigham 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 Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody
Start here. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the clearest statement of what Brendan Gleeson does — accessible, 157 minutes, and rated 8.1 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Brendan 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.
Braveheart (1995)
A deliberate change of key after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Song of the Sea (2014)
A deliberate change of key after Braveheart — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
A deliberate change of key after Song of the Sea — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
A deliberate change of key after Edge of Tomorrow — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Neil Jordan
Director
2 films together
Notably Breakfast on Pluto
David Yates
Director
2 films together
Notably Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Ron Howard
Director
2 films together
Notably In the Heart of the Sea
Joel Coen
Director
2 films together
Notably The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Martin McDonagh
Director
2 films together
Notably The Banshees of Inisherin
Mel Gibson
Director
1 film together
Notably Braveheart
John Woo
Director
1 film together
Notably Mission: Impossible II
John Boorman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Tailor of Panama
Steven Spielberg
Director
1 film together
Notably A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Danny Boyle
Director
1 film together
Notably 28 Days Later
Ron Shelton
Director
1 film together
Notably Dark Blue
Martin Scorsese
Director
1 film together
Notably Gangs of New York
Anthony Minghella
Director
1 film together
Notably Cold Mountain
M. Night Shyamalan
Director
1 film together
Notably The Village
Wolfgang Petersen
Director
1 film together
Notably Troy
Ridley Scott
Director
1 film together
Notably Kingdom of Heaven
Mike Newell
Director
1 film together
Notably Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Robert Zemeckis
Director
1 film together
Notably Beowulf
Paul Greengrass
Director
1 film together
Notably Green Zone
Peter Lord
Director
1 film together
Notably The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
Daniel Espinosa
Director
1 film together
Notably Safe House
Robert Redford
Director
1 film together
Notably The Company You Keep
Brad Anderson
Director
1 film together
Notably Stonehearst Asylum
Doug Liman
Director
1 film together
Notably Edge of Tomorrow
Tomm Moore
Director
1 film together
Notably Song of the Sea
Sarah Gavron
Director
1 film together
Notably Suffragette
Justin Kurzel
Director
1 film together
Notably Assassin's Creed
Vincent Perez
Director
1 film together
Notably Alone in Berlin
Ben Affleck
Director
1 film together
Notably Live by Night
Adam Smith
Director
1 film together
Notably Trespass Against Us
Todd Phillips
Director
1 film together
Notably Joker: Folie à Deux
Philippa Lowthorpe
Director
1 film together
Notably H Is for Hawk
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
David Yates
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
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1Martin McDonagh
Director
2 films together · 7.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Banshees of InisherinJoel Coen
Director
2 films together · 7.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Ballad of Buster ScruggsNeil Jordan
Director
2 films together · 7.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Breakfast on PlutoRon Howard
Director
2 films together · 6.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
In the Heart of the SeaMike Newell
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireMel Gibson
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BraveheartTomm Moore
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Song of the SeaDoug Liman
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Edge of TomorrowWolfgang Petersen
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TroyMartin Scorsese
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Gangs of New YorkPhilippa Lowthorpe
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
H Is for HawkSarah Gavron
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SuffragetteRidley Scott
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Kingdom of HeavenDanny Boyle
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
28 Days LaterSteven Spielberg
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A.I. Artificial IntelligenceBrad Anderson
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Stonehearst AsylumAnthony Minghella
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cold MountainVincent Perez
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Alone in BerlinDaniel Espinosa
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Safe HousePeter Lord
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 Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!Paul Greengrass
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Green ZoneM. Night Shyamalan
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 VillageBen Affleck
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Live by NightRon Shelton
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dark BlueRobert Redford
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 Company You KeepJohn Woo
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mission: Impossible IIJohn Boorman
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Tailor of PanamaRobert Zemeckis
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BeowulfAdam Smith
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Trespass Against UsJustin Kurzel
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Assassin's CreedTodd Phillips
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Joker: Folie à DeuxSix 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
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
as Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Song of the Sea
as Conor / Mac Lir (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
Braveheart
as Hamish Campbell
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
as Irishman (segment "The Mortal Remains")
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
as Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody
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. Brendan Gleeson 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
33 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
26 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
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
as Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Stonehearst Asylum
as The Alienist
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
A Greyhound of a Girl
as Paddy (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Stonehearst Asylum
as The Alienist
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Braveheart
as Hamish Campbell
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
In the Heart of the Sea
as Old Thomas Nickerson
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Riverdance: The Animated Adventure
as Huntsman (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
as Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Harry Dean Stanton
Works with the same directors — Ridley Scott
Leonardo DiCaprio
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Have your say
Community
Which Brendan Gleeson 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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Reference
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