Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1812
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Burn Gorman 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.
Burn Gorman appears in 28 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Burn. The Dark Knight Rises is the clearest case: a film rated 8.0 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 comedy, fantasy, adventure. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Jake Kasdan, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro and others, Burn Gorman 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.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) as Stryver · Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) as Priest (voice) · Frankenstein (2025) as Executioner
Career snapshot
Ranked #1812 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
28
2004–2026
Career length
22 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.0
The Dark Knight Rises
Average Nutevio score
6.1
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.0
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Most frequent director
Guillermo del Toro
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With Guillermo del Toro
Most common genre
Drama
12 titles
Average runtime
1h 46m
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
2000s
6.6 average MV
The 2000s are where the work and the material meet. The Oxford Murders, Penelope, Layer Cake — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2000s
6.6
Across 3 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2000s
6.5
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. The Oxford Murders, Penelope, Layer Cake.
Most productive era
2020s
14 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 | 6.91 film | 6.66 films | 6.75 films |
| Action | — | 6.75 films | 6.84 films |
| Thriller | 6.52 films | 7.03 films | 6.43 films |
| Comedy | 6.81 film | 6.33 films | 4.05 films |
| Crime | 6.52 films | 6.93 films | 6.63 films |
| Romance | 6.81 film | 6.71 film | 6.91 film |
| Horror | — | 6.71 film | 7.03 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
2004Layer Cake
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Gazza.
Highest rated performance
8.0 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Career peak
2022Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2026Digger
The current state of the argument, as Amos.
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.
28 of 28 films
as Priest (voice)
Directed by Mark Gustafson
as Stryver
Directed by Christopher Nolan
as Executioner
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
as Linthorn
Directed by Harry Bradbeer
as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
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
Priest (voice)
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)
Performance score7.9
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Priest (voice) gives Burn Gorman a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Stryver
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Performance score7.8
The Dark Knight Rises asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Stryver is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Executioner
Frankenstein (2025)
Performance score7.4
Frankenstein asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Executioner is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Linthorn
Enola Holmes (2020)
Performance score7.1
Enola Holmes asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Linthorn 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 Priest (voice)
Start here. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is the clearest statement of what Burn Gorman does — accessible, 117 minutes, and rated 7.9 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Burn 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 Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Keeps the drama register of Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio but asks for a colder reading of it.
Pacific Rim (2013)
Keeps the action register of The Dark Knight Rises but asks for a colder reading of it.
Enola Holmes (2020)
Keeps the adventure register of Pacific Rim but asks for a colder reading of it.
Frankenstein (2025)
A deliberate change of key after Enola Holmes — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Guillermo del Toro
Director
3 films together
Notably Frankenstein
Matthew Vaughn
Director
1 film together
Notably Layer Cake
Mark Palansky
Director
1 film together
Notably Penelope
Álex de la Iglesia
Director
1 film together
Notably The Oxford Murders
Ricky Gervais
Director
1 film together
Notably Cemetery Junction
Oliver Parker
Director
1 film together
Notably Johnny English Reborn
Rodrigo Cortés
Director
1 film together
Notably Red Lights
Christopher Nolan
Director
1 film together
Notably The Dark Knight Rises
John Ridley
Director
1 film together
Notably Jimi: All Is by My Side
Miguel Arteta
Director
1 film together
Notably Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Ti West
Director
1 film together
Notably In a Valley of Violence
Steven S. DeKnight
Director
1 film together
Notably Pacific Rim: Uprising
Harry Bradbeer
Director
1 film together
Notably Enola Holmes
Chloe Okuno
Director
1 film together
Notably Watcher
Mark Gustafson
Director
1 film together
Notably Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Francis Lawrence
Director
1 film together
Notably The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Kim Seong-hun
Director
1 film together
Notably Ransomed
Dexter Fletcher
Director
1 film together
Notably Ghosted
F. Gary Gray
Director
1 film together
Notably Lift
Tim Burton
Director
1 film together
Notably Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Director
1 film together
Notably Digger
Jake Kasdan
Director
1 film together
Notably Jumanji: Open World
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Guillermo del Toro
Director
3 films together · 7.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
FrankensteinChristopher Nolan
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Dark Knight RisesMark Gustafson
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Guillermo del Toro's PinocchioHarry Bradbeer
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Enola HolmesFrancis Lawrence
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 Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & SnakesTim Burton
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceDexter Fletcher
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GhostedMatthew Vaughn
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Layer CakeMark Palansky
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
PenelopeKim Seong-hun
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RansomedChloe Okuno
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
WatcherRicky Gervais
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cemetery JunctionF. Gary Gray
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
LiftOliver Parker
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Johnny English RebornMiguel Arteta
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad DayRodrigo Cortés
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Red LightsSteven S. DeKnight
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Pacific Rim: UprisingTi West
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
In a Valley of ViolenceÁlex de la Iglesia
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 Oxford MurdersJohn Ridley
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jimi: All Is by My SideJake Kasdan
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jumanji: Open WorldAlejandro G. Iñárritu
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DiggerSix 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
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
as Priest (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
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
as Priest (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
The Dark Knight Rises
as Stryver
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
as Mr. Brand
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
as Priest (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. Burn Gorman 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
22 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
12 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
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
as Priest (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Dark Knight Rises
as Stryver
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
as Priest (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Enola Holmes
as Linthorn
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The Dark Knight Rises
as Stryver
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Pacific Rim: Uprising
as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
as Priest (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Pacific Rim
as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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Have your say
Community
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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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