Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#3176
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Catherine Keener represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 40 years in, and Catherine is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Catherine Keener appears in 38 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Catherine. Into the Wild is the clearest case: a film rated 7.9 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 romance, drama, crime. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Rachel Morrison, Todd Phillips, Shawn Levy and others, Catherine Keener 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.
Into the Wild (2007) as Jan Burres · Incredibles 2 (2018) as Evelyn Deavor (voice) · Captain Phillips (2013) as Andrea Phillips
Career snapshot
Ranked #3176 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
38
1986–2026
Career length
40 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.9
Into the Wild
Average Nutevio score
6.4
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.8
Into the Wild
Most frequent director
Spike Jonze
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With Spike Jonze
Most common genre
Drama
25 titles
Average runtime
1h 43m
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
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
7.1 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Being John Malkovich, Out of Sight, Living in Oblivion — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.1
Across 3 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
7.1
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. About Last Night....
Most productive era
2000s
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 | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.11 film | 7.41 film | 6.612 films | 6.58 films | 3.73 films |
| Action | — | — | — | 7.33 films | — |
| Thriller | — | — | 6.12 films | 6.63 films | 5.41 film |
| Comedy | 6.11 film | 7.13 films | 6.06 films | 6.16 films | 7.13 films |
| Crime | — | 6.71 film | 6.85 films | 6.22 films | 5.41 film |
| Romance | 6.11 film | 6.71 film | 5.83 films | 6.05 films | 0.01 film |
| Horror | — | — | 7.31 film | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Cocktail Waitress.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2007Into the Wild
7.9 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.
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.
38 of 38 films
as Jan Burres
Directed by Sean Penn
as Narrator (voice)
Directed by Alastair Fothergill
as Evelyn Deavor (voice)
Directed by Brad Bird
as Gertrude Baniszewski
Directed by Tommy O'Haver
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
Jan Burres
Into the Wild (2007)
Performance score7.9
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Jan Burres gives Catherine Keener a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Narrator (voice)
Polar Bear (2022)
Performance score7.8
Polar Bear asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Narrator (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Evelyn Deavor (voice)
Incredibles 2 (2018)
Performance score7.6
Incredibles 2 asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Evelyn Deavor (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Adele Lack
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Performance score7.6
Synecdoche, New York asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Adele Lack 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 Jan Burres
Start here. Into the Wild is the clearest statement of what Catherine Keener does — accessible, 148 minutes, and rated 7.9 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Catherine 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.
An American Crime (2007)
Keeps the drama register of Into the Wild but asks for a colder reading of it.
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Keeps the drama register of An American Crime but asks for a colder reading of it.
Incredibles 2 (2018)
A deliberate change of key after Synecdoche, New York — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Polar Bear (2022)
Keeps the family register of Incredibles 2 but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Spike Jonze
Director
3 films together
Notably Being John Malkovich
Nicole Holofcener
Director
2 films together
Notably Enough Said
Edward Zwick
Director
1 film together
Notably About Last Night...
Tom DiCillo
Director
1 film together
Notably Living in Oblivion
Danny DeVito
Director
1 film together
Notably Death to Smoochy
Andrew Niccol
Director
1 film together
Notably S1m0ne
Rebecca Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably The Ballad of Jack and Rose
Sydney Pollack
Director
1 film together
Notably The Interpreter
Judd Apatow
Director
1 film together
Notably The 40 Year Old Virgin
Tommy O'Haver
Director
1 film together
Notably An American Crime
Sean Penn
Director
1 film together
Notably Into the Wild
Barry Levinson
Director
1 film together
Notably What Just Happened
Charlie Kaufman
Director
1 film together
Notably Synecdoche, New York
Joe Wright
Director
1 film together
Notably The Soloist
Chris Columbus
Director
1 film together
Notably Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Jay Duplass
Director
1 film together
Notably Cyrus
Bruce Beresford
Director
1 film together
Notably Peace, Love & Misunderstanding
Kirk DeMicco
Director
1 film together
Notably The Croods
Paul Greengrass
Director
1 film together
Notably Captain Phillips
John Carney
Director
1 film together
Notably Begin Again
Charles Binamé
Director
1 film together
Notably Elephant Song
David O. Russell
Director
1 film together
Notably Accidental Love
Sacha Gervasi
Director
1 film together
Notably November Criminals
Stefano Sollima
Director
1 film together
Notably Sicario: Day of the Soldado
Brad Bird
Director
1 film together
Notably Incredibles 2
Joel Crawford
Director
1 film together
Notably The Croods: A New Age
Alastair Fothergill
Director
1 film together
Notably Polar Bear
Shawn Levy
Director
1 film together
Notably The Adam Project
Todd Phillips
Director
1 film together
Notably Joker: Folie à Deux
Rachel Morrison
Director
1 film together
Notably Love of Your Life
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Spike Jonze
Director
3 films together · 7.1 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Being John MalkovichNicole Holofcener
Director
2 films together · 5.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Enough SaidSean Penn
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Into the WildBrad Bird
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Incredibles 2Paul Greengrass
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Captain PhillipsCharlie Kaufman
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Synecdoche, New YorkJoel Crawford
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Croods: A New AgeTommy O'Haver
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
An American CrimeAlastair Fothergill
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Polar BearJohn Carney
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Begin AgainTom DiCillo
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Living in OblivionShawn Levy
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 Adam ProjectStefano Sollima
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Sicario: Day of the SoldadoCharles Binamé
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Elephant SongKirk DeMicco
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 CroodsJoe Wright
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The SoloistJudd Apatow
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 40 Year Old VirginSydney Pollack
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The InterpreterChris Columbus
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning ThiefRebecca Miller
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Ballad of Jack and RoseEdward Zwick
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
About Last Night...Andrew Niccol
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
S1m0neJay Duplass
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CyrusDanny DeVito
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Death to SmoochyBruce Beresford
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Peace, Love & MisunderstandingTodd 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 DeuxBarry Levinson
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 Just HappenedSacha Gervasi
Director
1 film together · 5.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
November CriminalsDavid O. Russell
Director
1 film together · 4.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Accidental LoveRachel Morrison
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Love of Your LifeSix 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
Into the Wild
as Jan Burres
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Begin Again
as Miriam Hart
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Into the Wild
as Jan Burres
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Adaptation.
as Catherine Keener (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Into the Wild
as Jan Burres
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. Catherine Keener 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
40 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
25 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
Being John Malkovich
as Maxine Lund
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
An American Crime
as Gertrude Baniszewski
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Begin Again
as Miriam Hart
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
November Criminals
as Fiona
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Incredibles 2
as Evelyn Deavor (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Incredibles 2
as Evelyn Deavor (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Begin Again
as Miriam Hart
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Into the Wild
as Jan Burres
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
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
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Morgan Freeman
Built a career in the same territory: action and crime
Jamie Harris
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
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Reference
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