Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1947
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Chris Cooper represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 32 years in, and Chris is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Chris Cooper appears in 41 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Chris. American Beauty 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 romance, music, drama. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Oliver Hermanus, Jon S. Baird, Gina Gershon and others, Chris Cooper 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.
American Beauty (1999) as Colonel Fitts · Little Women (2019) as Mr. Laurence · The Bourne Identity (2002) as Alexander Conklin
Career snapshot
Ranked #1947 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
41
1993–2025
Career length
32 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.1
American Beauty
Average Nutevio score
6.7
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.0
American Beauty
Most frequent director
Ben Affleck
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Ben Affleck
Most common genre
Drama
33 titles
Average runtime
1h 58m
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
6.7
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
7.0 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. American Beauty, October Sky, The Horse Whisperer — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.0
Across 8 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
1990s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. American Beauty, October Sky, The Horse Whisperer.
Most productive era
2000s
15 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 | 7.27 films | 6.812 films | 6.910 films | 5.74 films |
| Action | 5.91 film | 7.24 films | 6.52 films | — |
| Thriller | 7.41 film | 7.04 films | 6.63 films | 6.61 film |
| Comedy | 6.32 films | 6.14 films | 6.83 films | 5.33 films |
| Crime | 6.72 films | 6.73 films | 6.82 films | 6.61 film |
| Romance | 6.82 films | 5.92 films | 7.52 films | 6.81 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1993This Boy's Life
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Roy.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
1999American Beauty
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
2025Everything's Going to Be Great
The current state of the argument, as Walter.
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.
41 of 41 films
as Alexander Conklin
Directed by Doug Liman
as Colonel Fitts
Directed by Sam Mendes
as Mr. Laurence
Directed by Greta Gerwig
as John Hickam
Directed by Joe Johnston
as John Laroche
Directed by Spike Jonze
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
Alexander Conklin
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Performance score7.8
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Alexander Conklin gives Chris Cooper a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Colonel Fitts
American Beauty (1999)
Performance score7.8
American Beauty asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Colonel Fitts is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Mr. Laurence
Little Women (2019)
Performance score7.7
Little Women asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Mr. Laurence is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
John Hickam
October Sky (1999)
Performance score7.7
October Sky asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. John Hickam 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 Alexander Conklin
Start here. The Bourne Identity is the clearest statement of what Chris Cooper does — accessible, 119 minutes, and rated 7.5 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Chris 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.
American Beauty (1999)
A deliberate change of key after The Bourne Identity — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
October Sky (1999)
Keeps the drama register of American Beauty but asks for a colder reading of it.
Adaptation. (2002)
Keeps the drama register of October Sky but asks for a colder reading of it.
Little Women (2019)
Keeps the drama register of Adaptation. but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Sam Mendes
Director
2 films together
Notably American Beauty
Spike Jonze
Director
2 films together
Notably Adaptation.
Robert Redford
Director
2 films together
Notably The Horse Whisperer
John Wells
Director
2 films together
Notably August: Osage County
Ben Affleck
Director
2 films together
Notably The Town
Michael Caton-Jones
Director
1 film together
Notably This Boy's Life
Joel Schumacher
Director
1 film together
Notably A Time to Kill
John Sayles
Director
1 film together
Notably Lone Star
Alfonso Cuarón
Director
1 film together
Notably Great Expectations
Joe Johnston
Director
1 film together
Notably October Sky
Bobby Farrelly
Director
1 film together
Notably Me, Myself & Irene
Roland Emmerich
Director
1 film together
Notably The Patriot
Bob Gale
Director
1 film together
Notably Interstate 60
Doug Liman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Bourne Identity
Gary Ross
Director
1 film together
Notably Seabiscuit
Paul Greengrass
Director
1 film together
Notably The Bourne Supremacy
Stephen Gaghan
Director
1 film together
Notably Syriana
Peter Berg
Director
1 film together
Notably The Kingdom
Fatih Akin
Director
1 film together
Notably New York, I Love You
Allen Coulter
Director
1 film together
Notably Remember Me
James Bobin
Director
1 film together
Notably The Muppets
Marc Webb
Director
1 film together
Notably The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Jean-Marc Vallée
Director
1 film together
Notably Demolition
Brian Fee
Director
1 film together
Notably Cars 3
Marielle Heller
Director
1 film together
Notably A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Greta Gerwig
Director
1 film together
Notably Little Women
Jon Stewart
Director
1 film together
Notably Irresistible
Gina Gershon
Director
1 film together
Notably With/In Volume 2
Jon S. Baird
Director
1 film together
Notably Everything's Going to Be Great
Oliver Hermanus
Director
1 film together
Notably The History of Sound
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Sam Mendes
Director
2 films together · 7.4 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
American BeautySpike Jonze
Director
2 films together · 6.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Adaptation.Ben Affleck
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
The TownJohn Wells
Director
2 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
August: Osage CountyRobert Redford
Director
2 films together · 6.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Horse WhispererGreta Gerwig
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Little WomenDoug Liman
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Bourne IdentityPaul Greengrass
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 Bourne SupremacyBob Gale
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Interstate 60Joe Johnston
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
October SkyJoel Schumacher
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Time to KillRoland Emmerich
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The PatriotAllen Coulter
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Remember MeGary Ross
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SeabiscuitMichael Caton-Jones
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
This Boy's LifeMarielle Heller
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Beautiful Day in the NeighborhoodBrian Fee
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cars 3Jean-Marc Vallée
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DemolitionOliver Hermanus
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The History of SoundMarc Webb
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Amazing Spider-Man 2Peter Berg
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The KingdomJohn Sayles
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Lone StarJames Bobin
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 MuppetsBobby Farrelly
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Me, Myself & IreneAlfonso Cuarón
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Great ExpectationsStephen Gaghan
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SyrianaJon 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
IrresistibleFatih Akin
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
New York, I Love YouJon S. Baird
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Everything's Going to Be GreatGina Gershon
Director
1 film together · 4.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
With/In Volume 2Six 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
American Beauty
as Colonel Fitts
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Little Women
as Mr. Laurence
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
American Beauty
as Colonel Fitts
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
as Norman Osborn (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
The Bourne Identity
as Alexander Conklin
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. Chris Cooper 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
32 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
33 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
American Beauty
as Colonel Fitts
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Bourne Identity
as Alexander Conklin
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
The History of Sound
as Older Lionel
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Boston Strangler
as Jack Maclaine
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The Bourne Identity
as Alexander Conklin
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
as Norman Osborn (uncredited)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Adaptation.
as John Laroche
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
as Norman Osborn (uncredited)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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