Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1497
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Cuba Gooding Jr. represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 38 years in, and Cuba is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Cuba Gooding Jr. appears in 28 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Cuba. Life in a Year 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 action, science fiction, adventure. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Matt Shapira, Tony Schiena, Mitja Okorn and others, Cuba Gooding Jr. 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.
Life in a Year (2020) as Xavier · American Gangster (2007) as Nicky Barnes · A Few Good Men (1992) as Cpl. Carl Hammaker
Career snapshot
Ranked #1497 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
28
1988–2026
Career length
38 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.9
Life in a Year
Average Nutevio score
6.5
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.2
Life in a Year
Most frequent director
Matt Shapira
1 film together
Longest collaboration
1×
With Matt Shapira
Most common genre
Drama
15 titles
Average runtime
1h 52m
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
7.2 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. What Dreams May Come, As Good as It Gets, Jerry Maguire — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
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
1990s
7.2
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. Coming to America.
Most productive era
2000s
8 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 | — | 7.26 films | 7.34 films | 7.13 films | 6.52 films |
| Action | — | 6.61 film | — | 5.73 films | 5.34 films |
| Thriller | — | 6.61 film | — | 5.73 films | 5.81 film |
| Comedy | 7.01 film | 7.22 films | 5.73 films | — | — |
| Crime | — | 7.61 film | 7.61 film | 5.61 film | 5.11 film |
| Romance | 7.01 film | 7.23 films | — | — | 7.91 film |
| Horror | — | — | — | — | 6.11 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Boy Getting Haircut.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2020Life in a Year
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, as Captain Marcus Monroe.
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 Xavier
Directed by Mitja Okorn
as Tré Styles
Directed by John Singleton
as Senior Chief Carl Brashear
Directed by George Tillman Jr.
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
Xavier
Life in a Year (2020)
Performance score8.2
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Xavier gives Cuba Gooding Jr. a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Tré Styles
Boyz n the Hood (1991)
Performance score8.1
Boyz n the Hood asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Tré Styles is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Radio
Radio (2003)
Performance score7.9
Radio asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Radio is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Senior Chief Carl Brashear
Men of Honor (2000)
Performance score7.8
Men of Honor asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Senior Chief Carl Brashear 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 Xavier
Start here. Life in a Year is the clearest statement of what Cuba Gooding Jr. does — accessible, 107 minutes, and rated 7.9 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Cuba 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.
Boyz n the Hood (1991)
Keeps the drama register of Life in a Year but asks for a colder reading of it.
Men of Honor (2000)
Keeps the drama register of Boyz n the Hood but asks for a colder reading of it.
Radio (2003)
Keeps the drama register of Men of Honor but asks for a colder reading of it.
American Gangster (2007)
Keeps the drama register of Radio but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
John Landis
Director
1 film together
Notably Coming to America
John Singleton
Director
1 film together
Notably Boyz n the Hood
Rob Reiner
Director
1 film together
Notably A Few Good Men
Wolfgang Petersen
Director
1 film together
Notably Outbreak
Cameron Crowe
Director
1 film together
Notably Jerry Maguire
James L. Brooks
Director
1 film together
Notably As Good as It Gets
Vincent Ward
Director
1 film together
Notably What Dreams May Come
George Tillman Jr.
Director
1 film together
Notably Men of Honor
Ben Stiller
Director
1 film together
Notably Zoolander
Michael Bay
Director
1 film together
Notably Pearl Harbor
Mort Nathan
Director
1 film together
Notably Boat Trip
Michael Tollin
Director
1 film together
Notably Radio
Will Finn
Director
1 film together
Notably Home on the Range
Brian Robbins
Director
1 film together
Notably Norbit
Ridley Scott
Director
1 film together
Notably American Gangster
Anthony Hemingway
Director
1 film together
Notably Red Tails
Lee Daniels
Director
1 film together
Notably The Butler
Robert Rodriguez
Director
1 film together
Notably Machete Kills
Ava DuVernay
Director
1 film together
Notably Selma
Mitja Okorn
Director
1 film together
Notably Life in a Year
Tony Schiena
Director
1 film together
Notably The Weapon
Matt Shapira
Director
1 film together
Notably A Line of Fire
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Mitja Okorn
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Life in a YearRidley Scott
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
American GangsterRob Reiner
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Few Good MenJohn Singleton
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Boyz n the HoodGeorge Tillman Jr.
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Men of HonorAva DuVernay
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SelmaJames L. Brooks
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
As Good as It GetsLee Daniels
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The ButlerMichael Tollin
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RadioVincent Ward
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
What Dreams May ComeMichael Bay
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Pearl HarborCameron Crowe
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jerry MaguireJohn Landis
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Coming to AmericaAnthony Hemingway
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Red TailsWolfgang Petersen
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
OutbreakBen Stiller
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ZoolanderWill Finn
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Home on the RangeMatt Shapira
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Line of FireBrian Robbins
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
NorbitRobert Rodriguez
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Machete KillsMort Nathan
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Boat TripTony Schiena
Director
1 film together · 5.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The WeaponSix 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
Life in a Year
as Xavier
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Life in a Year
as Xavier
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Life in a Year
as Xavier
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
A Few Good Men
as Cpl. Carl Hammaker
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Life in a Year
as Xavier
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. Cuba Gooding Jr. 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
38 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
15 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
Life in a Year
as Xavier
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
American Gangster
as Nicky Barnes
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Life in a Year
as Xavier
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
What Dreams May Come
as Albert Lewis
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Life in a Year
as Xavier
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace
as Balthazar
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
As Good as It Gets
as Frank Sachs
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Coming to America
as Boy Getting Haircut
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
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
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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