Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#242
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Daniel Craig represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 35 years in, and Daniel is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Daniel Craig appears in 36 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Daniel. Knives Out 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 fantasy, adventure, family. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Greta Gerwig, Rian Johnson, Beth McCarthy-Miller and others, Daniel Craig 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.
Knives Out (2019) as Benoit Blanc · Being James Bond (2021) as Self (voice) · Casino Royale (2006) as James Bond
Career snapshot
Ranked #242 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
36
1992–2027
Career length
35 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.0
Knives Out
Average Nutevio score
6.5
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.8
Knives Out
Most frequent director
Rian Johnson
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With Rian Johnson
Most common genre
Thriller
14 titles
Average runtime
1h 51m
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
2010s
6.8 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. Knives Out, Logan Lucky, Kings — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
6.8
Across 10 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
6.7
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. Elizabeth, A Kid in King Arthur's Court, The Power of One.
Most productive era
2000s
13 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 | 7.32 films | 6.78 films | 6.23 films | 6.51 film |
| Action | — | 6.63 films | 6.85 films | 7.31 film |
| Thriller | — | 6.97 films | 6.65 films | 7.32 films |
| Comedy | 5.01 film | 6.01 film | 7.32 films | 6.83 films |
| Crime | — | 6.93 films | 6.94 films | 7.01 film |
| Romance | — | 6.01 film | 5.71 film | 6.51 film |
| Horror | — | 6.11 film | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1992The Power of One
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Sgt. Botha.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2019Knives Out
8.0 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
2027Narnia: The Magician's Nephew
The current state of the argument, as Andrew Ketterley.
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.
36 of 36 films
as Benoit Blanc
Directed by Rian Johnson
as Self (voice)
Directed by Unknown
as James Bond
Directed by Martin Campbell
as Mikael Blomkvist
Directed by David Fincher
as Self
Directed by Mat Whitecross
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
Benoit Blanc
Knives Out (2019)
Performance score8.5
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Benoit Blanc gives Daniel Craig a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Self (voice)
Being James Bond (2021)
Performance score8.2
Being James Bond asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
James Bond
Casino Royale (2006)
Performance score8.2
Casino Royale asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. James Bond is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Mikael Blomkvist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Performance score8.0
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Mikael Blomkvist 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 Benoit Blanc
Start here. Knives Out is the clearest statement of what Daniel Craig does — accessible, 131 minutes, and rated 8.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Daniel 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.
Casino Royale (2006)
A deliberate change of key after Knives Out — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Keeps the thriller register of Casino Royale but asks for a colder reading of it.
Being James Bond (2021)
A deliberate change of key after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Sound of 007 (2022)
Keeps the documentary register of Being James Bond but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Sam Mendes
Director
3 films together
Notably Road to Perdition
Rian Johnson
Director
3 films together
Notably Knives Out
Steven Spielberg
Director
2 films together
Notably Munich
John G. Avildsen
Director
1 film together
Notably The Power of One
Shekhar Kapur
Director
1 film together
Notably Elizabeth
Simon West
Director
1 film together
Notably Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Matthew Vaughn
Director
1 film together
Notably Layer Cake
John Maybury
Director
1 film together
Notably The Jacket
Douglas McGrath
Director
1 film together
Notably Infamous
Martin Campbell
Director
1 film together
Notably Casino Royale
Oliver Hirschbiegel
Director
1 film together
Notably The Invasion
Chris Weitz
Director
1 film together
Notably The Golden Compass
Marc Forster
Director
1 film together
Notably Quantum of Solace
Robert B. Weide
Director
1 film together
Notably How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
Edward Zwick
Director
1 film together
Notably Defiance
David Fincher
Director
1 film together
Notably The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Jim Sheridan
Director
1 film together
Notably Dream House
Jon Favreau
Director
1 film together
Notably Cowboys & Aliens
J.J. Abrams
Director
1 film together
Notably Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Director
1 film together
Notably Kings
Matt Lipsey
Director
1 film together
Notably Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas
Cary Joji Fukunaga
Director
1 film together
Notably No Time to Die
Mat Whitecross
Director
1 film together
Notably The Sound of 007
Luca Guadagnino
Director
1 film together
Notably Queer
Beth McCarthy-Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably Netflix Tudum 2025
Greta Gerwig
Director
1 film together
Notably Narnia: The Magician's Nephew
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Rian Johnson
Director
3 films together · 7.4 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Knives OutSam Mendes
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
Road to PerditionSteven Spielberg
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
MunichMartin Campbell
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Casino RoyaleJ.J. Abrams
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Star Wars: The Force AwakensJohn G. Avildsen
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 Power of OneDavid Fincher
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 Girl with the Dragon TattooMat Whitecross
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 Sound of 007Cary Joji Fukunaga
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
No Time to DieShekhar Kapur
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ElizabethJohn Maybury
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 JacketMatthew 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 CakeEdward Zwick
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DefianceLuca Guadagnino
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
QueerDouglas McGrath
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
InfamousMatt Lipsey
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomime for ChristmasMarc Forster
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Quantum of SolaceJim Sheridan
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dream HouseChris Weitz
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 Golden CompassOliver Hirschbiegel
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 InvasionRobert B. Weide
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
How to Lose Friends & Alienate PeopleSimon West
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Lara Croft: Tomb RaiderDeniz Gamze Ergüven
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
KingsJon Favreau
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cowboys & AliensBeth McCarthy-Miller
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Netflix Tudum 2025Greta Gerwig
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Narnia: The Magician's NephewSix 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
Knives Out
as Benoit Blanc
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Munich
as Steve
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Knives Out
as Benoit Blanc
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
as Stormtrooper (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Knives Out
as Benoit Blanc
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. Daniel Craig 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
35 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.
Thriller Legend
Awarded
14 catalogue titles in thriller, 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
Knives Out
as Benoit Blanc
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Knives Out
as Benoit Blanc
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Queer
as William Lee
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Jacket
as Rudy Mackenzie
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Casino Royale
as James Bond
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
No Time to Die
as James Bond
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Logan Lucky
as Joe Bang
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
as Stormtrooper (uncredited)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
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Works with the same directors — David Fincher
Robert Downey Jr.
Works with the same directors — David Fincher
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Edward Norton
Works with the same directors — David Fincher
Zach Grenier
Works with the same directors — David Fincher
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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