Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1460
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Danny Glover represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 46 years in, and Danny is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Danny Glover appears in 49 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Danny. Chuck Berry: Brown Eyed Handsome Man 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 horror, thriller, comedy. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Alberto Belli, Linda Mendoza, Jake Kasdan and others, Danny Glover 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.
Chuck Berry: Brown Eyed Handsome Man (2020) as Narrator (voice) · Saw (2004) as David Tapp · The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) as Henry Sherman
Career snapshot
Ranked #1460 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
49
1979–2025
Career length
46 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.0
Chuck Berry: Brown Eyed Handsome Man
Average Nutevio score
6.2
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.0
Chuck Berry: Brown Eyed Handsome Man
Most frequent director
Richard Donner
5 films together
Longest collaboration
5×
With Richard Donner
Most common genre
Comedy
19 titles
Average runtime
1h 42m
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
1970s
7.4 average MV
The 1970s are where the work and the material meet. Escape from Alcatraz — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1970s
7.4
Across 1 catalogue film in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1970s
7.5
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1970s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Escape from Alcatraz.
Most productive era
2010s
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 | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.41 film | 7.14 films | 7.13 films | 6.85 films | 6.05 films | — |
| Action | — | 7.13 films | 6.74 films | 6.43 films | 5.74 films | — |
| Thriller | 7.41 film | 7.13 films | 6.65 films | 6.43 films | 5.44 films | 0.01 film |
| Comedy | — | — | 6.04 films | 6.24 films | 6.29 films | 6.12 films |
| Crime | — | 7.13 films | 6.83 films | 6.62 films | 6.02 films | 6.21 film |
| Romance | — | — | — | — | — | 6.51 film |
| Horror | — | — | — | 6.62 films | 5.41 film | 0.01 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Inmate.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2020Chuck Berry: Brown Eyed Handsome Man
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
2025Grizzly Peak
The current state of the argument, as Will.
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.
49 of 49 films
as Narrator (voice)
Directed by Unknown
as Albert
Directed by Steven Spielberg
as Roger Murtaugh
Directed by Richard Donner
as Colonel Isaac Johnson
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
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
Narrator (voice)
Chuck Berry: Brown Eyed Handsome Man (2020)
Performance score8.5
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Narrator (voice) gives Danny Glover a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Albert
The Color Purple (1985)
Performance score8.1
The Color Purple asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Albert is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
David Tapp
Saw (2004)
Performance score7.7
Saw asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. David Tapp is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Roger Murtaugh
Lethal Weapon (1987)
Performance score7.6
Lethal Weapon asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Roger Murtaugh 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 Narrator (voice)
Start here. Chuck Berry: Brown Eyed Handsome Man is the clearest statement of what Danny Glover does — accessible, 54 minutes, and rated 8.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Danny 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 Color Purple (1985)
A deliberate change of key after Chuck Berry: Brown Eyed Handsome Man — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Lethal Weapon (1987)
A deliberate change of key after The Color Purple — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Saw (2004)
Keeps the crime register of Lethal Weapon but asks for a colder reading of it.
Shooter (2007)
A deliberate change of key after Saw — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Richard Donner
Director
5 films together
Notably Lethal Weapon
Don Siegel
Director
1 film together
Notably Escape from Alcatraz
Robert Benton
Director
1 film together
Notably Places in the Heart
Steven Spielberg
Director
1 film together
Notably The Color Purple
Lawrence Kasdan
Director
1 film together
Notably Silverado
Peter Weir
Director
1 film together
Notably Witness
Stephen Hopkins
Director
1 film together
Notably Predator 2
William Dear
Director
1 film together
Notably Angels in the Outfield
Christopher Cain
Director
1 film together
Notably Gone Fishin'
Jeb Stuart
Director
1 film together
Notably Switchback
Francis Ford Coppola
Director
1 film together
Notably The Rainmaker
Eric Darnell
Director
1 film together
Notably Antz
Brenda Chapman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Prince of Egypt
Wes Anderson
Director
1 film together
Notably The Royal Tenenbaums
James Wan
Director
1 film together
Notably Saw
Bill Condon
Director
1 film together
Notably Dreamgirls
Brian Robbins
Director
1 film together
Notably The Shaggy Dog
Steve Oedekerk
Director
1 film together
Notably Barnyard
Antoine Fuqua
Director
1 film together
Notably Shooter
Michel Gondry
Director
1 film together
Notably Be Kind Rewind
Fernando Meirelles
Director
1 film together
Notably Blindness
Roland Emmerich
Director
1 film together
Notably 2012
Casey Affleck
Director
1 film together
Notably I'm Still Here
Neil LaBute
Director
1 film together
Notably Death at a Funeral
Joshua Marston
Director
1 film together
Notably Complete Unknown
Dan Mazer
Director
1 film together
Notably Dirty Grandpa
Chris Wedge
Director
1 film together
Notably Monster Trucks
Jake Szymanski
Director
1 film together
Notably Tour de Pharmacy
David Lowery
Director
1 film together
Notably The Old Man & the Gun
Boots Riley
Director
1 film together
Notably Sorry to Bother You
Babak Najafi
Director
1 film together
Notably Proud Mary
Don Michael Paul
Director
1 film together
Notably Death Race: Beyond Anarchy
Jim Jarmusch
Director
1 film together
Notably The Dead Don't Die
Jake Kasdan
Director
1 film together
Notably Jumanji: The Next Level
Linda Mendoza
Director
1 film together
Notably A Night at the Academy Museum
Alberto Belli
Director
1 film together
Notably The Naughty Nine
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Richard Donner
Director
5 films together · 6.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 5 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Lethal WeaponJames Wan
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SawWes Anderson
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 Royal TenenbaumsSteven Spielberg
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 Color PurpleDon Siegel
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Escape from AlcatrazBrenda Chapman
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 Prince of EgyptRobert Benton
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Places in the HeartAntoine Fuqua
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ShooterLinda Mendoza
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 Night at the Academy MuseumFrancis Ford Coppola
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 RainmakerPeter Weir
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
WitnessJake Kasdan
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jumanji: The Next LevelBoots Riley
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Sorry to Bother YouLawrence Kasdan
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SilveradoJake Szymanski
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Tour de PharmacyBill Condon
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DreamgirlsFernando Meirelles
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BlindnessStephen Hopkins
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Predator 2David Lowery
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 Old Man & the GunMichel Gondry
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Be Kind RewindEric Darnell
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AntzAlberto Belli
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Naughty NineDon Michael Paul
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Death Race: Beyond AnarchyChris Wedge
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Monster TrucksRoland Emmerich
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
2012Casey Affleck
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
I'm Still HereSteve Oedekerk
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BarnyardJeb Stuart
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SwitchbackWilliam Dear
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Angels in the OutfieldDan Mazer
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dirty GrandpaNeil LaBute
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 at a FuneralBabak Najafi
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Proud MaryJim Jarmusch
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Dead Don't DieJoshua Marston
Director
1 film together · 5.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Complete UnknownBrian Robbins
Director
1 film together · 4.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Shaggy DogChristopher Cain
Director
1 film together · 4.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Gone Fishin'Six 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
The Royal Tenenbaums
as Henry Sherman
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
The Prince of Egypt
as Jethro (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
Chuck Berry: Brown Eyed Handsome Man
as Narrator (voice)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Maverick
as Bank Robber (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Chuck Berry: Brown Eyed Handsome Man
as Narrator (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. Danny Glover 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
46 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.
Comedy Legend
Awarded
19 catalogue titles in comedy, 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
Saw
as David Tapp
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Saw
as David Tapp
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Dreamgirls
as Marty Madison
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Saw
as David Tapp
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Lethal Weapon
as Roger Murtaugh
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Diablo
as Benjamin Carver
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Prince of Egypt
as Jethro (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
2012
as President Thomas Wilson
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Tom Wilkinson
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
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 — shared collaborators
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Have your say
Community
Which Danny Glover performance holds up best?
Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
Join the conversation
Reference
Continue exploring
Trending performers
Directors they work with
Collections to read next
