Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#367
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
David Harbour works on versatility rather than volume, and the catalogue keeps proving that the quieter choice was the correct one.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
David Harbour appears in 34 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without David. GOAT is the clearest case: a film rated 7.8 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, drama, thriller. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Anthony Russo, Tyree Dillihay, Jake Schreier and others, David Harbour 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.
GOAT (2026) as Archie Everhardt (voice) · Brokeback Mountain (2005) as Randall Malone · Gran Turismo (2023) as Jack Salter
Career snapshot
Ranked #367 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
34
2004–2027
Career length
23 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.8
GOAT
Average Nutevio score
6.1
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.1
GOAT
Most frequent director
David Ayer
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With David Ayer
Most common genre
Action
17 titles
Average runtime
1h 46m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.8
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
6.3
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
2000s
6.8 average MV
The 2000s are where the work and the material meet. State of Play, Revolutionary Road, Quantum of Solace — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2000s
6.8
Across 7 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2000s
6.8
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2000s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. State of Play, Revolutionary Road, Quantum of Solace.
Most productive era
2020s
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 | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.13 films | 6.57 films | 3.92 films |
| Action | 6.31 film | 6.16 films | 5.010 films |
| Thriller | 6.64 films | 6.65 films | 5.14 films |
| Comedy | — | 6.02 films | 5.65 films |
| Crime | 6.72 films | 6.57 films | 6.62 films |
| Romance | 7.42 films | 6.31 film | — |
| Horror | — | 5.61 film | 6.52 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
2004Kinsey
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Robert Kinsey.
Highest rated performance
7.8 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Career peak
2023Gran Turismo
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 Alexei Shostakov.
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.
34 of 34 films
as Jack Salter
Directed by Unknown
as Archie Everhardt (voice)
Directed by Tyree Dillihay
as Santa
Directed by Unknown
as Alexei Shostakov
Directed by Jake Schreier
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
Jack Salter
Gran Turismo (2023)
Performance score8.0
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Jack Salter gives David Harbour a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Archie Everhardt (voice)
GOAT (2026)
Performance score7.8
GOAT asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Archie Everhardt (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Santa
Violent Night (2022)
Performance score7.8
Violent Night asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Santa is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Randall Malone
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Performance score7.6
Brokeback Mountain asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Randall Malone 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 Jack Salter
Start here. Gran Turismo is the clearest statement of what David Harbour does — accessible, 135 minutes, and rated 7.7 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet David 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.
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Keeps the drama register of Gran Turismo but asks for a colder reading of it.
Violent Night (2022)
A deliberate change of key after Brokeback Mountain — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Thunderbolts* (2025)
Keeps the action register of Violent Night but asks for a colder reading of it.
GOAT (2026)
A deliberate change of key after Thunderbolts* — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
David Ayer
Director
3 films together
Notably End of Watch
Anthony Russo
Director
2 films together
Notably Avengers: Doomsday
Bill Condon
Director
1 film together
Notably Kinsey
Ang Lee
Director
1 film together
Notably Brokeback Mountain
Steven Spielberg
Director
1 film together
Notably War of the Worlds
Joby Harold
Director
1 film together
Notably Awake
Marc Forster
Director
1 film together
Notably Quantum of Solace
Sam Mendes
Director
1 film together
Notably Revolutionary Road
Kevin Macdonald
Director
1 film together
Notably State of Play
Madonna
Director
1 film together
Notably W.E.
Michel Gondry
Director
1 film together
Notably The Green Hornet
Jill Sprecher
Director
1 film together
Notably Thin Ice
Peter Landesman
Director
1 film together
Notably Parkland
Ric Roman Waugh
Director
1 film together
Notably Snitch
Antoine Fuqua
Director
1 film together
Notably The Equalizer
Scott Frank
Director
1 film together
Notably A Walk Among the Tombstones
Scott Cooper
Director
1 film together
Notably Black Mass
Baran bo Odar
Director
1 film together
Notably Sleepless
Neil Marshall
Director
1 film together
Notably Hellboy
Sam Hargrave
Director
1 film together
Notably Extraction
Cate Shortland
Director
1 film together
Notably Black Widow
Jake Schreier
Director
1 film together
Notably Thunderbolts*
Tyree Dillihay
Director
1 film together
Notably GOAT
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
David Ayer
Director
3 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
End of WatchAnthony Russo
Director
2 films together · 3.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Avengers: DoomsdayTyree Dillihay
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GOATAng Lee
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Brokeback MountainJake Schreier
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Thunderbolts*Cate Shortland
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Black WidowSam Hargrave
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ExtractionAntoine Fuqua
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 EqualizerSam Mendes
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Revolutionary RoadKevin Macdonald
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
State of PlayJoby Harold
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AwakeSteven Spielberg
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
War of the WorldsBill Condon
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
KinseyScott Cooper
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Black MassJill Sprecher
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Thin IceScott Frank
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Walk Among the TombstonesMadonna
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
W.E.Marc 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 SolacePeter Landesman
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ParklandRic Roman Waugh
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SnitchBaran bo Odar
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SleeplessNeil Marshall
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HellboyMichel Gondry
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Green HornetSix 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
Brokeback Mountain
as Randall Malone
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Brokeback Mountain
as Randall Malone
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Brokeback Mountain
as Randall Malone
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5
as Self (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Gran Turismo
as Jack Salter
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. David Harbour 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
23 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.
Action Legend
Awarded
17 catalogue titles in action, 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
Brokeback Mountain
as Randall Malone
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Extraction
as Gaspar
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
W.E.
as Ernest
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Awake
as Dracula
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Gran Turismo
as Jack Salter
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Thunderbolts*
as Alexei Shostakov
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Thin Ice
as Bob Egan
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Avengers: Doomsday
as Alexei Shostakov
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
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
Mark Ruffalo
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Tom Wilkinson
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Have your say
Community
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Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
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Reference
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