Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#144
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
David Krumholtz represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 33 years in, and David is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
David Krumholtz appears in 35 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without David. Kill Me is the clearest case: a film rated 10.0 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 action, adventure, sci-fi. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Craig Gillespie, Jonathan Levine, Logic and others, David Krumholtz 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.
Kill Me (2026) as Lou · Influenced (2026) as Gary · Oppenheimer (2023) as Isidor Rabi
Career snapshot
Ranked #144 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
35
1993–2026
Career length
33 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
10.0
Kill Me
Average Nutevio score
6.6
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
10.0
Kill Me
Most frequent director
Craig Gillespie
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Craig Gillespie
Most common genre
Comedy
20 titles
Average runtime
1h 50m
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
7.1
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
7.1 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. 10 Things I Hate About You, The Ice Storm, The Santa Clause — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.1
Across 4 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
7.0
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2020s
7 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Supergirl, Kill Me, Influenced.
Most productive era
2020s
11 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 | 7.13 films | 6.02 films | 6.75 films | 5.95 films |
| Action | — | 6.53 films | 6.21 film | 6.63 films |
| Thriller | — | 6.52 films | — | 9.11 film |
| Comedy | 7.13 films | 6.56 films | 6.27 films | 7.64 films |
| Sci-Fi | — | — | — | 8.11 film |
| Crime | — | 6.01 film | — | 5.61 film |
| Romance | 7.71 film | 6.23 films | 6.41 film | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Joel Glicker.
First Nutevio masterpiece
2023Oppenheimer
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2026Kill Me
10.0 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
2026Supergirl
The current state of the argument, as Zor-El.
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.
35 of 35 films
as Gary
Directed by Unknown
as Isidor Rabi
Directed by Christopher Nolan
as Zor-El
Directed by Craig Gillespie
as Isidor Rabi
Directed by Christopher Nolan
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Showing 24 of 49 titles · 49 total credits · active 1993–2026
Kill Me
2026 · Lou
Influenced
2026 · Gary
Mr. Irrelevant: The John Tuggle Story
2026 · Whitey Horai
Supergirl
2026 · Zor-El
Paradise Records
2025 · Wise Guy #2
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
2025 · Al Teller
Long Story Short
2025 · TV · (voice)
The Studio
2025 · TV · Mitch Weitz
Batman: Caped Crusader
2024 · TV · Fletcher Demming (voice)
Sausage Party: Foodtopia
2024 · TV · Lavash (voice)
Oppenheimer
2023 · Isidor Rabi
White House Plumbers
2023 · TV · William Bittman
The Santa Clauses
2022 · TV · Bernard
Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber
2022 · TV · Sergey Brin
Down with the King
2021 · Paul
Asking for It
2020 · The Cop
Frances Ferguson
2019 · Group Therapy Leader
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
2018 · Frenchman (segment "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs")
A Futile and Stupid Gesture
2018 · Time-Life Publisher
Wonder Wheel
2017 · Jake
Sausage Party
2016 · Kareem Abdul Lavash (voice)
Hail, Caesar!
2016 · Communist Writer
I Saw the Light
2016 · James Dolan
Master of None
2015 · TV · Nathan
The defining work
#1
Lou
Kill Me (2026)
Performance score9.7
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Lou gives David Krumholtz a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Gary
Influenced (2026)
Performance score9.5
Influenced asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Gary is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Isidor Rabi
Oppenheimer (2023)
Performance score8.7
Oppenheimer asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Isidor Rabi is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Zor-El
Supergirl (2026)
Performance score8.1
Supergirl asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Zor-El 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 Lou
Start here. Kill Me is the clearest statement of what David Krumholtz does — accessible, 104 minutes, and rated 10.0 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.
Oppenheimer (2023)
A deliberate change of key after Kill Me — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Oppenheimer (2023)
Same director as Oppenheimer, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
Influenced (2026)
A deliberate change of key after Oppenheimer — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Supergirl (2026)
A deliberate change of key after Influenced — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Joel Coen
Director
2 films together
Notably The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Christopher Nolan
Director
2 films together
Notably Oppenheimer
Craig Gillespie
Director
2 films together
Notably Supergirl
Barry Sonnenfeld
Director
1 film together
Notably Addams Family Values
John Pasquin
Director
1 film together
Notably The Santa Clause
Ang Lee
Director
1 film together
Notably The Ice Storm
Gil Junger
Director
1 film together
Notably 10 Things I Hate About You
Gore Verbinski
Director
1 film together
Notably The Mexican
Danny Leiner
Director
1 film together
Notably Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Kevin Rodney Sullivan
Director
1 film together
Notably Guess Who
Joss Whedon
Director
1 film together
Notably Serenity
Emilio Estevez
Director
1 film together
Notably Bobby
Jake Kasdan
Director
1 film together
Notably Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Greg Mottola
Director
1 film together
Notably Superbad
John Hamburg
Director
1 film together
Notably I Love You, Man
Mark Waters
Director
1 film together
Notably Mr. Popper's Penguins
Evan Goldberg
Director
1 film together
Notably This Is the End
David Dobkin
Director
1 film together
Notably The Judge
Marc Abraham
Director
1 film together
Notably I Saw the Light
Conrad Vernon
Director
1 film together
Notably Sausage Party
Woody Allen
Director
1 film together
Notably Wonder Wheel
David Wain
Director
1 film together
Notably A Futile and Stupid Gesture
Scott Cooper
Director
1 film together
Notably Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Logic
Director
1 film together
Notably Paradise Records
Jonathan Levine
Director
1 film together
Notably Mr. Irrelevant: The John Tuggle Story
Casey Affleck
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Matt Damon
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Cillian Murphy
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
David Dastmalchian
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Florence Pugh
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Robert Downey Jr.
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Emily Blunt
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Josh Hartnett
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Rami Malek
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Kenneth Branagh
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Benny Safdie
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Jason Clarke
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Christopher Nolan
Director
2 films together · 8.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
OppenheimerCraig Gillespie
Director
2 films together · 7.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
SupergirlJoel Coen
Director
2 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Ballad of Buster ScruggsGil Junger
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
10 Things I Hate About YouGreg Mottola
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SuperbadJoss Whedon
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SerenityDavid Dobkin
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 JudgeBarry Sonnenfeld
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Addams Family ValuesAng Lee
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 Ice StormScott Cooper
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Springsteen: Deliver Me from NowhereJohn Hamburg
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
I Love You, ManJake Kasdan
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox StoryDanny Leiner
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Harold & Kumar Go to White CastleJohn Pasquin
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Santa ClauseDavid Wain
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Futile and Stupid GestureWoody Allen
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Wonder WheelEmilio Estevez
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BobbyMarc Abraham
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
I Saw the LightEvan Goldberg
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
This Is the EndMark Waters
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mr. Popper's PenguinsKevin Rodney Sullivan
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Guess WhoGore Verbinski
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The MexicanConrad Vernon
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Sausage PartyLogic
Director
1 film together · 4.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Paradise RecordsJonathan Levine
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mr. Irrelevant: The John Tuggle StorySix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Recognition
1 win
1 win · latest 2024
Oppenheimer
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Kill Me
as Lou
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Oppenheimer
as Isidor Rabi
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Oppenheimer
as Isidor Rabi
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
I Love You, Man
as Sydney's Buddy (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Oppenheimer
as Isidor Rabi
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 Krumholtz has known it for a long time.”
“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
“They won't fear it until they understand it. And they won't understand it until they've used it.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
| Nutevio Performer Score | 7.9 | 8.9 |
|---|---|---|
| Career ranking | #487 of 681 | #2 of 681 |
| Awards on file | Unknown | 4 recorded |
| Oscar wins | Unknown | 2 |
| Oscar nominations | Unknown | 6 |
| Average Nutevio score | 8.6 | 9.3 |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Drama | Sci-Fi, Adventure, Drama, Thriller |
| Directors | Craig Gillespie, Christopher Nolan | Christopher Nolan |
| Performance DNA | Screen presence, Transformation, Drama | Transformation, Screen presence, Rewatchability |
| Career timeline | 2023–2026 | 2006–2014 |
| Most iconic role | Isidor Rabi — Oppenheimer | Professor Brand — Interstellar |
| Most rewatchable film | Oppenheimer | The Dark Knight |
| Filmography | 2 catalogue films | 4 catalogue films |
Films together
Nothing in common in the library yet.
Shared directors
Christopher Nolan
Shared collections
Action Movies, Adventure Movies, Sci-Fi Movies, Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked, Thriller Movies, Drama Movies
Collaborators in common
Christopher Nolan · Casey Affleck · Matt Damon · Cillian Murphy
Michael Caine edges ahead here — a higher floor across a comparable body of work.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
33 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Editor's Icon
Awarded
Named by our desk for a body of work we return to when we need to explain what screen acting is for.
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
20 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
Kill Me
as Lou
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Kill Me
as Lou
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
as Al Teller
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Kill Me
as Lou
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Kill Me
as Lou
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Supergirl
as Zor-El
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Santa Clause
as Bernard
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Supergirl
as Zor-El
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
Across the library
Every Nutevio collection this name turns up in, and how high they rank there.
Collection footprint
Appears in 6 Nutevio collections
Keep reading
director
Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked
Features Oppenheimer
Read the collectiongenre
Action Movies
Features Supergirl
Read the collectiongenre
Thriller Movies
Features Oppenheimer
Read the collectiongenre
Adventure Movies
Features Supergirl
Read the collectiongenre
Sci-Fi Movies
Features Supergirl
Read the collectiongenre
Drama Movies
Features Oppenheimer
Read the collectionFrom the magazine
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Have your say
Community
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