Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1096
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
David Spade represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 39 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 Spade appears in 32 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without David. Once Upon a Studio is the clearest case: a film rated 7.7 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 comedy, drama, documentary. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Jonah Hill, Brent Hodge, Dan Abraham and others, David Spade 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.
Once Upon a Studio (2023) as Kuzco (voice) (archive sound) · Fate: The Winx Saga - The Afterparty (2021) as Self - Host · The Emperor's New Groove (2000) as Kuzco (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #1096 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
32
1987–2026
Career length
39 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.7
Once Upon a Studio
Average Nutevio score
6.0
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.3
Once Upon a Studio
Most frequent director
Dennis Dugan
4 films together
Longest collaboration
4×
With Dennis Dugan
Most common genre
Comedy
27 titles
Average runtime
1h 26m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.9
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
6.6
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
6.3 average MV
The 2000s are where the work and the material meet. I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, Racing Stripes, Joe Dirt — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2000s
6.3
Across 4 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2000s
6.3
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. Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol.
Most productive era
2020s
12 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 | — | 6.62 films | — | 6.21 film | 6.62 films |
| Action | — | — | — | 5.52 films | — |
| Comedy | 5.81 film | 5.93 films | 6.34 films | 6.010 films | 5.69 films |
| Crime | 5.81 film | 5.82 films | — | — | — |
| Romance | — | 6.32 films | 6.11 film | — | 6.11 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1987Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Kyle.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
7.7 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
2026Outcome
The current state of the argument, as Buddy.
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.
32 of 32 films
as Kuzco (voice)
Directed by Mark Dindal
as Kuzco (voice) (archive sound)
Directed by Dan Abraham
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
Self - Host
Fate: The Winx Saga - The Afterparty (2021)
Performance score8.2
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Self - Host gives David Spade a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Kuzco (voice)
The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
Performance score8.2
The Emperor's New Groove asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Kuzco (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Self - Host
The Upshaws - The Afterparty (2021)
Performance score7.8
The Upshaws - The Afterparty asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self - Host is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Self - Host
Ginny & Georgia - The Afterparty (2021)
Performance score7.7
Ginny & Georgia - The Afterparty asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self - Host 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 Self - Host
Start here. Fate: The Winx Saga - The Afterparty is the clearest statement of what David Spade does — accessible, 31 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.
The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
Keeps the comedy register of Fate: The Winx Saga - The Afterparty but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Upshaws - The Afterparty (2021)
A deliberate change of key after The Emperor's New Groove — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Ginny & Georgia - The Afterparty (2021)
Same director as The Upshaws - The Afterparty, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
Once Upon a Studio (2023)
A deliberate change of key after Ginny & Georgia - The Afterparty — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Dennis Dugan
Director
4 films together
Notably Grown Ups
Genndy Tartakovsky
Director
3 films together
Notably Hotel Transylvania
Brent Hodge
Director
2 films together
Notably Chris Farley: Anything for a Laugh
Jim Drake
Director
1 film together
Notably Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol
Paul Schrader
Director
1 film together
Notably Light Sleeper
Ben Stiller
Director
1 film together
Notably Reality Bites
Tom Schulman
Director
1 film together
Notably 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag
Penelope Spheeris
Director
1 film together
Notably Senseless
Mark Dindal
Director
1 film together
Notably The Emperor's New Groove
Dennie Gordon
Director
1 film together
Notably Joe Dirt
Fred Wolf
Director
1 film together
Notably Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser
Frank Coraci
Director
1 film together
Notably The Ridiculous 6
Doug Ellin
Director
1 film together
Notably Entourage
Steven Brill
Director
1 film together
Notably The Do-Over
Tyler Spindel
Director
1 film together
Notably The Wrong Missy
Jeff Tomsic
Director
1 film together
Notably Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special
Derek Drymon
Director
1 film together
Notably Hotel Transylvania: Transformania
Dan Abraham
Director
1 film together
Notably Once Upon a Studio
Jonah Hill
Director
1 film together
Notably Outcome
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Dennis Dugan
Director
4 films together · 5.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Grown UpsGenndy Tartakovsky
Director
3 films together · 6.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Hotel TransylvaniaBrent Hodge
Director
2 films together · 3.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Chris Farley: Anything for a LaughDan Abraham
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Once Upon a StudioMark Dindal
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Emperor's New GrooveDerek Drymon
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hotel Transylvania: TransformaniaPaul Schrader
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Light SleeperJeff Tomsic
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Norm Macdonald: Nothing SpecialBen Stiller
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Reality BitesDoug Ellin
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
EntouragePenelope Spheeris
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SenselessTyler Spindel
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 Wrong MissyJim Drake
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Police Academy 4: Citizens on PatrolSteven Brill
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Do-OverDennie Gordon
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Joe DirtJonah Hill
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
OutcomeFrank Coraci
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Ridiculous 6Tom Schulman
Director
1 film together · 5.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
8 Heads in a Duffel BagFred Wolf
Director
1 film together · 4.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful LoserSix 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
Chris Farley: Anything for a Laugh
as Self
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Once Upon a Studio
as Kuzco (voice) (archive sound)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
The Emperor's New Groove
as Kuzco (voice)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Once Upon a Studio
as Kuzco (voice) (archive sound)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Fate: The Winx Saga - The Afterparty
as Self - Host
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 Spade 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
39 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
27 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
Once Upon a Studio
as Kuzco (voice) (archive sound)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Fate: The Winx Saga - The Afterparty
as Self - Host
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Once Upon a Studio
as Kuzco (voice) (archive sound)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
8 Heads in a Duffel Bag
as Ernie
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The Emperor's New Groove
as Kuzco (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
The Ridiculous 6
as General George Custer
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Once Upon a Studio
as Kuzco (voice) (archive sound)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol
as Kyle
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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Reference
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