Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1795
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Dustin Hoffman represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 59 years in, and Dustin is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Dustin Hoffman appears in 59 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Dustin. Rain Man 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 documentary, crime, drama. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Daniel Roher, Andy Garcia, Mike Figgis and others, Dustin Hoffman 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.
Rain Man (1988) as Raymond Babbitt · Sleepers (1996) as Danny Snyder · Papillon (1973) as Louis Dega
Career snapshot
Ranked #1795 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
59
1967–2026
Career length
59 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.8
Rain Man
Average Nutevio score
6.6
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.8
Papillon
Most frequent director
Barry Levinson
4 films together
Longest collaboration
4×
With Barry Levinson
Most common genre
Comedy
30 titles
Average runtime
1h 47m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.2
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
7.0
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
1960s
7.4 average MV
The 1960s are where the work and the material meet. Midnight Cowboy, The Graduate — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1960s
7.4
Across 2 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1960s
7.6
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1960s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Midnight Cowboy, The Graduate.
Most productive era
2000s
16 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 | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.42 films | 7.36 films | 7.81 film | 6.76 films | 6.96 films | 6.54 films | 5.94 films |
| Action | — | — | — | 6.52 films | 6.93 films | 6.83 films | 7.01 film |
| Thriller | — | 7.23 films | — | 6.74 films | 6.72 films | 6.41 film | 6.91 film |
| Comedy | 7.61 film | 7.11 film | 7.11 film | 6.64 films | 6.69 films | 6.710 films | 6.54 films |
| Crime | — | 7.23 films | — | 6.53 films | 6.82 films | — | 7.02 films |
| Romance | 7.61 film | — | 7.11 film | — | 6.66 films | 5.71 film | 5.82 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1967The Graduate
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Ben Braddock.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
1988Rain Man
7.8 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
2026Diamond
The current state of the argument.
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.
59 of 59 films
as Raymond Babbitt
Directed by Barry Levinson
as Carl Bernstein
Directed by Alan J. Pakula
as Ben Braddock
Directed by Mike Nichols
as Danny Snyder
Directed by Barry Levinson
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
Raymond Babbitt
Rain Man (1988)
Performance score8.3
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Raymond Babbitt gives Dustin Hoffman a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Carl Bernstein
All the President's Men (1976)
Performance score8.1
All the President's Men asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Carl Bernstein is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Ben Braddock
The Graduate (1967)
Performance score8.1
The Graduate asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Ben Braddock is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Ted Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Performance score8.0
Kramer vs. Kramer asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Ted Kramer 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 Raymond Babbitt
Start here. Rain Man is the clearest statement of what Dustin Hoffman does — accessible, 134 minutes, and rated 7.8 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Dustin 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 Graduate (1967)
Keeps the drama register of Rain Man but asks for a colder reading of it.
All the President's Men (1976)
Keeps the drama register of The Graduate but asks for a colder reading of it.
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Keeps the drama register of All the President's Men but asks for a colder reading of it.
Sleepers (1996)
Keeps the drama register of Kramer vs. Kramer but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Barry Levinson
Director
4 films together
Notably Rain Man
John Schlesinger
Director
2 films together
Notably Midnight Cowboy
Robert Benton
Director
2 films together
Notably Kramer vs. Kramer
Brad Silberling
Director
2 films together
Notably Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Marc Forster
Director
2 films together
Notably Stranger Than Fiction
Stephen Frears
Director
2 films together
Notably The Program
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Director
2 films together
Notably Kung Fu Panda 2
Mike Nichols
Director
1 film together
Notably The Graduate
Arthur Penn
Director
1 film together
Notably Little Big Man
Sam Peckinpah
Director
1 film together
Notably Straw Dogs
Franklin J. Schaffner
Director
1 film together
Notably Papillon
Alan J. Pakula
Director
1 film together
Notably All the President's Men
Sydney Pollack
Director
1 film together
Notably Tootsie
Warren Beatty
Director
1 film together
Notably Dick Tracy
Steven Spielberg
Director
1 film together
Notably Hook
Wolfgang Petersen
Director
1 film together
Notably Outbreak
Costa-Gavras
Director
1 film together
Notably Mad City
Luc Besson
Director
1 film together
Notably The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc
James Foley
Director
1 film together
Notably Confidence
Gary Fleder
Director
1 film together
Notably Runaway Jury
David O. Russell
Director
1 film together
Notably I ♥ Huckabees
Jay Roach
Director
1 film together
Notably Meet the Fockers
Nancy Meyers
Director
1 film together
Notably The Holiday
Tom Tykwer
Director
1 film together
Notably Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Mark Osborne
Director
1 film together
Notably Kung Fu Panda
Richard J. Lewis
Director
1 film together
Notably Barney's Version
Tim Johnson
Director
1 film together
Notably Kung Fu Panda Holiday
Paul Weitz
Director
1 film together
Notably Little Fockers
Tom McCarthy
Director
1 film together
Notably The Cobbler
Jon Favreau
Director
1 film together
Notably Chef
Noah Baumbach
Director
1 film together
Notably The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Mayim Bialik
Director
1 film together
Notably As They Made Us
Mike Mitchell
Director
1 film together
Notably Kung Fu Panda 4
Francis Ford Coppola
Director
1 film together
Notably Megalopolis
Mike Figgis
Director
1 film together
Notably Megadoc
Andy Garcia
Director
1 film together
Notably Diamond
Daniel Roher
Director
1 film together
Notably Tuner
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Barry Levinson
Director
4 films together · 7.1 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Rain ManMarc Forster
Director
2 films together · 7.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Stranger Than FictionJohn Schlesinger
Director
2 films together · 7.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Midnight CowboyJennifer Yuh Nelson
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
Kung Fu Panda 2Robert Benton
Director
2 films together · 6.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Kramer vs. KramerBrad Silberling
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
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate EventsStephen Frears
Director
2 films together · 6.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The ProgramFranklin J. Schaffner
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
PapillonMike Nichols
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The GraduateMark Osborne
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Kung Fu PandaAlan J. Pakula
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
All the President's MenTom Tykwer
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Perfume: The Story of a MurdererJon Favreau
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ChefNancy Meyers
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The HolidaySydney Pollack
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TootsieArthur Penn
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Little Big ManAndy Garcia
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DiamondMike Mitchell
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Kung Fu Panda 4Tim Johnson
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Kung Fu Panda HolidayRichard J. Lewis
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Barney's VersionGary Fleder
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Runaway JurySam Peckinpah
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Straw DogsDaniel Roher
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TunerSteven Spielberg
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HookWolfgang Petersen
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
OutbreakMike Figgis
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MegadocNoah Baumbach
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)Luc Besson
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of ArcJay Roach
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Meet the FockersDavid O. Russell
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
I ♥ HuckabeesJames Foley
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ConfidenceCosta-Gavras
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mad CityWarren Beatty
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dick TracyTom McCarthy
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The CobblerPaul Weitz
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Little FockersMayim Bialik
Director
1 film together · 5.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
As They Made UsFrancis Ford Coppola
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MegalopolisSix 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
Rain Man
as Raymond Babbitt
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Stranger Than Fiction
as Professor Jules Hilbert
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Rain Man
as Raymond Babbitt
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Holiday
as Dustin Hoffman (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Rain Man
as Raymond Babbitt
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. Dustin Hoffman 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
59 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
30 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
All the President's Men
as Carl Bernstein
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Sleepers
as Danny Snyder
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Last Chance Harvey
as Harvey Shine
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Into the Labyrinth
as Dottor Green
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Kung Fu Panda
as Master Shifu (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Kung Fu Panda 4
as Shifu (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Kung Fu Panda 4
as Shifu (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Kung Fu Panda
as Master Shifu (voice)
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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Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Al Pacino
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
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Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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