Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1091
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Dylan Baker represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 39 years in, and Dylan is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Dylan Baker appears in 34 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Dylan. Requiem for a Dream is the clearest case: a film rated 8.1 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 romance, comedy, horror. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Kristoffer Borgli, Joe Lo Truglio, Joe Berlinger and others, Dylan Baker 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.
Requiem for a Dream (2000) as Southern Doctor · Spider-Man 2 (2004) as Dr. Curt Connors · Selma (2014) as J. Edgar Hoover
Career snapshot
Ranked #1091 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
34
1987–2026
Career length
39 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.1
Requiem for a Dream
Average Nutevio score
6.2
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.0
Requiem for a Dream
Most frequent director
Barry Levinson
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Barry Levinson
Most common genre
Drama
20 titles
Average runtime
1h 48m
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
1980s
7.2 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. Planes, Trains and Automobiles — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
7.2
Across 1 catalogue film in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1980s
7.3
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. Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Most productive era
2000s
13 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 | — | 6.34 films | 6.78 films | 6.36 films | 4.82 films |
| Action | — | — | 6.74 films | 6.31 film | 4.51 film |
| Thriller | — | 5.92 films | 6.66 films | 6.32 films | 5.33 films |
| Comedy | 7.21 film | 6.12 films | 5.92 films | 5.62 films | 6.93 films |
| Crime | — | 6.31 film | 7.14 films | 7.01 film | 6.81 film |
| Romance | — | 5.92 films | 7.01 film | — | 7.21 film |
| Horror | — | — | 6.41 film | 6.21 film | 5.92 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1987Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Owen.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
8.1 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
2026Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
The current state of the argument, as Jeffrey.
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 Southern Doctor
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
as Dr. Curt Connors
Directed by Sam Raimi
as J. Edgar Hoover
Directed by Ava DuVernay
as Alexander Rance
Directed by Sam Mendes
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
Southern Doctor
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Performance score7.8
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Southern Doctor gives Dylan Baker a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Dr. Curt Connors
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Performance score7.3
Spider-Man 2 asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Dr. Curt Connors is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Owen
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Performance score7.3
Planes, Trains and Automobiles asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Owen is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
J. Edgar Hoover
Selma (2014)
Performance score7.2
Selma asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. J. Edgar Hoover 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 Southern Doctor
Start here. Requiem for a Dream is the clearest statement of what Dylan Baker does — accessible, 102 minutes, and rated 8.1 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Dylan 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.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
A deliberate change of key after Requiem for a Dream — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Road to Perdition (2002)
A deliberate change of key after Planes, Trains and Automobiles — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
A deliberate change of key after Road to Perdition — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Selma (2014)
A deliberate change of key after Spider-Man 2 — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Sam Raimi
Director
2 films together
Notably Spider-Man 2
Sam Mendes
Director
2 films together
Notably Road to Perdition
Barry Levinson
Director
2 films together
Notably Disclosure
John Hughes
Director
1 film together
Notably Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Michael Mann
Director
1 film together
Notably The Last of the Mohicans
Woody Allen
Director
1 film together
Notably Celebrity
Sydney Pollack
Director
1 film together
Notably Random Hearts
Roger Donaldson
Director
1 film together
Notably Thirteen Days
Darren Aronofsky
Director
1 film together
Notably Requiem for a Dream
John Boorman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Tailor of Panama
Lee Tamahori
Director
1 film together
Notably Along Came a Spider
Roger Michell
Director
1 film together
Notably Changing Lanes
Chris Rock
Director
1 film together
Notably Head of State
Bill Condon
Director
1 film together
Notably Kinsey
Richard Shepard
Director
1 film together
Notably The Matador
John Polson
Director
1 film together
Notably Hide and Seek
Adam McKay
Director
1 film together
Notably Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
David Hare
Director
1 film together
Notably Turks & Caicos
Ava DuVernay
Director
1 film together
Notably Selma
Andrew Renzi
Director
1 film together
Notably The Benefactor
Rick Famuyiwa
Director
1 film together
Notably Confirmation
Joe Berlinger
Director
1 film together
Notably Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
Joe Lo Truglio
Director
1 film together
Notably Outpost
Kristoffer Borgli
Director
1 film together
Notably Dream Scenario
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Sam Mendes
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
Road to PerditionSam Raimi
Director
2 films together · 7.1 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Spider-Man 2Barry Levinson
Director
2 films together · 5.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
DisclosureDarren Aronofsky
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Requiem for a DreamAva DuVernay
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SelmaMichael Mann
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Last of the MohicansJohn Hughes
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Planes, Trains and AutomobilesJoe Berlinger
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and VileRoger Donaldson
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Thirteen DaysRick Famuyiwa
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ConfirmationKristoffer Borgli
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dream ScenarioBill 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
KinseyJohn Polson
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hide and SeekLee Tamahori
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Along Came a SpiderDavid Hare
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Turks & CaicosRichard Shepard
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The MatadorRoger Michell
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Changing LanesAdam McKay
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Anchorman 2: The Legend ContinuesJohn Boorman
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 Tailor of PanamaWoody Allen
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CelebrityChris Rock
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Head of StateSydney Pollack
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Random HeartsAndrew Renzi
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 BenefactorJoe Lo Truglio
Director
1 film together · 4.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
OutpostSix 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
Requiem for a Dream
as Southern Doctor
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Selma
as J. Edgar Hoover
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Requiem for a Dream
as Southern Doctor
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Requiem for a Dream
as Southern Doctor
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Requiem for a Dream
as Southern Doctor
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. Dylan Baker 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.
Drama Legend
Awarded
20 catalogue titles in drama, 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
Requiem for a Dream
as Southern Doctor
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Requiem for a Dream
as Southern Doctor
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Selma
as J. Edgar Hoover
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Elizabeth Harvest
as Logan
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Spider-Man 2
as Dr. Curt Connors
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Spider-Man 2
as Dr. Curt Connors
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Matador
as Lovell
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Spider-Man 3
as Dr. Curt Connors
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
Ted Levine
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Robert De Niro
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Al Pacino
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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