Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#9741
of 909177 performers
Top 5%
Gérard Depardieu represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 47 years in, and Gérard is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Gérard Depardieu appears in 32 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Gérard. Patrick Dewaere, My Hero is the clearest case: a film rated 9.0 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 comedy, drama, documentary. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Jérôme Commandeur, Patrice Leconte, Pierre-François Martin-Laval and others, Gérard Depardieu 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.
Patrick Dewaere, My Hero (2022) as Self (archive footage) - actor · Crystal Frog (2019) as Benjamin · Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero (2018) as Gaston Baptiste (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #9741 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
32
1976–2023
Career length
47 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.0
Patrick Dewaere, My Hero
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
9.0
Patrick Dewaere, My Hero
Most frequent director
Jérôme Commandeur
1 film together
Longest collaboration
1×
With Jérôme Commandeur
Most common genre
Drama
18 titles
Average runtime
1h 51m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.0
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
6.9
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
1970s
7.4 average MV
The 1970s are where the work and the material meet. 1900 — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1970s
7.4
Across 1 catalogue film in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1970s
7.8
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1970s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. 1900.
Most productive era
2020s
10 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 | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.41 film | 6.82 films | 6.95 films | 6.64 films | 7.42 films | 5.64 films |
| Action | — | — | 6.62 films | 5.71 film | — | 3.41 film |
| Thriller | — | — | — | 5.71 film | — | — |
| Comedy | — | — | 6.32 films | 6.73 films | 5.33 films | 5.74 films |
| Crime | — | — | — | 6.71 film | — | 5.01 film |
| Romance | — | 6.91 film | 6.43 films | 6.42 films | — | 5.42 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
19761900
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Olmo Dalcò.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 9.0 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
2023Umami
The current state of the argument, as Gabriel.
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 Self (archive footage) - actor
Directed by Unknown
as Gaston Baptiste (voice)
Directed by Unknown
as Obélix
Directed by Alain Chabat
as Cyrano de Bergerac
Directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau
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 (archive footage) - actor
Patrick Dewaere, My Hero (2022)
Performance score8.6
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Self (archive footage) - actor gives Gérard Depardieu a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Benjamin
Crystal Frog (2019)
Performance score8.5
Crystal Frog asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Benjamin is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Gaston Baptiste (voice)
Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero (2018)
Performance score8.2
Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Gaston Baptiste (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Obélix
Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002)
Performance score8.0
Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Obélix 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 (archive footage) - actor
Start here. Patrick Dewaere, My Hero is the clearest statement of what Gérard Depardieu does — accessible, 90 minutes, and rated 9.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Gérard 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.
Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)
A deliberate change of key after Patrick Dewaere, My Hero — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002)
Keeps the comedy register of Cyrano de Bergerac but asks for a colder reading of it.
Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero (2018)
Keeps the adventure register of Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra but asks for a colder reading of it.
Crystal Frog (2019)
Same director as Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Bernardo Bertolucci
Director
1 film together
Notably 1900
François Truffaut
Director
1 film together
Notably The Last Metro
Daniel Vigne
Director
1 film together
Notably The Return of Martin Guerre
Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Director
1 film together
Notably Cyrano de Bergerac
Alain Corneau
Director
1 film together
Notably All the Mornings of the World
Ridley Scott
Director
1 film together
Notably 1492: Conquest of Paradise
Steve Miner
Director
1 film together
Notably My Father the Hero
Kenneth Branagh
Director
1 film together
Notably Hamlet
Randall Wallace
Director
1 film together
Notably The Man in the Iron Mask
Roland Joffé
Director
1 film together
Notably Vatel
Alain Chabat
Director
1 film together
Notably Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra
Francis Veber
Director
1 film together
Notably Ruby & Quentin
Joel Coen
Director
1 film together
Notably Paris Je T'aime
Olivier Dahan
Director
1 film together
Notably La Vie en Rose
Mathieu Kassovitz
Director
1 film together
Notably Babylon A.D.
Pierre-François Martin-Laval
Director
1 film together
Notably Fahim
Patrice Leconte
Director
1 film together
Notably Maigret
Jérôme Commandeur
Director
1 film together
Notably Employee of the Month
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Olivier Dahan
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
La Vie en RoseAlain Chabat
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Asterix & Obelix: Mission CleopatraBernardo Bertolucci
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
1900Kenneth Branagh
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HamletJean-Paul Rappeneau
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cyrano de BergeracFrançois Truffaut
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 Last MetroPierre-François Martin-Laval
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
FahimJoel Coen
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Paris Je T'aimeAlain Corneau
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
All the Mornings of the WorldFrancis Veber
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ruby & QuentinRandall Wallace
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Man in the Iron MaskDaniel Vigne
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 Return of Martin GuerreRidley Scott
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
1492: Conquest of ParadiseRoland Joffé
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
VatelJérôme Commandeur
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Employee of the MonthPatrice Leconte
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MaigretMathieu Kassovitz
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Babylon A.D.Steve Miner
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
My Father the HeroSix 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
Patrick Dewaere, My Hero
as Self (archive footage) - actor
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Lost Illusions
as Dauriat
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Patrick Dewaere, My Hero
as Self (archive footage) - actor
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Paris Je T'aime
as Le patron (Quartier Latin)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Patrick Dewaere, My Hero
as Self (archive footage) - actor
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. Gérard Depardieu 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
47 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
18 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
Patrick Dewaere, My Hero
as Self (archive footage) - actor
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Patrick Dewaere, My Hero
as Self (archive footage) - actor
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Lost Illusions
as Dauriat
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Maigret
as Jules Maigret
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Patrick Dewaere, My Hero
as Self (archive footage) - actor
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
The Man in the Iron Mask
as Porthos
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Cyrano de Bergerac
as Cyrano de Bergerac
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
1492: Conquest of Paradise
as Christopher Columbus
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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Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Cillian Murphy
Built a career in the same territory: drama and history
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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