Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#3149
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Hope Davis represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 36 years in, and Hope is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Hope Davis appears in 25 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Hope. Captain America: Civil War 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, war. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Jay Duplass, Michael Russell Gunn, Wes Anderson and others, Hope Davis 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.
Captain America: Civil War (2016) as Maria Stark · Synecdoche, New York (2008) as Madeleine Gravis · Home Alone (1990) as French Ticket Agent
Career snapshot
Ranked #3149 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
25
1990–2026
Career length
36 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.7
Captain America: Civil War
Average Nutevio score
5.8
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.5
Synecdoche, New York
Most frequent director
Wes Anderson
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Wes Anderson
Most common genre
Drama
19 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
6.8
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
6.5
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
7.0 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Arlington Road, Home Alone, Flatliners — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.0
Across 3 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
1990s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Arlington Road, Home Alone, Flatliners.
Most productive era
2000s
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 | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.82 films | 6.610 films | 7.03 films | 3.04 films |
| Action | — | 6.31 film | 6.93 films | — |
| Thriller | 7.01 film | 6.22 films | 6.42 films | 2.92 films |
| Comedy | 7.51 film | 6.65 films | — | 4.74 films |
| Crime | 7.01 film | 6.42 films | 5.71 film | 6.12 films |
| Romance | — | 6.71 film | 6.61 film | — |
| Horror | 6.61 film | — | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1990Home Alone
Where our catalogue meets this career, as French Ticket Agent.
Career peak
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Highest rated performance
2016Captain America: Civil War
7.7 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Most recent film
2026The Brink of War
The current state of the argument, as Nancy Reagan.
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.
25 of 25 films
as Maria Stark
Directed by Anthony Russo
as Lydia Boyd
Directed by Unknown
as Joyce Brabner
Directed by Shari Springer Berman
as Aunt Debra
Directed by Shawn Levy
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
Maria Stark
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Performance score7.5
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Maria Stark gives Hope Davis a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Lydia Boyd
Disconnect (2013)
Performance score7.5
Disconnect asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Lydia Boyd is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Joyce Brabner
American Splendor (2003)
Performance score7.5
American Splendor asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Joyce Brabner is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Aunt Debra
Real Steel (2011)
Performance score7.4
Real Steel asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Aunt Debra 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 Maria Stark
Start here. Captain America: Civil War is the clearest statement of what Hope Davis does — accessible, 147 minutes, and rated 7.7 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Hope 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.
American Splendor (2003)
A deliberate change of key after Captain America: Civil War — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Keeps the drama register of American Splendor but asks for a colder reading of it.
Real Steel (2011)
Keeps the drama register of Synecdoche, New York but asks for a colder reading of it.
Disconnect (2013)
Keeps the drama register of Real Steel but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Wes Anderson
Director
2 films together
Notably The Phoenician Scheme
Joel Schumacher
Director
1 film together
Notably Flatliners
Chris Columbus
Director
1 film together
Notably Home Alone
Mark Pellington
Director
1 film together
Notably Arlington Road
Alexander Payne
Director
1 film together
Notably About Schmidt
Shari Springer Berman
Director
1 film together
Notably American Splendor
Richard Shepard
Director
1 film together
Notably The Matador
John Madden
Director
1 film together
Notably Proof
Gore Verbinski
Director
1 film together
Notably The Weather Man
Douglas McGrath
Director
1 film together
Notably Infamous
John August
Director
1 film together
Notably The Nines
Charlie Kaufman
Director
1 film together
Notably Synecdoche, New York
Jon Poll
Director
1 film together
Notably Charlie Bartlett
Shawn Levy
Director
1 film together
Notably Real Steel
Simon West
Director
1 film together
Notably Wild Card
Anthony Russo
Director
1 film together
Notably Captain America: Civil War
Danny Strong
Director
1 film together
Notably Rebel in the Rye
Susanna Fogel
Director
1 film together
Notably Cat Person
Michael Russell Gunn
Director
1 film together
Notably The Brink of War
Jay Duplass
Director
1 film together
Notably See You When I See You
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Wes Anderson
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 Phoenician SchemeAnthony Russo
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Captain America: Civil WarCharlie Kaufman
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Synecdoche, New YorkChris Columbus
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Home AloneShawn Levy
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Real SteelShari Springer Berman
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
American SplendorMark Pellington
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Arlington RoadAlexander Payne
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
About SchmidtJon Poll
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Charlie BartlettDanny Strong
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Rebel in the RyeJoel Schumacher
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
FlatlinersDouglas McGrath
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
InfamousJohn Madden
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ProofRichard 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 MatadorGore Verbinski
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 Weather ManJohn August
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 NinesSusanna Fogel
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cat PersonSimon West
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Wild CardJay Duplass
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
See You When I See YouMichael Russell Gunn
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Brink of WarSix 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
Captain America: Civil War
as Maria Stark
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Rebel in the Rye
as Miriam
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Home Alone
as French Ticket Agent
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Home Alone
as French Ticket Agent
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Captain America: Civil War
as Maria Stark
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. Hope Davis 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
36 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
19 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
Arlington Road
as Brooke Wolfe
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Arlington Road
as Brooke Wolfe
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Rebel in the Rye
as Miriam
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Nines
as Sarah / Susan / Sierra
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Captain America: Civil War
as Maria Stark
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Captain America: Civil War
as Maria Stark
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Charlie Bartlett
as Marilyn Bartlett
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Captain America: Civil War
as Maria Stark
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
Edward Norton
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Harvey Keitel
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Tom Wilkinson
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Léa Seydoux
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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