Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1999
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
James Woods represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 52 years in, and James is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
James Woods appears in 31 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without James. Once Upon a Time in America is the clearest case: a film rated 8.4 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 western, comedy, crime. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Ari Aster, Dan Abraham, Julian Starks and others, James Woods 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 Time in America (1984) as Max · Casino (1995) as Lester Diamond · Once Upon a Studio (2023) as Hades (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #1999 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
31
1973–2025
Career length
52 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.4
Once Upon a Time in America
Average Nutevio score
6.5
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.4
Once Upon a Time in America
Most frequent director
Oliver Stone
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With Oliver Stone
Most common genre
Drama
17 titles
Average runtime
1h 57m
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
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
1980s
7.3 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. Salvador, Cat's Eye, Once Upon a Time in America — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
7.3
Across 4 catalogue films 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
1970s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. The Way We Were.
Most productive era
1990s
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 | 6.81 film | 7.62 films | 6.97 films | 7.03 films | 6.23 films | 7.71 film |
| Action | — | — | 6.01 film | 6.72 films | 6.51 film | — |
| Thriller | — | 6.82 films | 6.33 films | 7.11 film | 6.22 films | — |
| Comedy | — | — | 6.52 films | 6.36 films | — | 7.12 films |
| Crime | — | 8.41 film | 7.03 films | 6.32 films | — | 6.51 film |
| Romance | 6.81 film | — | 7.61 film | 7.11 film | — | — |
| Horror | — | 7.02 films | — | — | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1973The Way We Were
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Frankie McVeigh.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
1984Once Upon a Time in America
8.4 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
2025Eddington
The current state of the argument, as James Woods (uncredited).
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.
31 of 31 films
as Lester Diamond
Directed by Martin Scorsese
as Michael Kitz
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
as Max Renn
Directed by David Cronenberg
as Hades (voice)
Directed by John Musker
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
Max
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Performance score8.6
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Max gives James Woods a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Lester Diamond
Casino (1995)
Performance score8.0
Casino asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Lester Diamond is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Michael Kitz
Contact (1997)
Performance score7.8
Contact asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Michael Kitz is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Max Renn
Videodrome (1983)
Performance score7.8
Videodrome asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Max Renn 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 Max
Start here. Once Upon a Time in America is the clearest statement of what James Woods does — accessible, 229 minutes, and rated 8.4 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet James 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.
Videodrome (1983)
A deliberate change of key after Once Upon a Time in America — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Casino (1995)
A deliberate change of key after Videodrome — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Contact (1997)
Keeps the drama register of Casino but asks for a colder reading of it.
Hercules (1997)
A deliberate change of key after Contact — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Oliver Stone
Director
3 films together
Notably Any Given Sunday
Sydney Pollack
Director
1 film together
Notably The Way We Were
David Cronenberg
Director
1 film together
Notably Videodrome
Sergio Leone
Director
1 film together
Notably Once Upon a Time in America
Lewis Teague
Director
1 film together
Notably Cat's Eye
Richard Attenborough
Director
1 film together
Notably Chaplin
Luis Llosa
Director
1 film together
Notably The Specialist
Martin Scorsese
Director
1 film together
Notably Casino
John Musker
Director
1 film together
Notably Hercules
Robert Zemeckis
Director
1 film together
Notably Contact
Simon West
Director
1 film together
Notably The General's Daughter
Ron Shelton
Director
1 film together
Notably Play It to the Bone
Clint Eastwood
Director
1 film together
Notably True Crime
Sofia Coppola
Director
1 film together
Notably The Virgin Suicides
Penny Marshall
Director
1 film together
Notably Riding in Cars with Boys
Keenen Ivory Wayans
Director
1 film together
Notably Scary Movie 2
Chuck Sheetz
Director
1 film together
Notably Recess: School's Out
Nick Cassavetes
Director
1 film together
Notably John Q
Rob Minkoff
Director
1 film together
Notably Stuart Little 2
F. Gary Gray
Director
1 film together
Notably Be Cool
Dominic Polcino
Director
1 film together
Notably Family Guy Presents: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side
Rod Lurie
Director
1 film together
Notably Straw Dogs
Roland Emmerich
Director
1 film together
Notably White House Down
Julian Starks
Director
1 film together
Notably A Journey to Sundance
Dan Abraham
Director
1 film together
Notably Once Upon a Studio
Ari Aster
Director
1 film together
Notably Eddington
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Oliver Stone
Director
3 films together · 6.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Any Given SundaySergio Leone
Director
1 film together · 8.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Once Upon a Time in AmericaMartin Scorsese
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CasinoDan 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 StudioJohn Musker
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HerculesRobert Zemeckis
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ContactRichard Attenborough
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ChaplinDominic Polcino
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Family Guy Presents: Something, Something, Something, Dark SideDavid Cronenberg
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
VideodromeNick Cassavetes
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
John QSofia Coppola
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 Virgin SuicidesPenny Marshall
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Riding in Cars with BoysSydney Pollack
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Way We WereLewis Teague
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cat's EyeChuck Sheetz
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Recess: School's OutAri Aster
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
EddingtonRoland Emmerich
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
White House DownClint Eastwood
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
True CrimeSimon West
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The General's DaughterLuis Llosa
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 SpecialistRod Lurie
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Straw DogsKeenen Ivory Wayans
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scary Movie 2Rob Minkoff
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Stuart Little 2F. Gary Gray
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Be CoolRon Shelton
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Play It to the BoneJulian Starks
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Journey to SundanceSix 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
Casino
as Lester Diamond
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Hercules
as Hades (voice)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Once Upon a Time in America
as Max
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Eddington
as James Woods (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Once Upon a Time in America
as Max
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. James Woods 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
52 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
17 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
Once Upon a Time in America
as Max
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Once Upon a Time in America
as Max
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
The Virgin Suicides
as Mr. Lisbon
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The General's Daughter
as Colonel Robert Moore
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Once Upon a Time in America
as Max
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
as General Hein (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Hercules
as Hades (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Hercules
as Hades (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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Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
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Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Leonardo DiCaprio
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Robert De Niro
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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