Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#4256
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Jeff Chase works on versatility rather than volume, and the catalogue keeps proving that the quieter choice was the correct one.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Jeff Chase appears in 29 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Jeff. Star Trek is the clearest case: a film rated 7.6 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, screen presence. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for action, comedy, fantasy. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Simon West, Jake Kasdan, Rusty Cundieff and others, Jeff Chase 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.
Star Trek (2009) as Cadet Alien · Baby Driver (2017) as Jeffrey (uncredited) · Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) as U.S.S. Enterprise Security
Career snapshot
Ranked #4256 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
29
2002–2025
Career length
23 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.6
Star Trek
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.4
Baby Driver
Most frequent director
J.J. Abrams
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With J.J. Abrams
Most common genre
Action
23 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
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
6.4
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
2000s
6.4 average MV
The 2000s are where the work and the material meet. Star Trek, The Slammin' Salmon, The Marine — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2000s
6.4
Across 8 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2000s
6.4
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2000s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Star Trek, The Slammin' Salmon, The Marine.
Most productive era
2010s
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 | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.41 film | 6.24 films | — |
| Action | 6.57 films | 6.411 films | 6.05 films |
| Thriller | 6.44 films | 6.37 films | 5.83 films |
| Comedy | 6.13 films | 6.07 films | 6.32 films |
| Crime | 6.23 films | 6.45 films | 5.72 films |
| Romance | — | 6.12 films | — |
| Horror | — | 6.11 film | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Mango.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2009Star Trek
7.6 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
2025Bride Hard
The current state of the argument, as Magnus.
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.
29 of 29 films
as Cadet Alien
Directed by J.J. Abrams
as Jeffrey (uncredited)
Directed by Edgar Wright
as U.S.S. Enterprise Security
Directed by J.J. Abrams
as Cyclops
Directed by Jake Kasdan
as Tall Gat Man
Directed by Rian Johnson
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
Cadet Alien
Star Trek (2009)
Performance score7.4
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Cadet Alien gives Jeff Chase a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Jeffrey (uncredited)
Baby Driver (2017)
Performance score7.2
Baby Driver asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Jeffrey (uncredited) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
U.S.S. Enterprise Security
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Performance score7.2
Star Trek Into Darkness asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. U.S.S. Enterprise Security is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Cyclops
Red One (2024)
Performance score7.0
Red One asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Cyclops 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 Cadet Alien
Start here. Star Trek is the clearest statement of what Jeff Chase does — accessible, 127 minutes, and rated 7.6 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Jeff 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.
Looper (2012)
Keeps the action register of Star Trek but asks for a colder reading of it.
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Keeps the action register of Looper but asks for a colder reading of it.
Baby Driver (2017)
Keeps the action register of Star Trek Into Darkness but asks for a colder reading of it.
Red One (2024)
Keeps the action register of Baby Driver but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
J.J. Abrams
Director
3 films together
Notably Star Trek
Jonathan Hensleigh
Director
2 films together
Notably Kill the Irishman
Simon West
Director
2 films together
Notably The Mechanic
Kevin Bray
Director
1 film together
Notably All About the Benjamins
Peter Berg
Director
1 film together
Notably The Rundown
Louis Leterrier
Director
1 film together
Notably Transporter 2
Kevin Heffernan
Director
1 film together
Notably The Slammin' Salmon
Brian Levant
Director
1 film together
Notably The Spy Next Door
Adam Shankman
Director
1 film together
Notably Rock of Ages
Kirk Jones
Director
1 film together
Notably What to Expect When You're Expecting
Rian Johnson
Director
1 film together
Notably Looper
Mikael Håfström
Director
1 film together
Notably Escape Plan
Jeff Wadlow
Director
1 film together
Notably True Memoirs of an International Assassin
Greg Mottola
Director
1 film together
Notably Keeping Up with the Joneses
Edgar Wright
Director
1 film together
Notably Baby Driver
Kevin Smith
Director
1 film together
Notably Jay and Silent Bob Reboot
John Herzfeld
Director
1 film together
Notably Escape Plan: The Extractors
Clark Duke
Director
1 film together
Notably Arkansas
Rusty Cundieff
Director
1 film together
Notably 57 Seconds
Jake Kasdan
Director
1 film together
Notably Red One
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
J.J. Abrams
Director
3 films together · 7.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Star TrekJonathan Hensleigh
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
Kill the IrishmanSimon West
Director
2 films together · 6.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The MechanicEdgar Wright
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Baby DriverJake Kasdan
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Red OneRian Johnson
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
LooperMikael Håfström
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Escape PlanPeter Berg
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 RundownLouis Leterrier
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Transporter 2Adam Shankman
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Rock of AgesRusty Cundieff
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
57 SecondsGreg Mottola
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Keeping Up with the JonesesKirk Jones
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
What to Expect When You're ExpectingBrian Levant
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 Spy Next DoorKevin Bray
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
All About the BenjaminsClark Duke
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ArkansasJeff Wadlow
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
True Memoirs of an International AssassinKevin Heffernan
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Slammin' SalmonKevin Smith
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jay and Silent Bob RebootJohn Herzfeld
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Escape Plan: The ExtractorsSix 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
Star Trek
as Cadet Alien
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Rock of Ages
as Stacee's Bodyguard
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Star Trek
as Cadet Alien
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
What to Expect When You're Expecting
as Golfer #2 (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Star Trek
as Cadet Alien
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. Jeff Chase 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
23 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.
Action Legend
Awarded
23 catalogue titles in action, 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
Star Trek
as Cadet Alien
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Baby Driver
as Jeffrey (uncredited)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Rock of Ages
as Stacee's Bodyguard
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Dark Places
as Calvin Diehl
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Star Trek
as Cadet Alien
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Red One
as Cyclops
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Rock of Ages
as Stacee's Bodyguard
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Star Trek
as Cadet Alien
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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Have your say
Community
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Reference
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