Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1656
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Kevin Spacey represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 40 years in, and Kevin is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Kevin Spacey appears in 36 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Kevin. Se7en is the clearest case: a film rated 8.6 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, thriller, action. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Santiago Segura, Edgar Wright, Danny Strong and others, Kevin Spacey 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.
Se7en (1995) as John Doe · The Usual Suspects (1995) as Verbal · American Beauty (1999) as Lester Burnham
Career snapshot
Ranked #1656 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
36
1986–2026
Career length
40 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.6
Se7en
Average Nutevio score
6.5
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.4
Se7en
Most frequent director
Bryan Singer
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Bryan Singer
Most common genre
Drama
18 titles
Average runtime
1h 52m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.1
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
1990s
7.3 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. American Beauty, A Bug's Life, The Negotiator — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.3
Across 12 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
7.2
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. See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Working Girl, Heartburn.
Most productive era
1990s
12 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 | 6.32 films | 7.37 films | 6.86 films | 6.43 films | — |
| Action | — | 6.82 films | 5.81 film | 7.41 film | 5.11 film |
| Thriller | — | 7.66 films | 6.82 films | 6.91 film | 2.52 films |
| Comedy | 6.43 films | 6.82 films | 6.14 films | 6.23 films | 6.21 film |
| Crime | 6.71 film | 7.48 films | 6.74 films | 7.02 films | — |
| Romance | 6.32 films | 6.01 film | 6.41 film | 6.61 film | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1986Heartburn
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Subway Thief.
Highest rated performance
1995Se7en
8.6 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Career peak
1999American Beauty
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
The current state of the argument, as Le Chief.
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.
36 of 36 films
as Lester Burnham
Directed by Sam Mendes
as Jack Vincennes
Directed by Curtis Hanson
as John Doe
Directed by David Fincher
as Verbal
Directed by Bryan Singer
as David Gale
Directed by Alan Parker
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
Lester Burnham
American Beauty (1999)
Performance score8.6
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Lester Burnham gives Kevin Spacey a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Jack Vincennes
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Performance score8.3
L.A. Confidential asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Jack Vincennes is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
John Doe
Se7en (1995)
Performance score8.3
Se7en asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. John Doe is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Verbal
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Performance score8.3
The Usual Suspects asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Verbal 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 Lester Burnham
Start here. American Beauty is the clearest statement of what Kevin Spacey does — accessible, 122 minutes, and rated 8.1 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Kevin 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.
Se7en (1995)
A deliberate change of key after American Beauty — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Keeps the crime register of Se7en but asks for a colder reading of it.
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Keeps the crime register of The Usual Suspects but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Life of David Gale (2003)
Keeps the crime register of L.A. Confidential but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Mike Nichols
Director
2 films together
Notably Working Girl
Bryan Singer
Director
2 films together
Notably The Usual Suspects
Arthur Hiller
Director
1 film together
Notably See No Evil, Hear No Evil
Philip Kaufman
Director
1 film together
Notably Henry & June
James Foley
Director
1 film together
Notably Glengarry Glen Ross
George Huang
Director
1 film together
Notably Swimming with Sharks
Wolfgang Petersen
Director
1 film together
Notably Outbreak
David Fincher
Director
1 film together
Notably Se7en
Joel Schumacher
Director
1 film together
Notably A Time to Kill
Clint Eastwood
Director
1 film together
Notably Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Curtis Hanson
Director
1 film together
Notably L.A. Confidential
F. Gary Gray
Director
1 film together
Notably The Negotiator
John Lasseter
Director
1 film together
Notably A Bug's Life
Sam Mendes
Director
1 film together
Notably American Beauty
Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Director
1 film together
Notably Ordinary Decent Criminal
Lasse Hallström
Director
1 film together
Notably The Shipping News
Jay Roach
Director
1 film together
Notably Austin Powers in Goldmember
Alan Parker
Director
1 film together
Notably The Life of David Gale
Robert Luketic
Director
1 film together
Notably 21
Duncan Jones
Director
1 film together
Notably Moon
Jonas Pate
Director
1 film together
Notably Shrink
Grant Heslov
Director
1 film together
Notably The Men Who Stare at Goats
Seth Gordon
Director
1 film together
Notably Horrible Bosses
J.C. Chandor
Director
1 film together
Notably Margin Call
Barry Sonnenfeld
Director
1 film together
Notably Nine Lives
Danny Strong
Director
1 film together
Notably Rebel in the Rye
Edgar Wright
Director
1 film together
Notably Baby Driver
Santiago Segura
Director
1 film together
Notably Torrente for President
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Bryan Singer
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
The Usual SuspectsMike Nichols
Director
2 films together · 6.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Working GirlDavid Fincher
Director
1 film together · 8.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Se7enSam Mendes
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
American BeautyCurtis Hanson
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
L.A. ConfidentialDuncan Jones
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MoonEdgar 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 DriverAlan Parker
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 Life of David GaleJoel Schumacher
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Time to KillJames Foley
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Glengarry Glen RossJohn Lasseter
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Bug's LifeF. Gary Gray
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 NegotiatorJ.C. Chandor
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Margin CallRobert Luketic
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
21Arthur Hiller
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
See No Evil, Hear No EvilDanny 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 RyeSeth Gordon
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Horrible BossesWolfgang Petersen
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
OutbreakGeorge Huang
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Swimming with SharksLasse Hallström
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 Shipping NewsClint Eastwood
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Midnight in the Garden of Good and EvilSantiago Segura
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Torrente for PresidentJonas Pate
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ShrinkThaddeus O'Sullivan
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ordinary Decent CriminalGrant Heslov
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 Men Who Stare at GoatsJay Roach
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Austin Powers in GoldmemberPhilip Kaufman
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Henry & JuneBarry Sonnenfeld
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Nine LivesSix 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
Se7en
as John Doe
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 Whit Burnett
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Se7en
as John Doe
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Se7en
as John Doe
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
American Beauty
as Lester Burnham
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. Kevin Spacey 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
40 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
Se7en
as John Doe
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Se7en
as John Doe
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Rebel in the Rye
as Whit Burnett
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Glengarry Glen Ross
as John Williamson
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Se7en
as John Doe
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Superman Returns
as Lex Luthor
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Working Girl
as Bob Speck
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Se7en
as John Doe
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 — David Fincher
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Edward Norton
Works with the same directors — David Fincher
Zach Grenier
Works with the same directors — David Fincher
Richmond Arquette
Works with the same directors — David Fincher
Bob Stephenson
Works with the same directors — David Fincher
Have your say
Community
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Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
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Reference
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