Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#355
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Lacey Chabert represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 29 years in, and Lacey is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Lacey Chabert appears in 30 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Lacey. Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver is the clearest case: a film rated 8.0 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 romance, comedy, tv movie. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Stacey N. Harding, Jerry Ciccoritti, Terry Ingram and others, Lacey Chabert 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.
Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver (2020) as Tess Harper · The Wedding Veil Inspiration (2023) as Avery · Anastasia (1997) as Young Anastasia (singing voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #355 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
30
1997–2026
Career length
29 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.0
Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver
Average Nutevio score
6.7
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.0
Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver
Most frequent director
Terry Ingram
4 films together
Longest collaboration
4×
With Terry Ingram
Most common genre
TV Movie
21 titles
Average runtime
1h 26m
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
6.7
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
2020s
6.9 average MV
The 2020s are where the work and the material meet. Lost in Paradise, She's Making a List, Hot Frosty — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2020s
6.9
Across 17 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2020s
6.9
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. The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Lost in Space, Anastasia.
Most productive era
2020s
17 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 | 7.01 film | 7.41 film | — | 6.97 films |
| Thriller | — | — | 7.11 film | — |
| Comedy | — | 6.35 films | 6.61 film | 6.813 films |
| Crime | — | — | 7.51 film | 7.63 films |
| Romance | 7.01 film | 6.01 film | 6.52 films | 6.815 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1997Anastasia
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Young Anastasia (singing voice).
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2020Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver
8.0 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
2026Lost in Paradise
The current state of the argument, as Sophia.
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.
30 of 30 films
as Tess Harper
Directed by Unknown
as Tess Harper
Directed by David Winning
as Tess Harper
Directed by Don McCutcheon
as Sophia
Directed by Unknown
as Avery
Directed by Terry Ingram
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
Tess Harper
Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver (2020)
Performance score8.5
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Tess Harper gives Lacey Chabert a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Tess Harper
Crossword Mysteries: Riddle Me Dead (2021)
Performance score8.1
Crossword Mysteries: Riddle Me Dead asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Tess Harper is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Tess Harper
Crossword Mysteries: Proposing Murder (2019)
Performance score8.1
Crossword Mysteries: Proposing Murder asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Tess Harper is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Sophia
Lost in Paradise (2026)
Performance score7.9
Lost in Paradise asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Sophia 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 Tess Harper
Start here. Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver is the clearest statement of what Lacey Chabert does — accessible, 85 minutes, and rated 8.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Lacey 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.
Crossword Mysteries: Proposing Murder (2019)
Keeps the mystery register of Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver but asks for a colder reading of it.
Crossword Mysteries: Riddle Me Dead (2021)
Keeps the mystery register of Crossword Mysteries: Proposing Murder but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Wedding Veil Inspiration (2023)
Keeps the tv movie register of Crossword Mysteries: Riddle Me Dead but asks for a colder reading of it.
Lost in Paradise (2026)
Keeps the romance register of The Wedding Veil Inspiration but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Terry Ingram
Director
4 films together
Notably The Wedding Veil Inspiration
Mark Waters
Director
2 films together
Notably Mean Girls
Don McCutcheon
Director
2 films together
Notably Crossword Mysteries: Proposing Murder
Peter Benson
Director
2 films together
Notably The Wedding Veil Expectations
Maclain Nelson
Director
2 films together
Notably Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up
Gary Goldman
Director
1 film together
Notably Anastasia
Stephen Hopkins
Director
1 film together
Notably Lost in Space
Darrell Rooney
Director
1 film together
Notably The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
Jeff McGrath
Director
1 film together
Notably The Wild Thornberrys Movie
Michael Damian
Director
1 film together
Notably Christmas Waltz
David Winning
Director
1 film together
Notably Crossword Mysteries: Riddle Me Dead
Stefan Scaini
Director
1 film together
Notably Christmas at Castle Hart
Lee Friedlander
Director
1 film together
Notably Groundswell
Jerry Ciccoritti
Director
1 film together
Notably Hot Frosty
Stacey N. Harding
Director
1 film together
Notably She's Making a List
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Terry Ingram
Director
4 films together · 7.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Wedding Veil InspirationDon McCutcheon
Director
2 films together · 7.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Crossword Mysteries: Proposing MurderPeter Benson
Director
2 films together · 7.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Wedding Veil ExpectationsMark Waters
Director
2 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Mean GirlsMaclain Nelson
Director
2 films together · 6.1 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Haul Out the Holly: Lit UpGary Goldman
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AnastasiaDavid Winning
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Crossword Mysteries: Riddle Me DeadMichael Damian
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Christmas WaltzDarrell Rooney
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Lion King II: Simba's PrideStacey N. Harding
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
She's Making a ListLee Friedlander
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GroundswellJeff 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
The Wild Thornberrys MovieStefan Scaini
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Christmas at Castle HartJerry Ciccoritti
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hot FrostyStephen Hopkins
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Lost in SpaceSix 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
Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver
as Tess Harper
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Anastasia
as Young Anastasia (singing 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
Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver
as Tess Harper
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Anastasia
as Young Anastasia (singing voice)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver
as Tess Harper
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. Lacey Chabert 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
29 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.
TV Movie Legend
Awarded
21 catalogue titles in tv movie, 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
Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver
as Tess Harper
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver
as Tess Harper
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
as Young Vitani (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Crossword Mysteries: Riddle Me Dead
as Tess Harper
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Anastasia
as Young Anastasia (singing voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Anastasia
as Young Anastasia (singing voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
as Young Vitani (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Mean Girls
as Gretchen Wieners
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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Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Jamie Harris
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Morgan Freeman
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Have your say
Community
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Reference
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