Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#988
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Melissa McCarthy represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 28 years in, and Melissa is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Melissa McCarthy appears in 34 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Melissa. Adele One Night Only is the clearest case: a film rated 7.8 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, fantasy, animation. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Kirk DeMicco, Jerry Seinfeld, Rob Marshall and others, Melissa McCarthy 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.
Adele One Night Only (2021) as Self · The Life of David Gale (2003) as Nico the Goth Girl · St. Vincent (2014) as Maggie Bronstein
Career snapshot
Ranked #988 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
34
1999–2027
Career length
28 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.8
Adele One Night Only
Average Nutevio score
6.1
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.8
Adele One Night Only
Most frequent director
Ben Falcone
5 films together
Longest collaboration
5×
With Ben Falcone
Most common genre
Comedy
25 titles
Average runtime
1h 41m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.9
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
1990s
7.0 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Go — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.0
Across 1 catalogue film 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. Go.
Most productive era
2010s
15 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 | — | 6.83 films | 6.42 films | 6.91 film |
| Action | — | 5.72 films | 6.26 films | 6.02 films |
| Thriller | 7.01 film | 6.72 films | — | — |
| Comedy | 7.01 film | 5.94 films | 6.214 films | 5.06 films |
| Crime | 7.01 film | 6.52 films | 6.36 films | — |
| Romance | — | — | 6.51 film | 6.12 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1999Go
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Sandra.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
7.8 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
2027Margie Claus
The current state of the argument, as Margie Claus (voice).
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.
34 of 34 films
as Self
Directed by Paul Dugdale
as Lilly Maynard
Directed by Theodore Melfi
as Maggie Bronstein
Directed by Theodore Melfi
as Lee Israel
Directed by Marielle Heller
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
Self
Adele One Night Only (2021)
Performance score7.8
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Self gives Melissa McCarthy a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Lilly Maynard
The Starling (2021)
Performance score7.5
The Starling asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Lilly Maynard is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Maggie Bronstein
St. Vincent (2014)
Performance score7.5
St. Vincent asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Maggie Bronstein is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Lee Israel
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)
Performance score7.4
Can You Ever Forgive Me? asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Lee Israel 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 Self
Start here. Adele One Night Only is the clearest statement of what Melissa McCarthy does — accessible, 88 minutes, and rated 7.8 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Melissa 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.
St. Vincent (2014)
A deliberate change of key after Adele One Night Only — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Spy (2015)
Keeps the comedy register of St. Vincent but asks for a colder reading of it.
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)
Keeps the comedy register of Spy but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Starling (2021)
Keeps the drama register of Can You Ever Forgive Me? but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Ben Falcone
Director
5 films together
Notably Life of the Party
Paul Feig
Director
4 films together
Notably Spy
McG
Director
2 films together
Notably Charlie's Angels
Theodore Melfi
Director
2 films together
Notably St. Vincent
Doug Liman
Director
1 film together
Notably Go
Nick Gomez
Director
1 film together
Notably Drowning Mona
Jon Turteltaub
Director
1 film together
Notably The Kid
Peter Kosminsky
Director
1 film together
Notably White Oleander
Alan Parker
Director
1 film together
Notably The Life of David Gale
John August
Director
1 film together
Notably The Nines
Judd Apatow
Director
1 film together
Notably This Is 40
Todd Phillips
Director
1 film together
Notably The Hangover Part III
Seth Gordon
Director
1 film together
Notably Identity Thief
Marielle Heller
Director
1 film together
Notably Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Brian Henson
Director
1 film together
Notably The Happytime Murders
Linda Mendoza
Director
1 film together
Notably A Night at the Academy Museum
Paul Dugdale
Director
1 film together
Notably Adele One Night Only
Brad Baruh
Director
1 film together
Notably Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Thor: Love and Thunder
Taika Waititi
Director
1 film together
Notably Thor: Love and Thunder
Rob Marshall
Director
1 film together
Notably The Little Mermaid
Jerry Seinfeld
Director
1 film together
Notably Unfrosted
Kirk DeMicco
Director
1 film together
Notably Margie Claus
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Ben Falcone
Director
5 films together · 5.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 5 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Life of the PartyPaul Feig
Director
4 films together · 6.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
SpyTheodore Melfi
Director
2 films together · 7.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
St. VincentMcG
Director
2 films together · 5.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Charlie's AngelsPaul Dugdale
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Adele One Night OnlyAlan 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 GaleBrad Baruh
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Thor: Love and ThunderLinda Mendoza
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Night at the Academy MuseumPeter Kosminsky
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
White OleanderDoug Liman
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GoMarielle Heller
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Can You Ever Forgive Me?Jon Turteltaub
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 KidTaika Waititi
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Thor: Love and ThunderRob Marshall
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 Little MermaidTodd Phillips
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Hangover Part IIIJohn 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 NinesSeth Gordon
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Identity ThiefJudd Apatow
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
This Is 40Brian Henson
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 Happytime MurdersNick Gomez
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Drowning MonaJerry Seinfeld
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
UnfrostedKirk DeMicco
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Margie ClausSix 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
The Life of David Gale
as Nico the Goth Girl
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
The Little Mermaid
as Ursula
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Adele One Night Only
as Self
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
as Bystander (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Adele One Night Only
as Self
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. Melissa McCarthy 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
28 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.
Comedy Legend
Awarded
25 catalogue titles in comedy, 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
Adele One Night Only
as Self
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Life of David Gale
as Nico the Goth Girl
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
The Little Mermaid
as Ursula
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Nines
as Margaret / Melissa / Mary
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Adele One Night Only
as Self
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
as Bystander (uncredited)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
as Lee Israel
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Thor: Love and Thunder
as Actor Hela
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
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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
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Cillian Murphy
Built a career in the same territory: drama and history
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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