Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1845
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Michael Stuhlbarg represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 25 years in, and Michael is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Michael Stuhlbarg appears in 27 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Michael. Arrival is the clearest case: a film rated 9.1 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, drama, action. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Luca Guadagnino, James Hawes and others, Michael Stuhlbarg 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.
Arrival (2016) as Agent Halpern · Call Me by Your Name (2017) as Mr. Perlman · Doctor Strange (2016) as Dr. Nicodemus West
Career snapshot
Ranked #1845 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
27
2001–2026
Career length
25 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.1
Arrival
Average Nutevio score
6.4
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.1
Call Me by Your Name
Most frequent director
Luca Guadagnino
4 films together
Longest collaboration
4×
With Luca Guadagnino
Most common genre
Drama
18 titles
Average runtime
1h 51m
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
6.7
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
2010s
7.2 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. Call Me by Your Name, The Post, Arrival — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
7.2
Across 15 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
7.1
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2010s
1 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Call Me by Your Name, The Post, Arrival.
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 | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.43 films | 7.212 films | 6.33 films |
| Action | 6.61 film | 7.22 films | 7.22 films |
| Thriller | 6.61 film | 6.71 film | 6.52 films |
| Comedy | 6.01 film | 6.72 films | 3.02 films |
| Sci-Fi | — | 9.11 film | — |
| Crime | — | 6.81 film | 6.11 film |
| Romance | — | 8.31 film | 7.01 film |
| Horror | — | — | 7.01 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
2001The Grey Zone
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Cohen.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2016Arrival
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 9.1 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
2026Digger
The current state of the argument, as Vice President.
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.
27 of 27 films
as Agent Halpern
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
as Agent Halpern
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
as Dr. Nicodemus West
Directed by Scott Derrickson
as Dr. Nic West
Directed by Sam Raimi
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Showing 24 of 32 titles · 32 total credits · active 2001–2026
Digger
2026 · Vice President
After the Hunt
2025 · Frederik Mendelssohn
The Amateur
2025 · Schiller
The Instigators
2024 · Mr. Besegai
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
2022 · Dr. Nic West
Bones and All
2022 · Jake
The Staircase
2022 · TV · David Rudolf
Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams
2021 · Self - Narrator (voice)
Dopesick
2021 · TV · Richard Sackler
Creating a Character: The Moni Yakim Legacy
2020 · Self
Shirley
2020 · Stanley Hyman
Your Honor
2020 · TV · Jimmy Baxter
The Looming Tower
2018 · TV · Richard Clarke
Call Me by Your Name
2017 · Mr. Perlman
The Post
2017 · Abe Rosenthal
Arrival
2016 · Agent Halpern
Doctor Strange
2016 · Dr. Nicodemus West
Miles Ahead
2016 · Harper Hamilton
Steve Jobs
2015 · Andy Hertzfeld
Trumbo
2015 · Edward G. Robinson
Pawn Sacrifice
2015 · Paul Marshall
Fargo
2014 · TV · Sy Feltz
Blue Jasmine
2013 · Dr. Flicker
Men in Black 3
2012 · Griffin
The defining work
#1
Agent Halpern
Arrival (2016)
Performance score8.9
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Agent Halpern gives Michael Stuhlbarg a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Mr. Perlman
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Performance score8.5
Call Me by Your Name asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Mr. Perlman is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Agent Halpern
Arrival (2016)
Performance score7.7
Arrival asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Agent Halpern is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Dr. Nicodemus West
Doctor Strange (2016)
Performance score7.5
Doctor Strange asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Dr. Nicodemus West 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 Agent Halpern
Start here. Arrival is the clearest statement of what Michael Stuhlbarg does — accessible, 116 minutes, and rated 9.1 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Michael 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.
Arrival (2016)
Same director as Arrival, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
Doctor Strange (2016)
A deliberate change of key after Arrival — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
A deliberate change of key after Doctor Strange — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
A deliberate change of key after Call Me by Your Name — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Luca Guadagnino
Director
4 films together
Notably Call Me by Your Name
Denis Villeneuve
Director
2 films together
Notably Arrival
Steven Spielberg
Director
2 films together
Notably The Post
Ridley Scott
Director
1 film together
Notably Body of Lies
Martin Scorsese
Director
1 film together
Notably Hugo
Martin McDonagh
Director
1 film together
Notably Seven Psychopaths
Sacha Gervasi
Director
1 film together
Notably Hitchcock
Barry Sonnenfeld
Director
1 film together
Notably Men in Black 3
Woody Allen
Director
1 film together
Notably Blue Jasmine
Edward Zwick
Director
1 film together
Notably Pawn Sacrifice
Jay Roach
Director
1 film together
Notably Trumbo
Danny Boyle
Director
1 film together
Notably Steve Jobs
Don Cheadle
Director
1 film together
Notably Miles Ahead
Scott Derrickson
Director
1 film together
Notably Doctor Strange
Josephine Decker
Director
1 film together
Notably Shirley
Sam Raimi
Director
1 film together
Notably Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Doug Liman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Instigators
James Hawes
Director
1 film together
Notably The Amateur
Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Director
1 film together
Notably Digger
Amy Adams
Actor
1 film together
Notably Arrival
Jeremy Renner
Actor
1 film together
Notably Arrival
Forest Whitaker
Actor
1 film together
Notably Arrival
Mark O'Brien
Actor
1 film together
Notably Arrival
Tzi Ma
Actor
1 film together
Notably Arrival
Abigail Pniowsky
Actor
1 film together
Notably Arrival
Julia Scarlett Dan
Actor
1 film together
Notably Arrival
Jadyn Malone
Actor
1 film together
Notably Arrival
Frank Schorpion
Actor
1 film together
Notably Arrival
Lucas Chartier-Dessert
Actor
1 film together
Notably Arrival
Christian Jadah
Actor
1 film together
Notably Arrival
Lucy Van Oldenbarneveld
Actor
1 film together
Notably Arrival
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Luca Guadagnino
Director
4 films together · 6.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Call Me by Your NameDenis Villeneuve
Director
2 films together · 8.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
ArrivalSteven Spielberg
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
The PostScott Derrickson
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Doctor StrangeSam Raimi
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of MadnessJay Roach
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TrumboMartin Scorsese
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HugoWoody Allen
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Blue JasmineJames Hawes
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The AmateurDanny Boyle
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Steve JobsMartin McDonagh
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Seven PsychopathsEdward Zwick
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Pawn SacrificeBarry Sonnenfeld
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Men in Black 3Sacha Gervasi
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HitchcockRidley Scott
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Body of LiesDon Cheadle
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Miles AheadDoug Liman
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The InstigatorsJosephine Decker
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ShirleyAlejandro G. Iñárritu
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DiggerSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Recognition
1 win
1 win · latest 2017
Arrival
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Arrival
as Agent Halpern
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Call Me by Your Name
as Mr. Perlman
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Arrival
as Agent Halpern
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Post
as Abe Rosenthal
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Arrival
as Agent Halpern
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. Michael Stuhlbarg has known it for a long time.”
“If you could see your whole life from start to finish, would you change things?”
“Language is the foundation of civilization. It is the glue that holds a people together.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
| Nutevio Performer Score | 8.1 | 9.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Career ranking | #274 of 681 | #1 of 681 |
| Awards on file | Unknown | 3 recorded |
| Oscar wins | Unknown | 1 |
| Oscar nominations | Unknown | 5 |
| Average Nutevio score | 9.1 | 9.1 |
| Genres | Sci-Fi, Drama, Mystery | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, History |
| Directors | Denis Villeneuve | Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese |
| Performance DNA | Drama, Screen presence, Charisma | Transformation, Drama, Screen presence |
| Career timeline | 2016–2016 | 2006–2026 |
| Most iconic role | Agent Halpern — Arrival | Odysseus — The Odyssey |
| Most rewatchable film | Arrival | Interstellar |
| Filmography | 1 catalogue film | 4 catalogue films |
Films together
Nothing in common in the library yet.
Shared directors
Nothing in common in the library yet.
Shared collections
Best Time Travel Movies, Top 100 Mind-Bending Movies, Best Movies of the 2010s, Sci-Fi Movies, Drama Movies
Matt Damon edges ahead here — a higher floor across a comparable body of work.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
25 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Editor's Icon
Awarded
Named by our desk for a body of work we return to when we need to explain what screen acting is for.
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
Arrival
as Agent Halpern
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Arrival
as Agent Halpern
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Bones and All
as Jake
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Arrival
as Agent Halpern
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Arrival
as Agent Halpern
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
as Dr. Nic West
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Post
as Abe Rosenthal
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Arrival
as Agent Halpern
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
Across the library
Every Nutevio collection this name turns up in, and how high they rank there.
Collection footprint
Appears in 11 Nutevio collections
Keep reading
theme
Hidden Sci-Fi Gems
Features Arrival at #1
Read the collectiontheme
Movies Like Interstellar
Features Arrival at #1
Read the collectiondirector
Best Denis Villeneuve Movies
Features Arrival at #2
Read the collectiontheme
Best Time Travel Movies
Features Arrival at #2
Read the collectiongenre
Mystery Movies
Features Arrival at #2
Read the collectiontheme
Top 100 Mind-Bending Movies
Features Arrival
Read the collectionFrom the magazine
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: sci-fi and adventure
Florence Pugh
Works with the same directors — Denis Villeneuve
Harry Dean Stanton
Works with the same directors — Ridley Scott
David Dastmalchian
Works with the same directors — Denis Villeneuve
Leonardo DiCaprio
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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