Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#2008
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Ned Dennehy 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.
Ned Dennehy appears in 24 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Ned. Sherlock Holmes is the clearest case: a film rated 7.4 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 horror, crime, drama. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Tom Harper, Elliott Lester, Barnaby Thompson and others, Ned Dennehy 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.
Sherlock Holmes (2009) as Man with Roses · Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (2026) as Charlie Strong · Jane Eyre (2011) as Dr. Carter
Career snapshot
Ranked #2008 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
24
2002–2026
Career length
24 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.4
Sherlock Holmes
Average Nutevio score
6.1
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.2
Tyrannosaur
Most frequent director
Elliott Lester
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Elliott Lester
Most common genre
Drama
11 titles
Average runtime
1h 39m
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
6.3
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
6.7 average MV
The 2000s are where the work and the material meet. Sherlock Holmes, King Arthur, Veronica Guerin — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2000s
6.7
Across 4 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2000s
6.6
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. Sherlock Holmes, King Arthur, Veronica Guerin.
Most productive era
2010s
11 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 | 6.62 films | 6.46 films | 6.43 films |
| Action | 6.73 films | 6.33 films | 6.41 film |
| Thriller | 6.71 film | 6.34 films | 6.23 films |
| Comedy | — | 5.21 film | 6.12 films |
| Crime | 6.71 film | 6.32 films | 6.44 films |
| Romance | — | 7.22 films | — |
| Horror | — | 6.21 film | 3.32 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
2002Reign of Fire
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Barlow.
Highest rated performance
2009Sherlock Holmes
7.4 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Career peak
2011Tyrannosaur
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2026Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
The current state of the argument, as Charlie Strong.
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.
24 of 24 films
as Tommy
Directed by Paddy Considine
as Man with Roses
Directed by Guy Ritchie
as Lawmaker No. 2
Directed by Luke Scott
as Dr. Carter
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga
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
Tommy
Tyrannosaur (2011)
Performance score7.3
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Tommy gives Ned Dennehy a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Man with Roses
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Performance score7.2
Sherlock Holmes asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Man with Roses is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Charlie Strong
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (2026)
Performance score7.1
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Charlie Strong is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Lawmaker No. 2
2036: Nexus Dawn (2017)
Performance score7.1
2036: Nexus Dawn asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Lawmaker No. 2 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 Tommy
Start here. Tyrannosaur is the clearest statement of what Ned Dennehy does — accessible, 93 minutes, and rated 7.2 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Ned 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.
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
A deliberate change of key after Tyrannosaur — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Jane Eyre (2011)
A deliberate change of key after Sherlock Holmes — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
2036: Nexus Dawn (2017)
A deliberate change of key after Jane Eyre — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (2026)
A deliberate change of key after 2036: Nexus Dawn — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Elliott Lester
Director
2 films together
Notably The Thicket
Rob Bowman
Director
1 film together
Notably Reign of Fire
Joel Schumacher
Director
1 film together
Notably Veronica Guerin
Antoine Fuqua
Director
1 film together
Notably King Arthur
Guy Ritchie
Director
1 film together
Notably Sherlock Holmes
Ridley Scott
Director
1 film together
Notably Robin Hood
Paddy Considine
Director
1 film together
Notably Tyrannosaur
Kevin Macdonald
Director
1 film together
Notably The Eagle
Cary Joji Fukunaga
Director
1 film together
Notably Jane Eyre
Susanne Bier
Director
1 film together
Notably Serena
Daniel Espinosa
Director
1 film together
Notably Child 44
Luke Scott
Director
1 film together
Notably 2036: Nexus Dawn
Panos Cosmatos
Director
1 film together
Notably Mandy
Steve Barron
Director
1 film together
Notably Supervized
Nick Rowland
Director
1 film together
Notably Calm with Horses
Brenda Chapman
Director
1 film together
Notably Come Away
Barnaby Thompson
Director
1 film together
Notably Pixie
Tom Harper
Director
1 film together
Notably Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Elliott Lester
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
The ThicketGuy Ritchie
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Sherlock HolmesTom Harper
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal ManCary Joji Fukunaga
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jane EyrePaddy Considine
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TyrannosaurLuke Scott
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
2036: Nexus DawnJoel Schumacher
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Veronica GuerinRidley Scott
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Robin HoodAntoine Fuqua
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
King ArthurNick Rowland
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Calm with HorsesDaniel Espinosa
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Child 44Panos Cosmatos
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MandyKevin Macdonald
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 EagleRob Bowman
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Reign of FireBarnaby Thompson
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
PixieBrenda Chapman
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Come AwaySusanne Bier
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SerenaSteve Barron
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SupervizedSix 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
Sherlock Holmes
as Man with Roses
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Jane Eyre
as Dr. Carter
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Sherlock Holmes
as Man with Roses
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Veronica Guerin
as Jamey the Tout
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Tyrannosaur
as Tommy
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. Ned Dennehy 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
24 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
11 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
Sherlock Holmes
as Man with Roses
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Sherlock Holmes
as Man with Roses
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Jane Eyre
as Dr. Carter
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Sherlock Holmes
as Man with Roses
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Sherlock Holmes
as Man with Roses
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Robin Hood
as Sentinel
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Jane Eyre
as Dr. Carter
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Sherlock Holmes
as Man with Roses
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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Harry Dean Stanton
Works with the same directors — Ridley Scott
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Cillian Murphy
Built a career in the same territory: drama and history
Morgan Freeman
Built a career in the same territory: action and crime
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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