Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#4249
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Richard Dreyfuss represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 58 years in, and Richard is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Richard Dreyfuss appears in 31 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Richard. Jaws is the clearest case: a film rated 9.0 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 documentary, action, horror. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Jeffrey Schwarz, Shelagh McLeod, David Hackl and others, Richard Dreyfuss 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.
Jaws (1975) as Hooper · Stand by Me (1986) as The Writer · Jaws (1975) as Hooper
Career snapshot
Ranked #4249 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
31
1967–2025
Career length
58 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.0
Jaws
Average Nutevio score
6.2
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.1
Jaws
Most frequent director
Steven Spielberg
4 films together
Longest collaboration
4×
With Steven Spielberg
Most common genre
Drama
18 titles
Average runtime
1h 47m
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
1960s
7.6 average MV
The 1960s are where the work and the material meet. The Graduate — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1960s
7.6
Across 1 catalogue film in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1960s
7.6
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1960s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. The Graduate.
Most productive era
2010s
9 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 | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.61 film | 7.22 films | 7.12 films | 6.83 films | 6.12 films | 5.96 films | 5.32 films |
| Action | — | — | — | — | 5.91 film | 6.03 films | 5.81 film |
| Thriller | — | 8.42 films | — | — | 6.02 films | 5.85 films | 4.82 films |
| Comedy | 7.61 film | 6.91 film | — | 6.82 films | 6.01 film | 6.14 films | — |
| Crime | — | — | — | — | 6.01 film | 6.71 film | 3.81 film |
| Romance | 7.61 film | — | 6.21 film | — | — | 6.21 film | — |
| Horror | — | 7.12 films | — | — | — | — | 5.81 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1967The Graduate
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Boarding House Resident (uncredited).
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
1975Jaws
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 9.0 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
2025Into the Deep
The current state of the argument, as Seamus.
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.
31 of 31 films
as Hooper
Directed by Steven Spielberg
as Hooper
Directed by Steven Spielberg
as Roy Neary
Directed by Steven Spielberg
as The Writer
Directed by Rob Reiner
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 · 35 total credits · active 1967–2025
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
2025 · Self
Into the Deep
2025 · Seamus
Sweetwater
2023 · Maurice Podoloff
Commitment to Life
2023 · Self (archive footage)
Murder at Yellowstone City
2022 · Edgar · Executive Producer
Crime Story
2021 · Ben Myers · Executive Producer
Audrey
2020 · Self - Actor
Astronaut
2019 · Angus · Executive Producer
Daughter of the Wolf
2019 · Father
The Last Laugh
2019 · Buddy Green
Book Club
2018 · George
Asher
2018 · Avi
Zipper
2015 · George Hiller
Paranoia
2013 · Frank Cassidy
Very Good Girls
2013 · Danny
RED
2010 · Alexander Dunning
Leaves of Grass
2009 · Pug Rothbaum
W.
2008 · Dick Cheney
Tin Man
2007 · TV · Mystic Man
Poseidon
2006 · Richard Nelson
James and the Giant Peach
1996 · Centipede (voice)
Mr. Holland's Opus
1995 · Glenn Holland
Quiz Show
1994 · Executive Producer
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
1991 · The Player
The defining work
#1
Hooper
Jaws (1975)
Performance score9.1
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Hooper gives Richard Dreyfuss a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Hooper
Jaws (1975)
Performance score8.2
Jaws asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Hooper is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Roy Neary
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Performance score8.0
Close Encounters of the Third Kind asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Roy Neary is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
The Writer
Stand by Me (1986)
Performance score7.7
Stand by Me asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. The Writer 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 Hooper
Start here. Jaws is the clearest statement of what Richard Dreyfuss does — accessible, 124 minutes, and rated 9.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Richard 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.
American Graffiti (1973)
A deliberate change of key after Jaws — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Jaws (1975)
A deliberate change of key after American Graffiti — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Same director as Jaws, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
Stand by Me (1986)
Keeps the drama register of Close Encounters of the Third Kind but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Steven Spielberg
Director
4 films together
Notably Jaws
Mike Nichols
Director
2 films together
Notably The Graduate
George Lucas
Director
1 film together
Notably American Graffiti
Michael Winner
Director
1 film together
Notably The Sentinel
Rob Reiner
Director
1 film together
Notably Stand by Me
Tom Stoppard
Director
1 film together
Notably Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
Stephen Herek
Director
1 film together
Notably Mr. Holland's Opus
Henry Selick
Director
1 film together
Notably James and the Giant Peach
Wolfgang Petersen
Director
1 film together
Notably Poseidon
Oliver Stone
Director
1 film together
Notably W.
Robert Schwentke
Director
1 film together
Notably RED
Robert Luketic
Director
1 film together
Notably Paranoia
Michael Caton-Jones
Director
1 film together
Notably Asher
David Hackl
Director
1 film together
Notably Daughter of the Wolf
Shelagh McLeod
Director
1 film together
Notably Astronaut
Jeffrey Schwarz
Director
1 film together
Notably Commitment to Life
Roy Scheider
Actor
1 film together
Notably Jaws
Robert Shaw
Actor
1 film together
Notably Jaws
Lorraine Gary
Actor
1 film together
Notably Jaws
Murray Hamilton
Actor
1 film together
Notably Jaws
Carl Gottlieb
Actor
1 film together
Notably Jaws
Jeffrey Kramer
Actor
1 film together
Notably Jaws
Susan Backlinie
Actor
1 film together
Notably Jaws
Jonathan Filley
Actor
1 film together
Notably Jaws
Ted Grossman
Actor
1 film together
Notably Jaws
Chris Rebello
Actor
1 film together
Notably Jaws
Jay Mello
Actor
1 film together
Notably Jaws
Lee Fierro
Actor
1 film together
Notably Jaws
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Steven Spielberg
Director
4 films together · 7.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
JawsMike Nichols
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 GraduateRob Reiner
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Stand by MeTom Stoppard
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are DeadGeorge Lucas
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
American GraffitiStephen Herek
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mr. Holland's OpusRobert Schwentke
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
REDHenry Selick
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
James and the Giant PeachOliver Stone
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
W.Michael Winner
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 SentinelShelagh McLeod
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AstronautWolfgang Petersen
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
PoseidonMichael Caton-Jones
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AsherRobert Luketic
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ParanoiaDavid Hackl
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Daughter of the WolfJeffrey Schwarz
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Commitment to LifeSix 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
Jaws
as Hooper
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Mr. Holland's Opus
as Glenn Holland
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Jaws
as Hooper
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
as Self
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Jaws
as Hooper
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. Richard Dreyfuss has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
| Nutevio Performer Score | 8.0 | 9.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Career ranking | #446 of 681 | #1 of 681 |
| Awards on file | Unknown | 3 recorded |
| Oscar wins | Unknown | 1 |
| Oscar nominations | Unknown | 5 |
| Average Nutevio score | 9.0 | 9.1 |
| Genres | Thriller, Adventure | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, History |
| Directors | Steven Spielberg | Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese |
| Performance DNA | Screen presence, Physical performance, Rewatchability | Transformation, Drama, Screen presence |
| Career timeline | 1975–1975 | 2006–2026 |
| Most iconic role | Hooper — Jaws | Odysseus — The Odyssey |
| Most rewatchable film | Jaws | 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
Adventure Movies, Thriller 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
58 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
Jaws
as Hooper
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Jaws
as Hooper
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
W.
as Dick Cheney
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Sentinel
as Man on Sidewalk Talking to Girl in Red Sweater (uncredited)
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Jaws
as Hooper
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Poseidon
as Richard Nelson
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Graduate
as Boarding House Resident (uncredited)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Jaws
as Hooper
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 2 Nutevio collections
Keep reading
From the magazine
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Michael Caine
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
Which Richard Dreyfuss performance holds up best?
Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
Join the conversation
Reference
Continue exploring
Trending performers
Directors they work with
Collections to read next
