Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#14365
of 909177 performers
Top 5%
Richard Nixon represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 51 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 Nixon appears in 30 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Richard. Coup 53 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 war, documentary, music. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Laura Poitras, Kevin Macdonald, Morgan Neville and others, Richard Nixon 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.
Coup 53 (2019) as Self - Politician (archive footage) · Jim Henson Idea Man (2024) as Self (archive footage) · Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021) as Self - 37th President of the United States (archive footage)
Career snapshot
Ranked #14365 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
30
1975–2026
Career length
51 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.0
Coup 53
Average Nutevio score
6.2
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.0
Coup 53
Most frequent director
Laura Poitras
1 film together
Longest collaboration
1×
With Laura Poitras
Most common genre
Documentary
21 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
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
6.8
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
1970s
7.3 average MV
The 1970s are where the work and the material meet. The Rocky Horror Picture Show — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1970s
7.3
Across 1 catalogue film in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1980s
7.5
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1970s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Most productive era
2020s
12 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 | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | — | 7.21 film | 7.12 films | 6.82 films | 6.43 films | 6.41 film |
| Thriller | — | — | — | 6.51 film | 6.52 films | — |
| Comedy | 7.31 film | — | 7.21 film | 7.11 film | — | — |
| Crime | — | — | — | 6.51 film | 6.52 films | 6.01 film |
| Horror | 7.31 film | — | — | — | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1975The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Self (archive sound) (uncredited).
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2019Coup 53
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
2026Spartamerika
The current state of the argument, as Self (archive footage).
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 Self (archive footage)
Directed by Ron Howard
as Self (archive footage)
Directed by Kevin Macdonald
as Self - 37th President of the United States (archive footage)
Directed by Questlove
as Self (archive sound) (uncredited)
Directed by Jim Sharman
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
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Coup 53 (2019)
Performance score7.8
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Self - Politician (archive footage) gives Richard Nixon a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Self (archive footage)
Jim Henson Idea Man (2024)
Performance score7.7
Jim Henson Idea Man asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self (archive footage) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Self (archive footage)
One to One: John & Yoko (2025)
Performance score7.6
One to One: John & Yoko asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self (archive footage) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Self - 37th President of the United States (archive footage)
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
Performance score7.4
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self - 37th President of the United States (archive footage) 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 - Politician (archive footage)
Start here. Coup 53 is the clearest statement of what Richard Nixon does — accessible, 121 minutes, and rated 8.0 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.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
A deliberate change of key after Coup 53 — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
A deliberate change of key after The Rocky Horror Picture Show — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Jim Henson Idea Man (2024)
Keeps the documentary register of Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) but asks for a colder reading of it.
One to One: John & Yoko (2025)
Keeps the documentary register of Jim Henson Idea Man but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Jim Sharman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Roland Joffé
Director
1 film together
Notably The Killing Fields
Oliver Stone
Director
1 film together
Notably The Doors
Terry Gilliam
Director
1 film together
Notably Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Errol Morris
Director
1 film together
Notably The Fog of War
Kirby Dick
Director
1 film together
Notably This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Michael Moore
Director
1 film together
Notably Sicko
James Marsh
Director
1 film together
Notably Man on Wire
Clint Eastwood
Director
1 film together
Notably J. Edgar
Peter Landesman
Director
1 film together
Notably Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House
Drew Goddard
Director
1 film together
Notably Bad Times at the El Royale
Alex Gibney
Director
1 film together
Notably The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
Avi Belkin
Director
1 film together
Notably Mike Wallace Is Here
Spike Lee
Director
1 film together
Notably Da 5 Bloods
Questlove
Director
1 film together
Notably Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Nelson George
Director
1 film together
Notably Say Hey, Willie Mays!
Ron Howard
Director
1 film together
Notably Jim Henson Idea Man
Morgan Neville
Director
1 film together
Notably Breakdown: 1975
Kevin Macdonald
Director
1 film together
Notably One to One: John & Yoko
Laura Poitras
Director
1 film together
Notably Cover-Up
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Ron Howard
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jim Henson Idea ManQuestlove
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)Jim Sharman
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Rocky Horror Picture ShowKevin Macdonald
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
One to One: John & YokoErrol Morris
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Fog of WarTerry Gilliam
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fear and Loathing in Las VegasRoland Joffé
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Killing FieldsLaura Poitras
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cover-UpJames Marsh
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Man on WireMichael Moore
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SickoAlex Gibney
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 Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon ValleyOliver Stone
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 DoorsMorgan Neville
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Breakdown: 1975Drew Goddard
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Bad Times at the El RoyaleKirby Dick
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
This Film Is Not Yet RatedAvi Belkin
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mike Wallace Is HereSpike Lee
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Da 5 BloodsPeter Landesman
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White HouseClint Eastwood
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
J. EdgarNelson George
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Say Hey, Willie Mays!Six 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
Coup 53
as Self - Politician (archive footage)
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
as Self - 37th President of the United States (archive footage)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Coup 53
as Self - Politician (archive footage)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
as Self (archive footage)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Coup 53
as Self - Politician (archive footage)
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 Nixon 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
51 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.
Documentary Legend
Awarded
21 catalogue titles in documentary, 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
Coup 53
as Self - Politician (archive footage)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Bad Times at the El Royale
as Self (archive footage)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
as Self - 37th President of the United States (archive footage)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Bad Times at the El Royale
as Self (archive footage)
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Coup 53
as Self - Politician (archive footage)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
as Self (archive footage)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
as Self (archive footage)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Breakdown: 1975
as Self - 37th President of the United States (archive footage)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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Have your say
Community
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Reference
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