Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#35
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Robert De Niro represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 53 years in, and Robert is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Robert De Niro appears in 102 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Robert. Immersion as a discipline, and the definitive screen record of American masculinity turning on itself. Goodfellas is the clearest case: a film rated 9.3 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 crime, thriller, romance. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with James Ashcroft, John Hamburg, Barry Levinson and others, Robert De Niro helped set a standard other performers now audition against. 2 Academy Awards confirm what the films already argue.
Goodfellas (1990) as James Conway · Heat (1995) as Neil McCauley · The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980 (1992) as Vito Corleone
Career snapshot
Ranked #35 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
102
1973–2026
Career length
63 yrs
Active since 1963
Academy Awards
2
Competitive wins
Oscar nominations
8
Career total
Highest Nutevio score
9.3
Goodfellas
Average Nutevio score
6.4
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.9
The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980
Most frequent director
Martin Scorsese
10 films together
Longest collaboration
10×
With Martin Scorsese
Most common genre
Drama
50 titles
Average runtime
1h 58m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
2
Career total
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.6
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
8.4
out of 10
Substantial influence: the work changed casting, not only credits.
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
7.5 average MV
The 1970s are where the work and the material meet. The Deer Hunter, New York, New York, 1900 — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1970s
7.5
Across 5 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1970s
7.6
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1990s
1 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Analyze This, Ronin, Great Expectations.
Most productive era
2010s
24 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 | 7.55 films | 7.55 films | 7.419 films | 6.27 films | 6.59 films | 5.35 films |
| Action | — | 7.21 film | 7.35 films | 6.14 films | 6.06 films | 5.42 films |
| Thriller | — | 7.42 films | 7.28 films | 6.05 films | 6.48 films | 2.74 films |
| Comedy | — | 7.14 films | 6.54 films | 6.06 films | 6.212 films | 5.26 films |
| Crime | 7.92 films | 7.34 films | 7.715 films | 6.05 films | 6.94 films | 3.95 films |
| Romance | 6.51 film | 6.71 film | 6.43 films | 6.83 films | 6.04 films | 0.01 film |
| Horror | — | 7.11 film | 6.51 film | 5.72 films | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
Career begins
1963Working from 1963
The start of the professional record — years before the catalogue picks the story up.
First film in Nutevio
1973Mean Streets
Where our catalogue meets this career, as John 'Johnny Boy' Civello.
First Academy Award nomination
1975The Godfather Part II
Best Supporting Actor — the moment the industry started writing the same sentences our editors had been writing.
First Academy Award
1975The Godfather Part II
Best Supporting Actor. Confirmation rather than revelation, which is how the best of these usually arrive.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
1990Goodfellas
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 9.3 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
2026Focker-in-Law
The current state of the argument, as Jack Byrnes.
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.
102 of 102 films
as James Conway
Directed by Martin Scorsese
as Neil McCauley
Directed by Michael Mann
as James Conway
Directed by Martin Scorsese
as Noodles
Directed by Sergio Leone
as Vito Corleone
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
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 113 titles · 127 total credits · active 1973–2026
The Whisper Man
2026 · Pete Willis
Focker-in-Law
2026 · Jack Byrnes · Producer
Tin Soldier
2025 · Emmanuel Ashburn
The Alto Knights
2025 · Vito Genovese / Frank Costello
Breakdown: 1975
2025 · Travis Bickle (archive footage)
Megadoc
2025 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
American Prince: JFK Jr.
2025 · TV · Self
Zero Day
2025 · TV · President George Mullen · Executive Producer
Mr. Scorsese
2025 · TV · Self
Ezra
2024 · Stan Bernal · Executive Producer
Killers of the Flower Moon
2023 · William Hale
Yellow Door: '90s Lo-fi Film Club
2023 · Jake LaMotta (archive footage) (uncredited)
About My Father
2023 · Salvo Maniscalco
Sly
2023 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Albert Brooks: Defending My Life
2023 · Self
100 Years of Warner Bros.
2023 · TV · Self
Faut Voir - L'Hebdo cinéma
2023 · TV · Self - Guest
Nothing
2023 · TV · Vincent
Sergio Leone: The Italian Who Invented America
2022 · Self
Amsterdam
2022 · General Gil Dillenbeck
Savage Salvation
2022 · Sheriff Church
The Past Goes Fast
2022 · Self
Morceaux de Cannes
2021 · Actor
Fuck Coin
2021 · Self
The defining work
#1
James Conway
Goodfellas (1990)
Performance score9.6
The performance the rest of the career is read through. James Conway gives Robert De Niro a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Neil McCauley
Heat (1995)
Performance score9.1
Heat asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Neil McCauley is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
James Conway
GoodFellas (1990)
Performance score9.1
GoodFellas asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. James Conway is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Noodles
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Performance score8.8
Once Upon a Time in America asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Noodles 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 James Conway
Start here. Goodfellas is the clearest statement of what Robert De Niro does — accessible, 145 minutes, and rated 9.3 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Robert 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 Godfather Part II (1974)
Keeps the crime register of Goodfellas but asks for a colder reading of it.
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Keeps the crime register of The Godfather Part II but asks for a colder reading of it.
GoodFellas (1990)
Keeps the crime register of Once Upon a Time in America but asks for a colder reading of it.
Heat (1995)
Keeps the crime register of GoodFellas but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Martin Scorsese
Director
10 films together
Notably Goodfellas
David O. Russell
Director
4 films together
Notably Silver Linings Playbook
Barry Levinson
Director
4 films together
Notably Sleepers
Francis Ford Coppola
Director
2 films together
Notably The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980
Michael Mann
Director
2 films together
Notably Heat
Michael Caton-Jones
Director
2 films together
Notably This Boy's Life
Harold Ramis
Director
2 films together
Notably Analyze This
Jay Roach
Director
2 films together
Notably Meet the Parents
Robert De Niro
Director
2 films together
Notably A Bronx Tale
Paul Weitz
Director
2 films together
Notably Being Flynn
Luc Besson
Director
2 films together
Notably The Family
Bernardo Bertolucci
Director
1 film together
Notably 1900
Michael Cimino
Director
1 film together
Notably The Deer Hunter
Sergio Leone
Director
1 film together
Notably Once Upon a Time in America
Terry Gilliam
Director
1 film together
Notably Brazil
Roland Joffé
Director
1 film together
Notably The Mission
Alan Parker
Director
1 film together
Notably Angel Heart
Brian De Palma
Director
1 film together
Notably The Untouchables
Martin Brest
Director
1 film together
Notably Midnight Run
Neil Jordan
Director
1 film together
Notably We're No Angels
Penny Marshall
Director
1 film together
Notably Awakenings
Ron Howard
Director
1 film together
Notably Backdraft
John McNaughton
Director
1 film together
Notably Mad Dog and Glory
Kenneth Branagh
Director
1 film together
Notably Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Tony Scott
Director
1 film together
Notably The Fan
Jerry Zaks
Director
1 film together
Notably Marvin's Room
James Mangold
Director
1 film together
Notably Cop Land
Quentin Tarantino
Director
1 film together
Notably Jackie Brown
Alfonso Cuarón
Director
1 film together
Notably Great Expectations
John Frankenheimer
Director
1 film together
Notably Ronin
George Tillman Jr.
Director
1 film together
Notably Men of Honor
Frank Oz
Director
1 film together
Notably The Score
John Herzfeld
Director
1 film together
Notably 15 Minutes
Nick Hamm
Director
1 film together
Notably Godsend
Michael Moore
Director
1 film together
Notably Fahrenheit 9/11
Bibo Bergeron
Director
1 film together
Notably Shark Tale
John Polson
Director
1 film together
Notably Hide and Seek
Matthew Vaughn
Director
1 film together
Notably Stardust
Jon Avnet
Director
1 film together
Notably Righteous Kill
Kirk Jones
Director
1 film together
Notably Everybody's Fine
John Curran
Director
1 film together
Notably Stone
Robert Rodriguez
Director
1 film together
Notably Machete
Garry Marshall
Director
1 film together
Notably New Year's Eve
Neil Burger
Director
1 film together
Notably Limitless
Rodrigo Cortés
Director
1 film together
Notably Red Lights
Mark Steven Johnson
Director
1 film together
Notably Killing Season
Jon Turteltaub
Director
1 film together
Notably Last Vegas
Peter Segal
Director
1 film together
Notably Grudge Match
Scott Mann
Director
1 film together
Notably Heist
Nancy Meyers
Director
1 film together
Notably The Intern
Dan Mazer
Director
1 film together
Notably Dirty Grandpa
Todd Phillips
Director
1 film together
Notably Joker
George Gallo
Director
1 film together
Notably The Comeback Trail
Billy Corben
Director
1 film together
Notably 537 Votes
Tim Hill
Director
1 film together
Notably The War with Grandpa
Conner O'Malley
Director
1 film together
Notably Fuck Coin
Rob Reiner
Director
1 film together
Notably Albert Brooks: Defending My Life
Thom Zimny
Director
1 film together
Notably Sly
Laura Terruso
Director
1 film together
Notably About My Father
Tony Goldwyn
Director
1 film together
Notably Ezra
Mike Figgis
Director
1 film together
Notably Megadoc
Morgan Neville
Director
1 film together
Notably Breakdown: 1975
John Hamburg
Director
1 film together
Notably Focker-in-Law
James Ashcroft
Director
1 film together
Notably The Whisper Man
Ray Liotta
Actor
1 film together
Notably Goodfellas
Joe Pesci
Actor
1 film together
Notably Goodfellas
Lorraine Bracco
Actor
1 film together
Notably Goodfellas
Paul Sorvino
Actor
1 film together
Notably Goodfellas
Frank Sivero
Actor
1 film together
Notably Goodfellas
Tony Darrow
Actor
1 film together
Notably Goodfellas
Mike Starr
Actor
1 film together
Notably Goodfellas
Frank Vincent
Actor
1 film together
Notably Goodfellas
Chuck Low
Actor
1 film together
Notably Goodfellas
Frank DiLeo
Actor
1 film together
Notably Goodfellas
Henny Youngman
Actor
1 film together
Notably Goodfellas
Gina Mastrogiacomo
Actor
1 film together
Notably Goodfellas
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Martin Scorsese
Director
10 films together · 7.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 10 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
GoodfellasDavid O. Russell
Director
4 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Silver Linings PlaybookBarry Levinson
Director
4 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
SleepersFrancis Ford Coppola
Director
2 films together · 8.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980Michael Mann
Director
2 films together · 8.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
HeatRobert De Niro
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
A Bronx TaleJay Roach
Director
2 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Meet the ParentsLuc Besson
Director
2 films together · 6.4 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The FamilyMichael Caton-Jones
Director
2 films together · 6.4 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
This Boy's LifeHarold Ramis
Director
2 films together · 6.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Analyze ThisPaul Weitz
Director
2 films together · 5.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Being FlynnTodd Phillips
Director
1 film together · 8.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
JokerSergio Leone
Director
1 film together · 8.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Once Upon a Time in AmericaMichael Cimino
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Deer HunterPenny Marshall
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AwakeningsBrian De Palma
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The UntouchablesTerry Gilliam
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BrazilGeorge Tillman Jr.
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Men of HonorQuentin Tarantino
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jackie BrownBernardo Bertolucci
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
1900Matthew Vaughn
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
StardustThom Zimny
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SlyRob Reiner
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Albert Brooks: Defending My LifeNancy Meyers
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 InternNeil Burger
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
LimitlessRoland 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 MissionBilly Corben
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
537 VotesAlan Parker
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Angel HeartMichael Moore
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fahrenheit 9/11John Frankenheimer
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RoninMartin Brest
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Midnight RunMorgan 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: 1975Tony Goldwyn
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
EzraKirk Jones
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Everybody's FineJames Mangold
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cop LandFrank Oz
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The ScoreJerry Zaks
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Marvin's RoomRon Howard
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BackdraftAlfonso Cuarón
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Great ExpectationsMike Figgis
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MegadocKenneth Branagh
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mary Shelley's FrankensteinTim Hill
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The War with GrandpaJon Turteltaub
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Last VegasJohn Polson
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hide and SeekRobert Rodriguez
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MacheteRodrigo Cortés
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Red LightsBibo Bergeron
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Shark TaleNeil Jordan
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
We're No AngelsScott Mann
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HeistPeter Segal
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Grudge MatchLaura Terruso
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
About My FatherTony Scott
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 FanJohn McNaughton
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mad Dog and GloryDan Mazer
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dirty GrandpaGarry Marshall
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
New Year's EveJon Avnet
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Righteous KillJohn Herzfeld
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
15 MinutesGeorge Gallo
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 Comeback TrailMark Steven Johnson
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Killing SeasonJohn Curran
Director
1 film together · 5.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
StoneNick Hamm
Director
1 film together · 4.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GodsendJames Ashcroft
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Whisper ManJohn Hamburg
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Focker-in-LawConner O'Malley
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fuck CoinSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Recognition
3 wins · 1 nomination
3 wins · 1 nomination · latest 1991
Goodfellas
Raging Bull · as Actor
The Godfather Part II · as Actor
Awakenings · as Actor
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Goodfellas
as James Conway
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Raging Bull
as Jake LaMotta
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Goodfellas
as James Conway
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
American Hustle
as Victor Tellegio (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Goodfellas
as James Conway
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. Robert De Niro has known it for a long time.”
“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”
“Funny how? Like I'm a clown? I amuse you?”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
| Nutevio Performer Score | 8.8 | 9.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Career ranking | #4 of 681 | #1 of 681 |
| Awards on file | 3 recorded | 3 recorded |
| Oscar wins | 2 | 1 |
| Oscar nominations | 8 | 5 |
| Average Nutevio score | 9.2 | 9.1 |
| Genres | Crime, Thriller, Action, Drama | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, History |
| Directors | Michael Mann, Martin Scorsese | Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese |
| Performance DNA | Screen presence, Quiet performance, Charisma | Transformation, Drama, Screen presence |
| Career timeline | 1990–1995 | 2006–2026 |
| Most iconic role | James Conway — Goodfellas | Odysseus — The Odyssey |
| Most rewatchable film | Goodfellas | Interstellar |
| Filmography | 2 catalogue films | 4 catalogue films |
Films together
Nothing in common in the library yet.
Shared directors
Martin Scorsese
Shared collections
Top 100 Crime Movies, Crime Movies, Thriller Movies, Top 250 Movies of All Time, Drama Movies
Collaborators in common
Martin Scorsese
Our editors cannot separate them on the catalogue as it stands. Robert De Niro and Matt Damon score within a rounding error of each other.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
53 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.
Most Influential Career
Awarded
Recognised for changing what casting directors thought a leading performance could look like.
Drama Legend
Awarded
50 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
Goodfellas
as James Conway
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Heat
as Neil McCauley
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Stardust
as Captain Shakespeare
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Limitless
as Carl Van Loon
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Heat
as Neil McCauley
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Killer Elite
as Hunter
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Mad Dog and Glory
as Wayne "Mad Dog" Dobie
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Heat
as Neil McCauley
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 8 Nutevio collections
Keep reading
genre
Top 100 Crime Movies
Includes Heat, Goodfellas
Read the collectiongenre
Crime Movies
Includes Heat, Goodfellas
Read the collectiontheme
Best Heist Movies
Features Heat at #1
Read the collectiongenre
Best Action Movies
Features Heat at #2
Read the collectionranking
Top 250 Movies of All Time
Features Goodfellas at #3
Read the collectiongenre
Action Movies
Features Heat
Read the collectionFrom the magazine
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Al Pacino
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
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
Harvey Keitel
Works with the same directors — Quentin Tarantino
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