Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#5842
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Roger Ashton-Griffiths represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 41 years in, and Roger is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Roger Ashton-Griffiths appears in 26 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Roger. Brazil is the clearest case: a film rated 7.6 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, mystery. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Peter Glanz, Kristin Scott Thomas, Brenda Chapman and others, Roger Ashton-Griffiths 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.
Brazil (1985) as Priest · Breathe (2017) as Hospital Chaplain · Gangs of New York (2002) as P.T. Barnum
Career snapshot
Ranked #5842 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
26
1985–2026
Career length
41 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.6
Brazil
Average Nutevio score
6.4
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.7
Brazil
Most frequent director
Terry Gilliam
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Terry Gilliam
Most common genre
Drama
18 titles
Average runtime
1h 56m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.0
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
1980s
7.2 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. Brazil, Young Sherlock Holmes — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
7.2
Across 2 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1980s
7.2
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1980s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Brazil, Young Sherlock Holmes.
Most productive era
2010s
8 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 | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | — | 6.63 films | 6.94 films | 6.66 films | 5.85 films |
| Action | — | — | 6.04 films | — | — |
| Thriller | 6.71 film | — | 5.91 film | — | 5.32 films |
| Comedy | 7.61 film | 6.81 film | 6.12 films | 6.84 films | 6.52 films |
| Crime | — | — | 7.41 film | — | — |
| Romance | — | 6.52 films | 6.62 films | 6.64 films | 5.31 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio · Highest rated performance · Career peak
1985Brazil
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Priest. 7.6 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
2026Savage House
The current state of the argument, as Dr. Hemmings.
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.
26 of 26 films
as Priest
Directed by Terry Gilliam
as Ralph Butterworth
Directed by Marc Forster
as Hospital Chaplain
Directed by Andy Serkis
as P.T. Barnum
Directed by Martin Scorsese
as Musician #1
Directed by Armando Iannucci
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
Priest
Brazil (1985)
Performance score7.4
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Priest gives Roger Ashton-Griffiths a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Ralph Butterworth
Christopher Robin (2018)
Performance score7.2
Christopher Robin asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Ralph Butterworth is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Hospital Chaplain
Breathe (2017)
Performance score7.2
Breathe asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Hospital Chaplain is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
P.T. Barnum
Gangs of New York (2002)
Performance score7.2
Gangs of New York asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. P.T. Barnum 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 Priest
Start here. Brazil is the clearest statement of what Roger Ashton-Griffiths does — accessible, 143 minutes, and rated 7.6 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Roger 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.
Gangs of New York (2002)
A deliberate change of key after Brazil — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Breathe (2017)
Keeps the drama register of Gangs of New York but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Death of Stalin (2017)
Keeps the drama register of Breathe but asks for a colder reading of it.
Christopher Robin (2018)
Keeps the comedy register of The Death of Stalin but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Terry Gilliam
Director
2 films together
Notably Brazil
Barry Levinson
Director
1 film together
Notably Young Sherlock Holmes
Richard Attenborough
Director
1 film together
Notably Shadowlands
Nicholas Hytner
Director
1 film together
Notably The Madness of King George
Jane Campion
Director
1 film together
Notably The Portrait of a Lady
Brian Helgeland
Director
1 film together
Notably A Knight's Tale
Peter Hewitt
Director
1 film together
Notably Princess of Thieves
Douglas McGrath
Director
1 film together
Notably Nicholas Nickleby
Martin Scorsese
Director
1 film together
Notably Gangs of New York
Dennie Gordon
Director
1 film together
Notably What a Girl Wants
Woody Allen
Director
1 film together
Notably You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Olivier Dahan
Director
1 film together
Notably Grace of Monaco
Colin Teague
Director
1 film together
Notably Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse
Andy Serkis
Director
1 film together
Notably Breathe
Armando Iannucci
Director
1 film together
Notably The Death of Stalin
Marc Forster
Director
1 film together
Notably Christopher Robin
Brenda Chapman
Director
1 film together
Notably Come Away
Kristin Scott Thomas
Director
1 film together
Notably My Mother's Wedding
Peter Glanz
Director
1 film together
Notably Savage House
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Terry Gilliam
Director
2 films together · 6.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
BrazilAndy Serkis
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BreatheMartin Scorsese
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Gangs of New YorkMarc Forster
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Christopher RobinArmando Iannucci
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 Death of StalinDouglas McGrath
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Nicholas NicklebyBrian Helgeland
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Knight's TaleRichard Attenborough
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ShadowlandsPeter Glanz
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Savage HouseNicholas Hytner
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Madness of King GeorgeBarry Levinson
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Young Sherlock HolmesKristin Scott Thomas
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
My Mother's WeddingDennie Gordon
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
What a Girl WantsPeter Hewitt
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Princess of ThievesOlivier Dahan
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Grace of MonacoJane Campion
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 Portrait of a LadyWoody Allen
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
You Will Meet a Tall Dark StrangerBrenda 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 AwayColin Teague
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's CurseSix 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
Brazil
as Priest
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Breathe
as Hospital Chaplain
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Brazil
as Priest
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Madness of King George
as MP
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Brazil
as Priest
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. Roger Ashton-Griffiths 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
41 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
Christopher Robin
as Ralph Butterworth
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Young Sherlock Holmes
as Det. Sgt. Lestrade
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
The Score
as Frank
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Show
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
A Knight's Tale
as Old Bishop
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
The Brothers Grimm
as Mayor
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Madness of King George
as MP
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Gangs of New York
as P.T. Barnum
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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Reference
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