Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#622
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Scoot McNairy 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.
Scoot McNairy appears in 33 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Scoot. Gone Girl is the clearest case: a film rated 8.1 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, horror, western. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Kevin Bacon, Rod Blackhurst, James Mangold and others, Scoot McNairy 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.
Gone Girl (2014) as Tommy O'Hara · 12 Years a Slave (2013) as Brown · Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019) as 'Lancer' - 'Business Bob' Gilbert
Career snapshot
Ranked #622 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
33
2004–2026
Career length
22 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.1
Gone Girl
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.9
12 Years a Slave
Most frequent director
Andrew Dominik
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Andrew Dominik
Most common genre
Drama
19 titles
Average runtime
1h 48m
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
6.4
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
2010s
6.6 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, The Parts You Lose, Destroyer — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
6.6
Across 16 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
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. Bobby, Art School Confidential, Herbie Fully Loaded.
Most productive era
2010s
16 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 | 6.32 films | 6.810 films | 6.37 films |
| Action | — | 6.35 films | 5.91 film |
| Thriller | — | 6.78 films | 6.74 films |
| Comedy | 6.03 films | 6.84 films | 4.23 films |
| Crime | — | 6.04 films | 5.91 film |
| Romance | 5.81 film | — | — |
| Horror | — | — | 5.14 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
2004Sleepover
Where our catalogue meets this career, as DJ at Club.
Career peak
201312 Years a Slave
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Highest rated performance
2014Gone Girl
8.1 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Most recent film
2026Family Movie
The current state of the argument.
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.
33 of 33 films
as Tommy O'Hara
Directed by David Fincher
as Brown
Directed by Steve McQueen
as Ben Dalton
Directed by James Watkins
as 'Lancer' - 'Business Bob' Gilbert
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
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
Tommy O'Hara
Gone Girl (2014)
Performance score7.8
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Tommy O'Hara gives Scoot McNairy a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Brown
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Performance score7.8
12 Years a Slave asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Brown is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Ben Dalton
Speak No Evil (2024)
Performance score7.5
Speak No Evil asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Ben Dalton is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
'Lancer' - 'Business Bob' Gilbert
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)
Performance score7.4
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. 'Lancer' - 'Business Bob' Gilbert 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 O'Hara
Start here. Gone Girl is the clearest statement of what Scoot McNairy does — accessible, 149 minutes, and rated 8.1 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Scoot 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.
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Keeps the drama register of Gone Girl but asks for a colder reading of it.
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)
Keeps the drama register of 12 Years a Slave but asks for a colder reading of it.
C'mon C'mon (2021)
Keeps the drama register of Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood but asks for a colder reading of it.
Speak No Evil (2024)
A deliberate change of key after C'mon C'mon — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Andrew Dominik
Director
2 films together
Notably Killing Them Softly
Joe Nussbaum
Director
1 film together
Notably Sleepover
Angela Robinson
Director
1 film together
Notably Herbie Fully Loaded
Terry Zwigoff
Director
1 film together
Notably Art School Confidential
Emilio Estevez
Director
1 film together
Notably Bobby
Gus Van Sant
Director
1 film together
Notably Promised Land
Ben Affleck
Director
1 film together
Notably Argo
Steve McQueen
Director
1 film together
Notably 12 Years a Slave
Jaume Collet-Serra
Director
1 film together
Notably Non-Stop
David Michôd
Director
1 film together
Notably The Rover
Lenny Abrahamson
Director
1 film together
Notably Frank
David Fincher
Director
1 film together
Notably Gone Girl
David Gordon Green
Director
1 film together
Notably Our Brand Is Crisis
Zack Snyder
Director
1 film together
Notably Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Elliott Lester
Director
1 film together
Notably Aftermath
Baran bo Odar
Director
1 film together
Notably Sleepless
Karyn Kusama
Director
1 film together
Notably Destroyer
Christopher Cantwell
Director
1 film together
Notably The Parts You Lose
Quentin Tarantino
Director
1 film together
Notably Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
John Krasinski
Director
1 film together
Notably A Quiet Place Part II
Mike Barker
Director
1 film together
Notably Luckiest Girl Alive
Josh Gordon
Director
1 film together
Notably Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile
Marielle Heller
Director
1 film together
Notably Nightbitch
James Watkins
Director
1 film together
Notably Speak No Evil
James Mangold
Director
1 film together
Notably A Complete Unknown
Rod Blackhurst
Director
1 film together
Notably Blood for Dust
Kevin Bacon
Director
1 film together
Notably Family Movie
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Andrew Dominik
Director
2 films together · 6.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Killing Them SoftlyDavid Fincher
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Gone GirlSteve McQueen
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
12 Years a SlaveQuentin Tarantino
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Once Upon a Time... in HollywoodJohn Krasinski
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Quiet Place Part IIBen Affleck
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ArgoJames Mangold
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Complete UnknownJames Watkins
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Speak No EvilJosh Gordon
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Lyle, Lyle, CrocodileLenny Abrahamson
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
FrankJaume Collet-Serra
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Non-StopChristopher Cantwell
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 Parts You LoseMike Barker
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Luckiest Girl AliveEmilio Estevez
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BobbyDavid Michôd
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The RoverGus Van Sant
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Promised LandTerry Zwigoff
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Art School ConfidentialJoe Nussbaum
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SleepoverZack Snyder
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Batman v Superman: Dawn of JusticeRod Blackhurst
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Blood for DustKaryn Kusama
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DestroyerBaran bo Odar
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SleeplessDavid Gordon Green
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Our Brand Is CrisisAngela Robinson
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Herbie Fully LoadedMarielle Heller
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
NightbitchElliott Lester
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AftermathKevin Bacon
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Family MovieSix 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
12 Years a Slave
as Brown
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
12 Years a Slave
as Brown
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Gone Girl
as Tommy O'Hara
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Gone Girl
as Tommy O'Hara
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Gone Girl
as Tommy O'Hara
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. Scoot McNairy 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
22 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
19 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
Gone Girl
as Tommy O'Hara
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Gone Girl
as Tommy O'Hara
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
A Complete Unknown
as Woody Guthrie
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Gone Girl
as Tommy O'Hara
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Gone Girl
as Tommy O'Hara
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
as Wallace Keefe
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Herbie Fully Loaded
as Augie
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Gone Girl
as Tommy O'Hara
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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Works with the same directors — David Fincher
Robert Downey Jr.
Works with the same directors — David Fincher
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Edward Norton
Works with the same directors — David Fincher
Zach Grenier
Works with the same directors — David Fincher
Have your say
Community
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Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
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Reference
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