Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#4966
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Simon McBurney 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.
Simon McBurney appears in 23 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Simon. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 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 mystery, drama, thriller. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Duke Johnson, Scott Cooper, Tomm Moore and others, Simon McBurney 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.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) as Kreacher (voice) · The Theory of Everything (2014) as Frank Hawking · Wolfwalkers (2020) as Lord Protector (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #4966 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
23
2004–2025
Career length
21 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.0
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Average Nutevio score
6.4
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.2
Wolfwalkers
Most frequent director
James Marsh
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With James Marsh
Most common genre
Drama
15 titles
Average runtime
1h 53m
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
7.0 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. The Mercy, Allied, The Conjuring 2 — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
7.0
Across 10 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
7.0
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. The Duchess, Body of Lies, The Golden Compass.
Most productive era
2010s
10 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 | 6.55 films | 6.87 films | 5.73 films |
| Action | 6.61 film | 6.83 films | — |
| Thriller | 6.52 films | 6.72 films | 6.43 films |
| Comedy | 5.11 film | 6.51 film | — |
| Crime | — | — | 6.81 film |
| Romance | 6.02 films | 7.14 films | — |
| Horror | — | 7.31 film | 6.13 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Dr. Atticus Noyle.
Highest rated performance
2010Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
8.0 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Career peak
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2025The Actor
The current state of the argument, as Doctor Croft / Doctor Edgarton.
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.
23 of 23 films
as Lord Protector (voice)
Directed by Tomm Moore
as Kreacher (voice)
Directed by David Yates
as Mr. Brocklehurst
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga
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
Frank Hawking
The Theory of Everything (2014)
Performance score7.9
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Frank Hawking gives Simon McBurney a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Lord Protector (voice)
Wolfwalkers (2020)
Performance score7.8
Wolfwalkers asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Lord Protector (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Kreacher (voice)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
Performance score7.8
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Kreacher (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
British Diplomat
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Performance score7.7
The Last King of Scotland asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. British Diplomat 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 Frank Hawking
Start here. The Theory of Everything is the clearest statement of what Simon McBurney does — accessible, 123 minutes, and rated 7.9 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Simon 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 Last King of Scotland (2006)
Keeps the drama register of The Theory of Everything but asks for a colder reading of it.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
A deliberate change of key after The Last King of Scotland — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Jane Eyre (2011)
A deliberate change of key after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Wolfwalkers (2020)
A deliberate change of key after Jane Eyre — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Ridley Scott
Director
2 films together
Notably Body of Lies
James Marsh
Director
2 films together
Notably The Theory of Everything
Jonathan Demme
Director
1 film together
Notably The Manchurian Candidate
Kevin Macdonald
Director
1 film together
Notably The Last King of Scotland
Nicole Holofcener
Director
1 film together
Notably Friends with Money
Chris Weitz
Director
1 film together
Notably The Golden Compass
Saul Dibb
Director
1 film together
Notably The Duchess
David Yates
Director
1 film together
Notably Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Tomas Alfredson
Director
1 film together
Notably Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Cary Joji Fukunaga
Director
1 film together
Notably Jane Eyre
Woody Allen
Director
1 film together
Notably Magic in the Moonlight
Christopher McQuarrie
Director
1 film together
Notably Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
James Wan
Director
1 film together
Notably The Conjuring 2
Robert Zemeckis
Director
1 film together
Notably Allied
Abel Ferrara
Director
1 film together
Notably Siberia
Tomm Moore
Director
1 film together
Notably Wolfwalkers
Scott Cooper
Director
1 film together
Notably The Pale Blue Eye
Duke Johnson
Director
1 film together
Notably The Actor
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
James Marsh
Director
2 films together · 6.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Theory of EverythingRidley Scott
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
Body of LiesDavid Yates
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1Tomm Moore
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
WolfwalkersKevin Macdonald
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Last King of ScotlandJames Wan
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 Conjuring 2Christopher McQuarrie
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mission: Impossible - Rogue NationCary Joji Fukunaga
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jane EyreSaul Dibb
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The DuchessScott Cooper
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 Pale Blue EyeRobert Zemeckis
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AlliedTomas Alfredson
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Tinker Tailor Soldier SpyWoody Allen
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Magic in the MoonlightJonathan Demme
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Manchurian CandidateDuke Johnson
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The ActorChris Weitz
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Golden CompassNicole Holofcener
Director
1 film together · 5.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Friends with MoneyAbel Ferrara
Director
1 film together · 4.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SiberiaSix 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
The Theory of Everything
as Frank Hawking
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
The Theory of Everything
as Frank Hawking
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
as Kreacher (voice)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Robin Hood
as Father Tancred
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
The Theory of Everything
as Frank Hawking
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. Simon McBurney 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
21 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
15 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
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
as Kreacher (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Conjuring 2
as Maurice Grosse
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Wolfwalkers
as Lord Protector (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Pale Blue Eye
as Captain Hitchcock
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
as Atlee
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
as Atlee
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Wolfwalkers
as Lord Protector (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
as Kreacher (voice)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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
Harry Dean Stanton
Works with the same directors — Ridley Scott
Ted Levine
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
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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