Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#134
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Tobey Maguire represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 37 years in, and Tobey is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Tobey Maguire appears in 25 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Tobey. Spider-Man: No Way Home is the clearest case: a film rated 8.3 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 documentary, action, science fiction. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Jon Watts, Tom McGrath, Edward Zwick and others, Tobey Maguire 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.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) as Peter Parker / Spider-Man · Spider-Man (2002) as Spider-Man / Peter Parker · Spider-Man 2 (2004) as Spider-Man / Peter Parker
Career snapshot
Ranked #134 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
25
1989–2026
Career length
37 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.3
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Average Nutevio score
6.6
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.9
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Most frequent director
Sam Raimi
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With Sam Raimi
Most common genre
Drama
16 titles
Average runtime
1h 50m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.1
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
1990s
7.0 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Ride with the Devil, The Cider House Rules, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.0
Across 7 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
7.0
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. The Wizard.
Most productive era
2000s
9 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 | 6.11 film | 7.07 films | 6.84 films | 6.84 films | — |
| Action | — | — | 6.85 films | — | 8.31 film |
| Thriller | — | — | 6.52 films | 6.92 films | — |
| Comedy | 6.11 film | 7.33 films | 6.33 films | 6.32 films | — |
| Romance | — | 6.41 film | 5.81 film | 7.32 films | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1989The Wizard
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Lucas' Goon at Video Armageddon (uncredited).
Career peak
2002Spider-Man
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Highest rated performance
8.3 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Most recent film
2026Generations: The Evolution of Spider-Man
The current state of the argument, as Self - Spider-Man/Peter Parker (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.
25 of 25 films
as Spider-Man / Peter Parker
Directed by Sam Raimi
as Spider-Man / Peter Parker
Directed by Sam Raimi
as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Directed by Jon Watts
as Capt. Sam Cahill
Directed by Jim Sheridan
as David
Directed by Gary Ross
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
Spider-Man / Peter Parker
Spider-Man (2002)
Performance score8.2
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Spider-Man / Peter Parker gives Tobey Maguire a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Spider-Man / Peter Parker
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Performance score8.1
Spider-Man 2 asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Spider-Man / Peter Parker is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Performance score8.0
Spider-Man: No Way Home asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Peter Parker / Spider-Man is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Capt. Sam Cahill
Brothers (2009)
Performance score7.9
Brothers asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Capt. Sam Cahill 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 Spider-Man / Peter Parker
Start here. Spider-Man is the clearest statement of what Tobey Maguire does — accessible, 121 minutes, and rated 7.7 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Tobey 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.
Pleasantville (1998)
A deliberate change of key after Spider-Man — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
A deliberate change of key after Pleasantville — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Brothers (2009)
A deliberate change of key after Spider-Man 2 — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
A deliberate change of key after Brothers — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Sam Raimi
Director
3 films together
Notably Spider-Man
Ang Lee
Director
2 films together
Notably The Ice Storm
Gary Ross
Director
2 films together
Notably Pleasantville
Todd Holland
Director
1 film together
Notably The Wizard
Michael Caton-Jones
Director
1 film together
Notably This Boy's Life
Woody Allen
Director
1 film together
Notably Deconstructing Harry
Terry Gilliam
Director
1 film together
Notably Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Lasse Hallström
Director
1 film together
Notably The Cider House Rules
Curtis Hanson
Director
1 film together
Notably Wonder Boys
Ben Stiller
Director
1 film together
Notably Tropic Thunder
Jim Sheridan
Director
1 film together
Notably Brothers
Baz Luhrmann
Director
1 film together
Notably The Great Gatsby
Jason Reitman
Director
1 film together
Notably Labor Day
Edward Zwick
Director
1 film together
Notably Pawn Sacrifice
Tom McGrath
Director
1 film together
Notably The Boss Baby
Jon Watts
Director
1 film together
Notably Spider-Man: No Way Home
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Sam Raimi
Director
3 films together · 7.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Spider-ManGary Ross
Director
2 films together · 7.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
PleasantvilleAng Lee
Director
2 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Ice StormJon Watts
Director
1 film together · 8.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Spider-Man: No Way HomeBaz Luhrmann
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 Great GatsbyJim Sheridan
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BrothersWoody Allen
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Deconstructing HarryTerry 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 VegasJason Reitman
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Labor DayLasse Hallström
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Cider House RulesMichael Caton-Jones
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
This Boy's LifeCurtis Hanson
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Wonder BoysEdward Zwick
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Pawn SacrificeBen Stiller
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Tropic ThunderTom McGrath
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 Boss BabyTodd Holland
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 WizardSix 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
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
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 Great Gatsby
as Nick Carraway
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Wizard
as Lucas' Goon at Video Armageddon (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Spider-Man
as Spider-Man / Peter Parker
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. Tobey Maguire 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
37 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
16 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
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Labor Day
as Adult Henry
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Good German
as Tully
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Wizard
as Lucas' Goon at Video Armageddon (uncredited)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
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
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Jamie Harris
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Have your say
Community
Which Tobey Maguire performance holds up best?
Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
Join the conversation
Reference
Continue exploring
Trending performers
Directors they work with
Collections to read next
