Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#685
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Amy Poehler represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 25 years in, and Amy is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Amy Poehler appears in 32 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Amy. Disney 100: Remember That is the clearest case: a film rated 10.0 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 comedy, adventure, family. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Chelsea Peretti, Paul Miller, Amy Poehler and others, Amy Poehler 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.
Disney 100: Remember That (2023) as Self · Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love (2023) as Self - Guest · Inside Out (2015) as Joy (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #685 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
32
1999–2024
Career length
25 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
10.0
Disney 100: Remember That
Average Nutevio score
6.4
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
10.0
Disney 100: Remember That
Most frequent director
David Wain
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With David Wain
Most common genre
Comedy
28 titles
Average runtime
1h 28m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.9
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
6.6
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
2020s
7.3 average MV
The 2020s are where the work and the material meet. Inside Out 2, First Time Female Director, Disney 100: Remember That — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2020s
7.3
Across 9 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2020s
7.3
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1990s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.
Most productive era
2000s
14 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 | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | — | 6.52 films | 8.11 film | 7.21 film |
| Thriller | — | 5.91 film | — | — |
| Comedy | 6.01 film | 6.113 films | 5.98 films | 7.16 films |
| Crime | — | — | 5.61 film | — |
| Romance | 6.01 film | 5.73 films | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1999Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Ruth.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 10.0 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
2024Inside Out 2
The current state of the argument, as Joy (voice).
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.
32 of 32 films
as Joy (voice)
Directed by Pete Docter
as Self
Directed by Unknown
as Joy (voice)
Directed by Unknown
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
Self
Disney 100: Remember That (2023)
Performance score9.5
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Self gives Amy Poehler a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Joy (voice)
Inside Out (2015)
Performance score8.6
Inside Out asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Joy (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Leslie Knope
The Paley Center Salutes Parks and Recreation (2020)
Performance score8.5
The Paley Center Salutes Parks and Recreation asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Leslie Knope is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Self
Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter (2022)
Performance score8.2
Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self 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 Self
Start here. Disney 100: Remember That is the clearest statement of what Amy Poehler does — accessible, 36 minutes, and rated 10.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Amy 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.
Inside Out (2015)
Keeps the family register of Disney 100: Remember That but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Paley Center Salutes Parks and Recreation (2020)
A deliberate change of key after Inside Out — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter (2022)
Same director as The Paley Center Salutes Parks and Recreation, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
Inside Out 2 (2024)
Same director as Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Barry Levinson
Director
2 films together
Notably Man of the Year
Mike Mitchell
Director
2 films together
Notably Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo
David Wain
Director
2 films together
Notably Wet Hot American Summer
Adam McKay
Director
1 film together
Notably Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie
Mark Waters
Director
1 film together
Notably Mean Girls
Jesse Peretz
Director
1 film together
Notably The Ex
Alec Baldwin
Director
1 film together
Notably Shortcut to Happiness
Josh Gordon
Director
1 film together
Notably Blades of Glory
Chris Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably Shrek the Third
Michael McCullers
Director
1 film together
Notably Baby Mama
Betty Thomas
Director
1 film together
Notably Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Rob Letterman
Director
1 film together
Notably Monsters vs Aliens
Matthew Weiner
Director
1 film together
Notably Are You Here
Sofia Coppola
Director
1 film together
Notably A Very Murray Christmas
Jason Moore
Director
1 film together
Notably Sisters
Pete Docter
Director
1 film together
Notably Inside Out
Morgan Sackett
Director
1 film together
Notably A Parks and Recreation Special
Amy Poehler
Director
1 film together
Notably Moxie
Paul Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
Chelsea Peretti
Director
1 film together
Notably First Time Female Director
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
David Wain
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
Wet Hot American SummerMike Mitchell
Director
2 films together · 5.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Deuce Bigalow: Male GigoloBarry Levinson
Director
2 films together · 5.4 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Man of the YearPaul Miller
Director
1 film together · 8.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + LovePete Docter
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Inside OutMorgan Sackett
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Parks and Recreation SpecialMark Waters
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mean GirlsAmy Poehler
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MoxieRob Letterman
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Monsters vs AliensChris Miller
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Shrek the ThirdJosh Gordon
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Blades of GloryJason Moore
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SistersMichael McCullers
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Baby MamaAdam McKay
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost MovieBetty Thomas
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The SqueakquelAlec Baldwin
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Shortcut to HappinessJesse Peretz
Director
1 film together · 5.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The ExSofia Coppola
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Very Murray ChristmasMatthew Weiner
Director
1 film together · 5.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Are You HereChelsea Peretti
Director
1 film together · 3.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
First Time Female DirectorSix 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
Disney 100: Remember That
as Self
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Disney 100: Remember That
as Self
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Disney 100: Remember That
as Self
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Disney 100: Remember That
as Self
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Disney 100: Remember That
as Self
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. Amy Poehler 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
25 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.
Comedy Legend
Awarded
28 catalogue titles in comedy, 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
Disney 100: Remember That
as Self
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Disney 100: Remember That
as Self
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Disney 100: Remember That
as Self
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Shrek the Third
as Snow White (voice)
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Disney 100: Remember That
as Self
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Inside Out
as Joy (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Inside Out
as Joy (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Monsters vs Aliens
as Computer (voice)
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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Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
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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
Built a career in the same territory: comedy and adventure
Jamie Harris
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
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Reference
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