Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#521
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Eric Stoltz represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 44 years in, and Eric is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Eric Stoltz appears in 18 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Eric. Pulp Fiction is the clearest case: a film rated 9.2 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 drama, documentary, music. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Gregory Jbara, Andrew McCarthy, Alex Ross Perry and others, Eric Stoltz 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.
Pulp Fiction (1994) as Lance · Pulp Fiction (1994) as Lance · Back to the Future (1985) as Marty McFly (uncredited)
Career snapshot
Ranked #521 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
18
1982–2026
Career length
44 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.2
Pulp Fiction
Average Nutevio score
6.5
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.9
Pulp Fiction
Most frequent director
Cameron Crowe
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Cameron Crowe
Most common genre
Drama
12 titles
Average runtime
1h 54m
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
7.3
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
7.3 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. Say Anything..., Back to the Future, Mask — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
7.3
Across 4 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1980s
7.3
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1990s
1 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Anaconda, Jerry Maguire, 2 Days in the Valley.
Most productive era
1990s
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 | 1980s | 1990s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.93 films | 7.17 films | 6.11 film | 0.01 film |
| Action | — | 6.54 films | 5.81 film | — |
| Thriller | — | 6.75 films | 5.81 film | — |
| Comedy | 7.43 films | 7.33 films | — | — |
| Crime | — | 7.64 films | 5.81 film | — |
| Romance | 6.82 films | 7.12 films | — | — |
| Horror | — | 6.02 films | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1982Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Stoner Bud.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
1994Pulp Fiction
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 9.2 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
2026Original Sound
The current state of the argument, as Jake Colburn.
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.
18 of 18 films
as Lance
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
as Lance
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
as Marty McFly (uncredited)
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
as John Brooke
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.
Showing 24 of 34 titles · 37 total credits · active 1982–2026
Original Sound
2026 · Jake Colburn
Countdown
2025 · TV · Director
BRATS
2024 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Her Smell
2019 · Howard Goodman
Lucky Day
2019 · Voice of Authority (voice)
Bull
2016 · TV · Director
Madam Secretary
2014 · TV · Will Adams · Director · Executive Producer
How to Get Away with Murder
2014 · TV · Director
Believe
2014 · TV · Director
Nashville
2012 · TV · Director
Caprica
2010 · TV · Daniel Greystone · Director
Glee
2009 · TV · Director
White Collar
2009 · TV · Director
Californication
2007 · TV · Director
Private Practice
2007 · TV · Director
The Triangle
2005 · TV · Howard Thomas
Grey's Anatomy
2005 · TV · Director
Boston Legal
2004 · TV · Director
Nip/Tuck
2003 · TV · Director
Anaconda
1997 · Dr. Steven Cale
Jerry Maguire
1996 · Ethan Valhere
2 Days in the Valley
1996 · Wes Taylor
Rob Roy
1995 · Alan MacDonald
The Prophecy
1995 · Simon
The defining work
#1
Lance
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Performance score8.8
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Lance gives Eric Stoltz a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Lance
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Performance score8.4
Pulp Fiction asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Lance is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Marty McFly (uncredited)
Back to the Future (1985)
Performance score8.3
Back to the Future asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Marty McFly (uncredited) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Rocky Dennis
Mask (1985)
Performance score7.4
Mask asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Rocky Dennis 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 Lance
Start here. Pulp Fiction is the clearest statement of what Eric Stoltz does — accessible, 154 minutes, and rated 9.2 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Eric 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.
Back to the Future (1985)
A deliberate change of key after Pulp Fiction — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Mask (1985)
A deliberate change of key after Back to the Future — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
A deliberate change of key after Mask — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Little Women (1994)
A deliberate change of key after Pulp Fiction — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Quentin Tarantino
Director
2 films together
Notably Pulp Fiction
Michael Caton-Jones
Director
2 films together
Notably Rob Roy
Cameron Crowe
Director
2 films together
Notably Jerry Maguire
Amy Heckerling
Director
1 film together
Notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Peter Bogdanovich
Director
1 film together
Notably Mask
Robert Zemeckis
Director
1 film together
Notably Back to the Future
Gregory Widen
Director
1 film together
Notably The Prophecy
John Herzfeld
Director
1 film together
Notably 2 Days in the Valley
Luis Llosa
Director
1 film together
Notably Anaconda
Alex Ross Perry
Director
1 film together
Notably Her Smell
Andrew McCarthy
Director
1 film together
Notably BRATS
Gregory Jbara
Director
1 film together
Notably Original Sound
Christopher Walken
Actor
1 film together
Notably Pulp Fiction
John Travolta
Actor
1 film together
Notably Pulp Fiction
Samuel L. Jackson
Actor
1 film together
Notably Pulp Fiction
Uma Thurman
Actor
1 film together
Notably Pulp Fiction
Bruce Willis
Actor
1 film together
Notably Pulp Fiction
Ving Rhames
Actor
1 film together
Notably Pulp Fiction
Harvey Keitel
Actor
1 film together
Notably Pulp Fiction
Tim Roth
Actor
1 film together
Notably Pulp Fiction
Amanda Plummer
Actor
1 film together
Notably Pulp Fiction
Maria de Medeiros
Actor
1 film together
Notably Pulp Fiction
Quentin Tarantino
Actor
1 film together
Notably Pulp Fiction
Rosanna Arquette
Actor
1 film together
Notably Pulp Fiction
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Quentin Tarantino
Director
2 films together · 8.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Pulp FictionCameron Crowe
Director
2 films together · 7.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Jerry MaguireMichael Caton-Jones
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
Rob RoyRobert Zemeckis
Director
1 film together · 8.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Back to the FuturePeter Bogdanovich
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MaskAmy Heckerling
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fast Times at Ridgemont HighGregory Widen
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 ProphecyJohn Herzfeld
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
2 Days in the ValleyAndrew McCarthy
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BRATSAlex Ross Perry
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Her SmellLuis Llosa
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AnacondaGregory Jbara
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Original SoundSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Recognition
1 win
1 win · latest 1995
Pulp Fiction
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Pulp Fiction
as Lance
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Little Women
as John Brooke
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Pulp Fiction
as Lance
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Back to the Future
as Marty McFly (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Pulp Fiction
as Lance
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. Eric Stoltz has known it for a long time.”
“They call it a Royale with cheese.”
“English, motherf—er, do you speak it?”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
| Nutevio Performer Score | 8.3 | 9.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Career ranking | #115 of 681 | #1 of 681 |
| Awards on file | Unknown | 3 recorded |
| Oscar wins | Unknown | 1 |
| Oscar nominations | Unknown | 5 |
| Average Nutevio score | 9.2 | 9.1 |
| Genres | Crime, Drama | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, History |
| Directors | Quentin Tarantino | Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese |
| Performance DNA | Quiet performance, Drama, Screen presence | Transformation, Drama, Screen presence |
| Career timeline | 1994–1994 | 2006–2026 |
| Most iconic role | Lance — Pulp Fiction | Odysseus — The Odyssey |
| Most rewatchable film | Pulp Fiction | Interstellar |
| Filmography | 1 catalogue film | 4 catalogue films |
Films together
Nothing in common in the library yet.
Shared directors
Nothing in common in the library yet.
Shared collections
Top 250 Movies of All Time, Crime Movies, Top 100 Crime Movies, Drama Movies
Matt Damon edges ahead here — a higher floor across a comparable body of work.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
44 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
12 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
Pulp Fiction
as Lance
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Pulp Fiction
as Lance
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Her Smell
as Howard Goodman
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Pulp Fiction
as Lance
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Pulp Fiction
as Lance
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
The Prophecy
as Simon
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
as Stoner Bud
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Lucky Day
as Voice of Authority (voice)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
Across the library
Every Nutevio collection this name turns up in, and how high they rank there.
Collection footprint
Appears in 4 Nutevio collections
Keep reading
From the magazine
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
Harvey Keitel
Works with the same directors — Quentin Tarantino
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Cillian Murphy
Built a career in the same territory: drama and history
Elliot Page
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
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