Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#424
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Liev Schreiber represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 33 years in, and Liev is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Liev Schreiber appears in 47 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Liev. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the clearest case: a film rated 8.7 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 action, science fiction, adventure. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Bob Persichetti, Darren Aronofsky, Wes Anderson and others, Liev Schreiber 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: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) as Wilson Fisk (voice) · Undisputed (2024) as Self · Isle of Dogs (2018) as Spots (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #424 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
47
1994–2027
Career length
33 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.7
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Average Nutevio score
6.4
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.4
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Most frequent director
Wes Anderson
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With Wes Anderson
Most common genre
Drama
22 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
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
6.6 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Jakob the Liar, The Hurricane, Sphere — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
6.6
Across 9 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
6.6
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. Jakob the Liar, The Hurricane, Sphere.
Most productive era
2010s
18 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 | 6.64 films | 6.66 films | 7.15 films | 6.67 films |
| Action | 6.71 film | 6.42 films | 6.84 films | 0.01 film |
| Thriller | 6.43 films | 6.52 films | 6.53 films | 6.81 film |
| Comedy | 6.33 films | 5.83 films | 6.16 films | 6.84 films |
| Crime | 6.82 films | — | 6.31 film | 6.43 films |
| Romance | 6.22 films | 6.83 films | 6.51 film | — |
| Horror | 7.22 films | 6.01 film | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1994Mixed Nuts
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Chris.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2018Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
8.7 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
2027Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
The current state of the argument, as Wilson Fisk (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.
47 of 47 films
as Wilson Fisk (voice)
Directed by Peter Ramsey
as Marty Baron
Directed by Tom McCarthy
as Spots (voice)
Directed by Wes Anderson
as Charlie Townsend
Directed by John Curran
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
Wilson Fisk (voice)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Performance score8.4
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Wilson Fisk (voice) gives Liev Schreiber a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Self
Undisputed (2024)
Performance score7.8
Undisputed 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 movie#3
Marty Baron
Spotlight (2015)
Performance score7.8
Spotlight asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Marty Baron is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Spots (voice)
Isle of Dogs (2018)
Performance score7.6
Isle of Dogs asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Spots (voice) 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 Wilson Fisk (voice)
Start here. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the clearest statement of what Liev Schreiber does — accessible, 117 minutes, and rated 8.7 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Liev 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 Painted Veil (2006)
A deliberate change of key after Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Spotlight (2015)
Keeps the drama register of The Painted Veil but asks for a colder reading of it.
Isle of Dogs (2018)
A deliberate change of key after Spotlight — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Undisputed (2024)
A deliberate change of key after Isle of Dogs — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Wes Craven
Director
3 films together
Notably Scream
Wes Anderson
Director
3 films together
Notably Isle of Dogs
Edward Zwick
Director
2 films together
Notably Defiance
Nora Ephron
Director
1 film together
Notably Mixed Nuts
Stanley Tucci
Director
1 film together
Notably Big Night
Ron Howard
Director
1 film together
Notably Ransom
Robert Benton
Director
1 film together
Notably Twilight
Barry Levinson
Director
1 film together
Notably Sphere
Norman Jewison
Director
1 film together
Notably The Hurricane
Peter Kassovitz
Director
1 film together
Notably Jakob the Liar
James Mangold
Director
1 film together
Notably Kate & Leopold
Phil Alden Robinson
Director
1 film together
Notably The Sum of All Fears
Jonathan Demme
Director
1 film together
Notably The Manchurian Candidate
John Curran
Director
1 film together
Notably The Painted Veil
Mike Newell
Director
1 film together
Notably Love in the Time of Cholera
David Wain
Director
1 film together
Notably The Ten
Ang Lee
Director
1 film together
Notably Taking Woodstock
Gavin Hood
Director
1 film together
Notably X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Phillip Noyce
Director
1 film together
Notably Salt
Miguel Sapochnik
Director
1 film together
Notably Repo Men
John Turturro
Director
1 film together
Notably Fading Gigolo
Lee Daniels
Director
1 film together
Notably The Butler
Greg Mottola
Director
1 film together
Notably Clear History
Brett Ratner
Director
1 film together
Notably Movie 43
Ryan Coogler
Director
1 film together
Notably Creed
Tom McCarthy
Director
1 film together
Notably Spotlight
J Blakeson
Director
1 film together
Notably The 5th Wave
Jay Baruchel
Director
1 film together
Notably Goon: Last of the Enforcers
Jayson Thiessen
Director
1 film together
Notably My Little Pony: The Movie
Peter Ramsey
Director
1 film together
Notably Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Woody Allen
Director
1 film together
Notably A Rainy Day in New York
Adam McKay
Director
1 film together
Notably Don't Look Up
David Hollander
Director
1 film together
Notably Ray Donovan: The Movie
Darren Aronofsky
Director
1 film together
Notably Caught Stealing
Bob Persichetti
Director
1 film together
Notably Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Wes Anderson
Director
3 films together · 7.1 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Isle of DogsWes Craven
Director
3 films together · 6.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
ScreamEdward Zwick
Director
2 films together · 6.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
DefiancePeter Ramsey
Director
1 film together · 8.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-VerseTom McCarthy
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SpotlightRyan Coogler
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CreedNorman Jewison
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 HurricaneJayson Thiessen
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
My Little Pony: The MovieLee Daniels
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 ButlerJohn Curran
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 Painted VeilAdam McKay
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Don't Look UpStanley Tucci
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Big NightDarren Aronofsky
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Caught StealingDavid Hollander
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ray Donovan: The MovieMike Newell
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Love in the Time of CholeraRon Howard
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RansomPeter Kassovitz
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jakob the LiarWoody 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
A Rainy Day in New YorkJonathan 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 CandidatePhillip Noyce
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SaltGavin Hood
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
X-Men Origins: WolverinePhil Alden Robinson
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Sum of All FearsJames Mangold
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Kate & LeopoldMiguel Sapochnik
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Repo MenBarry Levinson
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SphereAng Lee
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Taking WoodstockGreg Mottola
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Clear HistoryRobert Benton
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TwilightJ Blakeson
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The 5th WaveJohn Turturro
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fading GigoloJay Baruchel
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Goon: Last of the EnforcersNora Ephron
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mixed NutsDavid Wain
Director
1 film together · 4.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The TenBrett Ratner
Director
1 film together · 4.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Movie 43Bob Persichetti
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-VerseSix 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: Into the Spider-Verse
as Wilson Fisk (voice)
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Spotlight
as Marty Baron
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: Into the Spider-Verse
as Wilson Fisk (voice)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Creed
as HBO 24/7 Narrator (voice)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
as Wilson Fisk (voice)
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. Liev Schreiber 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
33 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
22 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: Into the Spider-Verse
as Wilson Fisk (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
as Wilson Fisk (voice)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
My Little Pony: The Movie
as The Storm King (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Scream
as Cotton Weary
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
as Wilson Fisk (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
as Wilson Fisk (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Jakob the Liar
as Mischa
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
as Wilson Fisk (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
Edward Norton
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Harvey Keitel
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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