Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#158
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Ron Perlman represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 46 years in, and Ron is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Ron Perlman appears in 72 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Ron. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is the clearest case: a film rated 7.9 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, thriller, documentary. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Gabriel Beristain, Logic, Doug Liman and others, Ron Perlman 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.
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) as Podesta (voice) · Drive (2011) as Nino · Tangled (2010) as Stabbington Brother (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #158 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
72
1981–2027
Career length
46 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.9
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.5
Succubus
Most frequent director
Guillermo del Toro
6 films together
Longest collaboration
6×
With Guillermo del Toro
Most common genre
Action
28 titles
Average runtime
1h 43m
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
6.8
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
7.2 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. The Name of the Rose, Quest for Fire — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
7.2
Across 2 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
1980s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. The Name of the Rose, Quest for Fire.
Most productive era
2020s
24 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 | 7.22 films | 6.43 films | 6.81 film | 6.49 films | 6.95 films |
| Action | — | 6.41 film | 6.58 films | 6.310 films | 6.39 films |
| Thriller | 7.41 film | 6.42 films | 6.33 films | 6.46 films | 5.69 films |
| Comedy | — | 5.21 film | 6.93 films | — | 5.48 films |
| Crime | — | 5.82 films | — | 6.63 films | 6.37 films |
| Romance | — | 6.31 film | — | — | — |
| Horror | — | 6.24 films | 6.32 films | 6.41 film | 7.71 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1981Quest for Fire
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Amoukar.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2022Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
7.9 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
2027The Saviors
The current state of the argument, as Mr. Harrison.
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.
72 of 72 films
as Podesta (voice)
Directed by Mark Gustafson
as Stabbington Brother (voice)
Directed by Byron Howard
as One
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
as Nino
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
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
Podesta (voice)
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)
Performance score7.9
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Podesta (voice) gives Ron Perlman a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Stabbington Brother (voice)
Tangled (2010)
Performance score7.8
Tangled asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Stabbington Brother (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Dr. Orion Zephyr
Succubus (2024)
Performance score7.7
Succubus asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Dr. Orion Zephyr is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
One
The City of Lost Children (1995)
Performance score7.7
The City of Lost Children asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. One 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 Podesta (voice)
Start here. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is the clearest statement of what Ron Perlman does — accessible, 117 minutes, and rated 7.9 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Ron 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 City of Lost Children (1995)
Keeps the fantasy register of Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio but asks for a colder reading of it.
Tangled (2010)
Keeps the adventure register of The City of Lost Children but asks for a colder reading of it.
Drive (2011)
A deliberate change of key after Tangled — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Succubus (2024)
Keeps the thriller register of Drive but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Guillermo del Toro
Director
6 films together
Notably Pacific Rim
Jean-Jacques Annaud
Director
3 films together
Notably Enemy at the Gates
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Director
2 films together
Notably The City of Lost Children
Mick Garris
Director
1 film together
Notably Sleepwalkers
Peter Medak
Director
1 film together
Notably Romeo Is Bleeding
Stephen Sommers
Director
1 film together
Notably The Adventures of Huck Finn
Alan Metter
Director
1 film together
Notably Police Academy: Mission to Moscow
John Frankenheimer
Director
1 film together
Notably The Island of Dr. Moreau
Gary Goldman
Director
1 film together
Notably Titan A.E.
Stuart Baird
Director
1 film together
Notably Star Trek: Nemesis
Joe Dante
Director
1 film together
Notably Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Joe Sichta
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy?
Chuck Sheetz
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!
Uwe Boll
Director
1 film together
Notably In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Mark Waters
Director
1 film together
Notably The Spiderwick Chronicles
Byron Howard
Director
1 film together
Notably Tangled
Nicolas Winding Refn
Director
1 film together
Notably Drive
Roel Reiné
Director
1 film together
Notably The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption
Thor Freudenthal
Director
1 film together
Notably Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
Jay Oliva
Director
1 film together
Notably Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
Daniel Stamm
Director
1 film together
Notably 13 Sins
Jorge R. Gutierrez
Director
1 film together
Notably The Book of Life
Ekachai Uekrongtham
Director
1 film together
Notably Skin Trade
David Yates
Director
1 film together
Notably Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Michael Caton-Jones
Director
1 film together
Notably Asher
Jon Abrahams
Director
1 film together
Notably Clover
Paul W. S. Anderson
Director
1 film together
Notably Monster Hunter
Adam McKay
Director
1 film together
Notably Don't Look Up
Alfonso Pineda Ulloa
Director
1 film together
Notably There Are No Saints
Mark Gustafson
Director
1 film together
Notably Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Steven Caple Jr.
Director
1 film together
Notably Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Steven Brand
Director
1 film together
Notably Joe Baby
Doug Liman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Instigators
Logic
Director
1 film together
Notably Paradise Records
Gabriel Beristain
Director
1 film together
Notably The Gentleman
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Guillermo del Toro
Director
6 films together · 6.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 6 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Pacific RimJean-Jacques Annaud
Director
3 films together · 7.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Enemy at the GatesJean-Pierre Jeunet
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
The City of Lost ChildrenMark Gustafson
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Guillermo del Toro's PinocchioNicolas Winding Refn
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DriveByron Howard
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TangledJay Oliva
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Justice League: The Flashpoint ParadoxDavid Yates
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemJorge R. Gutierrez
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Book of LifeSteven Caple Jr.
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Transformers: Rise of the BeastsAdam McKay
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Don't Look UpChuck Sheetz
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!Joe Sichta
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy?Mark Waters
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 Spiderwick ChroniclesGary Goldman
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Titan A.E.Paul W. S. Anderson
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Monster HunterJoe Dante
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Looney Tunes: Back in ActionDaniel Stamm
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
13 SinsStuart Baird
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Star Trek: NemesisDoug Liman
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The InstigatorsStephen Sommers
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Adventures of Huck FinnPeter Medak
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Romeo Is BleedingMick Garris
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SleepwalkersGabriel Beristain
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The GentlemanEkachai Uekrongtham
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Skin TradeThor Freudenthal
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Percy Jackson: Sea of MonstersSteven Brand
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Joe BabyMichael Caton-Jones
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AsherLogic
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Paradise RecordsAlfonso Pineda Ulloa
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
There Are No SaintsJon Abrahams
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CloverJohn Frankenheimer
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Island of Dr. MoreauRoel Reiné
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Scorpion King 3: Battle for RedemptionUwe Boll
Director
1 film together · 5.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege TaleAlan Metter
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Police Academy: Mission to MoscowSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Recognition
1 win · 4 nominations
No wins yet · 2 nominations
as Actor
as Actor
1 win · latest 2018
as Actor
No wins yet · 1 nomination
as Actor
No wins yet · 1 nomination
as Actor
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
as Podesta (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
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
as Podesta (voice)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
as Podesta (voice)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
An Oral History of: The Name of the Rose
as Self
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
as Podesta (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. Ron Perlman 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
46 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.
Action Legend
Awarded
28 catalogue titles in action, 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
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
as Podesta (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Drive
as Nino
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
as Podesta (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy?
as Hotep / Ancient One #2 (voice)
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
as Deathstroke / Slade (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
as Optimus Primal (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
as Podesta (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
The Way Things Seem to Be
as Self
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
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Cillian Murphy
Built a career in the same territory: drama and history
Have your say
Community
Which Ron Perlman 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
