Alfred Molina

Performer

Alfred Molina

A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.

Born
24 May 1953
Age
73
Nationality
British
Active
1981–present
Performances
50
In Nutevio
1981–present
Known for
When We Get There
Performer Score
7.3
  • Hall of Fame
  • Horror Icon
  • Action Legend
  • Modern Classic
View filmography

Nutevio rank

#157

of 909177 performers

Top 1%

Alfred Molina represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 45 years in, and Alfred is still choosing the harder script.
Ranked #157 of 909177 performers in the Nutevio catalogue. Recalculated automatically as titles and credits are imported.

The essay

Reading Alfred Molina

Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.

Why this performer matters

Alfred Molina appears in 50 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Alfred. 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.

Signature style

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, drama, mystery. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.

Legacy

Working with Olivia Newman, Doug Liman, Carlos Saldanha and others, Alfred Molina 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.

Best known for

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) as Dr. Otto Octavius / Doc Ock · Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) as Satipo · Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026) as Marcellus (voice)

Career snapshot

The career at a glance

Ranked #157 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.

  • Films in Nutevio

    50

    1981–2026

  • Career length

    45 yrs

    Measured across our catalogue

  • Academy Awards

    Unknown

  • Oscar nominations

    Unknown

  • Highest Nutevio score

    8.3

    Spider-Man: No Way Home

  • Average Nutevio score

    6.8

    Across catalogue work

  • Highest IMDb rating

    10.0

    PAW Patrol. Mission Xmas

  • Most frequent director

    Jim Jarmusch

    2 films together

  • Longest collaboration

    With Jim Jarmusch

  • Most common genre

    Drama

    21 titles

  • Average runtime

    1h 45m

    Across catalogue work

  • Golden Globe wins

    Unknown

Nutevio metric

Performer Score

Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.

Nutevio Performer Score

7.3

out of 10

A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.

  • Performance quality7.0
  • Consistency6.9
  • Emotional range8.0
  • Character transformation8.1
  • Cultural impact6.4
  • Iconic roles6.4
  • Career longevity9.8
  • Influence6.4
  • Awards recognition7.1
  • Rewatch value6.4

Nutevio metric

Influence Score

Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.

Nutevio Influence Score

6.9

out of 10

A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.

  • Cultural impact6.1

    How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.

  • Legacy7.3

    What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.

  • Industry recognition6.6

    Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.

  • Career longevity9.8

    Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.

  • Awards6.4

    Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.

  • Iconic performances6.8

    Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.

  • Influence on filmmakers5.8

    Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.

  • Influence on other actors6.6

    The reading other performers now have to answer.

Actor DNA

How they work on screen

A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.

  • Versatility99
  • Transformation99
  • Quiet performance80
  • Screen presence67
  • Charisma67
  • Rewatchability65
  • Emotional range61
  • Drama57
  • Physical performance40
  • Comedy36
  • Action33
  • Intensity33
  • Villain presence27

The shape of a career

Career evolution

Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.

67891019811985199419951995199619971999200020022003200420042006200720072009200920092010201020112011201320132014201520162016201620172018201820182018201920192019202020202021202120212022202220222024202420262026
  • Nutevio
  • Performance score
  • IMDb

Peak years

Best era

Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.

Best decade

1980s

7.5 average MV

The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. Ladyhawke, Raiders of the Lost Ark — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.

Highest average Nutevio score

1980s

7.5

Across 2 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.

Highest average IMDb rating

1980s

7.5

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. Ladyhawke, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Most productive era

2010s

19 films

The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.

Range, mapped

Career heatmap

Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.

The career concentrates in comedy during the 2010s, and the scores hold there.
Genre1980s1990s2000s2010s2020s
Drama
6.85 films
6.76 films
6.57 films
7.23 films
Action
8.11 film
6.62 films
7.32 films
6.55 films
7.72 films
Thriller
6.91 film
6.35 films
7.31 film
Comedy
6.91 film
6.91 film
6.74 films
6.97 films
6.64 films
Crime
6.11 film
6.51 film
6.82 films
Romance
6.31 film
6.75 films
Horror
6.21 film
6.81 film

Chronology

Career timeline

Firsts and peaks

Career milestones

The turning points, in the order they happened.

  1. First film in Nutevio

    1981Raiders of the Lost Ark

    Where our catalogue meets this career, as Satipo.

  2. Highest rated performance · Career peak

    2021Spider-Man: No Way Home

    8.3 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.

  3. Most recent film

    2026Remarkably Bright Creatures

    The current state of the argument, as Marcellus (voice).

Our order

Performances ranked

Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.

1
Official poster for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Spider-Man: No Way Home

2021 · Action

2h 28m

7.9IMDb
2
Official poster for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Raiders of the Lost Ark

1981 · Action

1h 55m

7.9IMDb
3
Official poster for Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026)

Remarkably Bright Creatures

2026 · Mystery

1h 54m

8.5IMDb
4
Official poster for Magnolia (1999)

Magnolia

1999 · Drama

3h 9m

7.7IMDb
5
Official poster for Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Spider-Man 2

2004 · Action

2h 7m

7.3IMDb
6
Official poster for Frozen II (2019)

Frozen II

2019 · Comedy

1h 43m

7.2IMDb
7
Official poster for The Normal Heart (2014)

The Normal Heart

2014 · Drama

2h 13m

7.7IMDb
8
Official poster for Promising Young Woman (2020)

Promising Young Woman

2020 · Crime

1h 54m

7.4IMDb
9
Official poster for Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

Ralph Breaks the Internet

2018 · Action

1h 52m

7.2IMDb
10
Official poster for Monsters University (2013)

Monsters University

2013 · Comedy

1h 44m

7.1IMDb
11
Official poster for Frida (2002)

Frida

2002 · Romance

2h 3m

7.4IMDb
12
Official poster for Dead Man (1995)

Dead Man

1995 · Western

2h 2m

7.3IMDb
13
Official poster for DC League of Super-Pets (2022)

DC League of Super-Pets

2022 · Science Fiction

1h 45m

7.2IMDb
14
Official poster for Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (2021)

Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans

2021 · Action

1h 46m

7.5IMDb
15
Official poster for Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie (2018)

Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie

2018 · Comedy

1h 21m

7.7IMDb
16
Official poster for Rango (2011)

Rango

2011 · Western

1h 47m

6.9IMDb
17
Official poster for Wonder Woman (2009)

Wonder Woman

2009 · Action

1h 14m

7.2IMDb
18
Official poster for Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! (2007)

Chill Out, Scooby-Doo!

2007 · Mystery

1h 13m

7.4IMDb
19
Official poster for Chocolat (2000)

Chocolat

2000 · Romance

2h 1m

7.0IMDb
20
Official poster for Indiana Jones: The Search for the Lost Golden Age (2021)

Indiana Jones: The Search for the Lost Golden Age

2021 · TV Movie

0h 53m

7.9IMDb
21
Official poster for An Education (2009)

An Education

2009 · Romance

1h 40m

6.9IMDb
22
Official poster for The Da Vinci Code (2006)

The Da Vinci Code

2006 · Mystery

2h 29m

6.7IMDb
23
Official poster for Maverick (1994)

Maverick

1994 · Action

2h 7m

6.9IMDb
24
Official poster for Ladyhawke (1985)

Ladyhawke

1985 · Comedy

2h 1m

7.0IMDb
25
Official poster for Don't Let Go (2019)

Don't Let Go

2019 · Mystery

1h 47m

6.9IMDb
26
Official poster for Coffee and Cigarettes (2004)

Coffee and Cigarettes

2004 · Comedy

1h 37m

6.9IMDb
27
Official poster for Harold and the Purple Crayon (2024)

Harold and the Purple Crayon

2024 · Comedy

1h 30m

6.6IMDb
28
Official poster for Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home (2022)

Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home

2022 · Documentary

0h 30m

6.8IMDb
29
Official poster for Saint Judy (2018)

Saint Judy

2018 · Drama

1h 46m

6.9IMDb
30
Official poster for A Family Man (2016)

A Family Man

2016 · Drama

1h 48m

6.7IMDb
31
Official poster for PAW Patrol. Mission Xmas (2022)

PAW Patrol. Mission Xmas

2022 · Animation

0h 45m

10.0IMDb
32
Official poster for Secret in Their Eyes (2015)

Secret in Their Eyes

2015 · Mystery

1h 51m

6.4IMDb
33
Official poster for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

2010 · Action

1h 56m

6.3IMDb
34
Official poster for Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

2016 · War

1h 52m

6.3IMDb
35
Official poster for Little Men (2016)

Little Men

2016 · Drama

1h 25m

6.4IMDb
36
Official poster for The Instigators (2024)

The Instigators

2024 · Comedy

1h 42m

6.1IMDb
37
Official poster for Message from the King (2017)

Message from the King

2017 · Action

1h 42m

6.2IMDb
38
Official poster for The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

2010 · Action

1h 49m

6.2IMDb
39
Official poster for Anna Karenina (1997)

Anna Karenina

1997 · Romance

1h 48m

6.1IMDb
40
Official poster for When We Get There (2026)

When We Get There

2026 · Comedy

1h 46m

6.0IMDb
41
Official poster for The Water Man (2020)

The Water Man

2020 · Fantasy

1h 32m

6.1IMDb
42
Official poster for My Life Without Me (2003)

My Life Without Me

2003 · Romance

1h 46m

6.1IMDb
43
Official poster for Species (1995)

Species

1995 · Action

1h 48m

6.0IMDb
44
Official poster for The Front Runner (2018)

The Front Runner

2018 · Drama

1h 53m

5.9IMDb
45
Official poster for Justin and the Knights of Valour (2013)

Justin and the Knights of Valour

2013 · Adventure

1h 30m

5.9IMDb
46
Official poster for Before and After (1996)

Before and After

1996 · Mystery

1h 48m

5.9IMDb
47
Official poster for Abduction (2011)

Abduction

2011 · Action

1h 46m

5.8IMDb
48
Official poster for The Pink Panther 2 (2009)

The Pink Panther 2

2009 · Mystery

1h 32m

5.7IMDb
49
Official poster for Silk (2007)

Silk

2007 · Romance

1h 47m

5.8IMDb
50
Official poster for The Devil Has a Name (2019)

The Devil Has a Name

2019 · Comedy

1h 37m

5.3IMDb

Every title

Filmography

Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.

Genre
Decade
Sort

50 of 50 films

Official poster for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

as Dr. Otto Octavius / Doc Ock

Directed by Jon Watts

IMDb7.9Rotten Tomatoes83%Metacritic752h 28mAction · Science Fiction · Adventure
View movie
Official poster for Spider-Man 2 (2004)

as Doc Ock / Otto Octavius

Directed by Sam Raimi

IMDb7.3Rotten Tomatoes75%Metacritic682h 7mAction · Science Fiction · Adventure
View movie
Official poster for Frida (2002)

Frida

2002

as Diego Rivera

Directed by Julie Taymor

IMDb7.4Rotten Tomatoes73%Metacritic672h 3mRomance · Drama
View movie

From the library

Complete credits

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

Signature performances

Official poster for Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026)

#1

Marcellus (voice)

Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026)

Performance score8.0

The performance the rest of the career is read through. Marcellus (voice) gives Alfred Molina a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.

View movie
Official poster for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

#2

Dr. Otto Octavius / Doc Ock

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. Dr. Otto Octavius / Doc Ock is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.

View movie
Official poster for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

#3

Satipo

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Performance score7.8

Raiders of the Lost Ark asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Satipo is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.

View movie
Official poster for Spider-Man 2 (2004)

#4

Doc Ock / Otto Octavius

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Performance score7.6

Spider-Man 2 asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Doc Ock / Otto Octavius is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.

View movie

Start here

The movie journey

A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.

Official poster for Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026)

Best entry point

Remarkably Bright Creatures

as Marcellus (voice)

Start here. Remarkably Bright Creatures is the clearest statement of what Alfred Molina does — accessible, 114 minutes, and rated 8.0 by our editors. No context required.

Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Alfred 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.

  1. Official poster for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

    Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

    A deliberate change of key after Remarkably Bright Creatures — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.

  2. Official poster for Frida (2002)

    Frida (2002)

    A deliberate change of key after Raiders of the Lost Ark — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.

  3. Official poster for Spider-Man 2 (2004)

    Spider-Man 2 (2004)

    A deliberate change of key after Frida — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.

  4. Official poster for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

    Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

    Keeps the action register of Spider-Man 2 but asks for a colder reading of it.

Company kept

Frequent collaborators

The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.

Behind the camera

Director network

Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.

Six degrees

Connected through cinema

Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.

Categories of our own

Most rewatchable, most emotional, most influential

Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.

Most rewatchable

Official poster for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Spider-Man: No Way Home

as Dr. Otto Octavius / Doc Ock

The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.

Most emotional performance

Official poster for Frida (2002)

Frida

as Diego Rivera

Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.

Most influential performance

Official poster for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Raiders of the Lost Ark

as Satipo

You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.

Best ensemble performance

Official poster for Magnolia (1999)

Magnolia

as Solomon Solomon

Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.

Career defining performance

Official poster for Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026)

Remarkably Bright Creatures

as Marcellus (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

Lines that stay

You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Alfred Molina has known it for a long time.

Nutevio Editors · On Remarkably Bright Creatures

Head to head

Compare performers

Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.

Ours alone

Nutevio Honors

Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.

Career Achievement

Awarded

45 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

21 catalogue titles in drama, each one a reference point for the films that followed.

Our desk

Editor's picks

Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.

Best ending

Official poster for Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026)

Remarkably Bright Creatures

as Marcellus (voice)

The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.

Best opening

Official poster for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Spider-Man: No Way Home

as Dr. Otto Octavius / Doc Ock

A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.

Most emotional

Official poster for An Education (2009)

An Education

as Jack Mellor

The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.

Best twist

Official poster for Don't Let Go (2019)

Don't Let Go

as Howard Keleshian

A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.

Best visual achievement

Official poster for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Spider-Man: No Way Home

as Dr. Otto Octavius / Doc Ock

Images that would survive with the sound switched off.

Best action sequence

Official poster for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Spider-Man: No Way Home

as Dr. Otto Octavius / Doc Ock

Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.

Best dialogue

Official poster for Rango (2011)

Rango

as Roadkill (voice)

Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.

Most underrated film

Official poster for The Devil Has a Name (2019)

The Devil Has a Name

as Big Boss

The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.

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Reference

Quick facts

Born
24 May 1953
London, England, UK
Age
73
Nationality
British
Years active
1981–present
Known for
When We Get There
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Mystery
IMDb
nm0000547
Nutevio rank
#157
of 909177 performers tracked

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