Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#86
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Benny Safdie works on versatility rather than volume, and the catalogue keeps proving that the quieter choice was the correct one.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Benny Safdie appears in 12 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Benny. Oppenheimer is the clearest case: a film rated 9.1 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, fantasy, adventure. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Aaron Horvath, Christopher Nolan, Kyle Newacheck and others, Benny Safdie 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.
Oppenheimer (2023) as Edward Teller · The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) as Bowser Junior (voice) · Oppenheimer (2023) as Edward Teller
Career snapshot
Ranked #86 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
12
2017–2026
Career length
9 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.1
Oppenheimer
Average Nutevio score
7.4
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.3
Oppenheimer
Most frequent director
Christopher Nolan
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With Christopher Nolan
Most common genre
Drama
7 titles
Average runtime
1h 57m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
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.
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
2020s
7.4 average MV
The 2020s are where the work and the material meet. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, The Odyssey: The Making of an Epic, The Odyssey — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2020s
7.4
Across 11 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
2020s
7 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, The Odyssey: The Making of an Epic, The Odyssey.
Most productive era
2020s
11 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 | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.21 film | 7.46 films |
| Action | — | 8.01 film |
| Thriller | 7.21 film | 9.11 film |
| Comedy | — | 7.24 films |
| Crime | 7.21 film | 5.81 film |
| Romance | — | 6.32 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
2017Good Time
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Nick Nikas.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2023Oppenheimer
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 9.1 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
2026The Odyssey
The current state of the argument, as Agamemnon.
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.
12 of 12 films
as Edward Teller
Directed by Christopher Nolan
as Bowser Junior (voice)
Directed by Aaron Horvath
as Edward Teller
Directed by Christopher Nolan
as Agamemnon
Directed by Christopher Nolan
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 22 of 22 titles · 35 total credits · active 2015–2026
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
2026 · Bowser Junior (voice)
The Odyssey: The Making of an Epic
2026 · Self (archive footage)
The Odyssey
2026 · Agamemnon
Public Access
2026 · Executive Producer
Happy Gilmore 2
2025 · Frank Manatee
The Smashing Machine
2025 · Director · Screenplay · Editor
Mr. Scorsese
2025 · TV · Self
Pee-wee as Himself
2025 · TV · Executive Producer
Ren Faire
2024 · TV · Executive Producer
Oppenheimer
2023 · Edward Teller
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
2023 · Herbert Simon
The Curse
2023 · TV · Dougie Schecter · Creator · Writer · Executive Producer
Telemarketers
2023 · TV · Executive Producer
Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God
2023 · TV · Executive Producer
Stars at Noon
2022 · CIA Man
Funny Pages
2022 · Producer
Licorice Pizza
2021 · Joel Wachs
Question & Answer
2020 · Self · Director · Writer · Editor
Pieces of a Woman
2020 · Chris
Uncut Gems
2019 · Director · Writer · Editor
Good Time
2017 · Nick Nikas · Director · Editor
Heaven Knows What
2015 · Director · Editor
The defining work
#1
Edward Teller
Oppenheimer (2023)
Performance score8.7
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Edward Teller gives Benny Safdie a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Self
Question & Answer (2020)
Performance score8.5
Question & Answer 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
Bowser Junior (voice)
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)
Performance score8.0
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Bowser Junior (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Edward Teller
Oppenheimer (2023)
Performance score7.9
Oppenheimer asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Edward Teller 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 Edward Teller
Start here. Oppenheimer is the clearest statement of what Benny Safdie does — accessible, 180 minutes, and rated 9.1 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Benny 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.
Question & Answer (2020)
A deliberate change of key after Oppenheimer — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Oppenheimer (2023)
A deliberate change of key after Question & Answer — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)
A deliberate change of key after Oppenheimer — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Odyssey (2026)
Keeps the fantasy register of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Christopher Nolan
Director
3 films together
Notably Oppenheimer
Benny Safdie
Director
2 films together
Notably Question & Answer
Kornél Mundruczó
Director
1 film together
Notably Pieces of a Woman
Paul Thomas Anderson
Director
1 film together
Notably Licorice Pizza
Kyle Newacheck
Director
1 film together
Notably Happy Gilmore 2
Aaron Horvath
Director
1 film together
Notably The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Casey Affleck
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Matt Damon
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Cillian Murphy
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
David Dastmalchian
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Florence Pugh
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Robert Downey Jr.
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Emily Blunt
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Josh Hartnett
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Rami Malek
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Kenneth Branagh
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Jason Clarke
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Dylan Arnold
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Christopher Nolan
Director
3 films together · 8.4 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
OppenheimerBenny Safdie
Director
2 films together · 7.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Question & AnswerAaron Horvath
Director
1 film together · 8.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Super Mario Galaxy MovieKornél Mundruczó
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Pieces of a WomanPaul Thomas Anderson
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Licorice PizzaKyle Newacheck
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Happy Gilmore 2Six degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Performer
Benny Safdie
Where this journey starts
Director
Christopher Nolan
3 collaborations, averaging 8.4
Film
Oppenheimer
Their highest-rated film together (2023)
Performer
Matt Damon
Shares the frame in Oppenheimer
Film
Interstellar
Where Matt goes next, and where you can too
Performer
Michael Caine
Three steps from where you began
Recognition
1 win
1 win · latest 2024
Oppenheimer
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Oppenheimer
as Edward Teller
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Oppenheimer
as Edward Teller
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Oppenheimer
as Edward Teller
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Odyssey
as Agamemnon
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Oppenheimer
as Edward Teller
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. Benny Safdie has known it for a long time.”
“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
“They won't fear it until they understand it. And they won't understand it until they've used it.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
| Nutevio Performer Score | 8.2 | 9.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Career ranking | #249 of 681 | #1 of 681 |
| Awards on file | Unknown | 3 recorded |
| Oscar wins | Unknown | 1 |
| Oscar nominations | Unknown | 5 |
| Average Nutevio score | 9.1 | 9.1 |
| Genres | Drama, History, Thriller | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, History |
| Directors | Christopher Nolan | Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese |
| Performance DNA | Emotional range, Drama, Quiet performance | Transformation, Drama, Screen presence |
| Career timeline | 2023–2023 | 2006–2026 |
| Most iconic role | Edward Teller — Oppenheimer | Odysseus — The Odyssey |
| Most rewatchable film | Oppenheimer | Interstellar |
| Filmography | 1 catalogue film | 4 catalogue films |
Films together
Oppenheimer
Shared directors
Christopher Nolan
Shared collections
Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked, Thriller Movies, Drama Movies
Collaborators in common
Christopher Nolan · Casey Affleck · Cillian Murphy · David Dastmalchian · Florence Pugh · Robert Downey Jr. · Emily Blunt · Josh Hartnett
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.
Editor's Icon
Awarded
Named by our desk for a body of work we return to when we need to explain what screen acting is for.
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
7 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
Oppenheimer
as Edward Teller
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Oppenheimer
as Edward Teller
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Oppenheimer
as Edward Teller
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Good Time
as Nick Nikas
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The Odyssey
as Agamemnon
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
The Odyssey
as Agamemnon
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
as Bowser Junior (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Oppenheimer
as Edward Teller
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 3 Nutevio collections
Keep reading
From the magazine
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Works with the same directors — Christopher Nolan
Michael Caine
Works with the same directors — Christopher Nolan
Elliot Page
Works with the same directors — Christopher Nolan
David Krumholtz
Works with the same directors — Christopher Nolan
Cillian Murphy
Works with the same directors — Christopher Nolan
Morgan Freeman
Works with the same directors — Christopher Nolan
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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