Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#709
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Brooke Smith represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 28 years in, and Brooke is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Brooke Smith appears in 13 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Brooke. The Silence of the Lambs 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, science fiction, adventure. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Jay Roach, Marti Noxon, Christopher Nolan and others, Brooke Smith 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.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) as Catherine Martin · Interstellar (2014) as Nurse · The Silence of the Lambs (1991) as Catherine Martin
Career snapshot
Ranked #709 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
13
1991–2019
Career length
28 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.2
The Silence of the Lambs
Average Nutevio score
7.1
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.6
The Silence of the Lambs
Most frequent director
Jonathan Demme
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Jonathan Demme
Most common genre
Drama
11 titles
Average runtime
1h 55m
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
1990s
7.5 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Random Hearts, Trees Lounge, The Silence of the Lambs — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.5
Across 4 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
7.4
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. Random Hearts, Trees Lounge, The Silence of the Lambs.
Most productive era
2010s
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.03 films | 6.73 films | 7.35 films |
| Action | — | 5.51 film | — |
| Thriller | 7.83 films | 5.51 film | 6.82 films |
| Comedy | 6.91 film | 6.13 films | — |
| Crime | 8.82 films | 7.51 film | — |
| Romance | 5.61 film | 6.21 film | 7.11 film |
| Horror | 9.21 film | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio · First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Catherine Martin. 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
2019Bombshell
The current state of the argument, as Irena Brigante.
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.
13 of 13 films
as Catherine Martin
Directed by Jonathan Demme
as Nurse
Directed by Christopher Nolan
as Catherine Martin
Directed by Jonathan Demme
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 24 titles · 24 total credits · active 1991–2024
Grotesquerie
2024 · TV · Gale Hanover
Class of '09
2023 · TV · Drew
The Recruit
2022 · TV · Marcy Potter
Them
2021 · TV · Helen Koistra
Big Sky
2020 · TV · Merilee Legarski
Bombshell
2019 · Irena Brigante
The Act
2019 · TV · Myra Toppan
Unbelievable
2019 · TV · Dara Kaplan
The Crossing
2018 · TV · Diana
To the Bone
2017 · Olive
Interstellar
2014 · Nurse
Labor Day
2013 · Evelyn
Ray Donovan
2013 · TV · Frances Simpson
Bates Motel
2013 · TV · Jane Greene
Fair Game
2010 · Diana
To Each His Own Cinema
2007 · (segment "World cinema")
Grey's Anatomy
2005 · TV · Erica Hahn
Melinda and Melinda
2004 · Cassie
Bad Company
2002 · Officer Swanson
The Man Who Wasn't There
2001 · Sobbing Prisoner
Crossing Jordan
2001 · TV · Kate Switzer
Random Hearts
1999 · Sarah
Trees Lounge
1996 · Tina
The Silence of the Lambs
1991 · Catherine Martin
The defining work
#1
Catherine Martin
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Performance score9.0
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Catherine Martin gives Brooke Smith a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Nurse
Interstellar (2014)
Performance score8.4
Interstellar asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Nurse is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Catherine Martin
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Performance score8.4
The Silence of the Lambs asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Catherine Martin is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Sobbing Prisoner
The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
Performance score7.3
The Man Who Wasn't There asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Sobbing Prisoner 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 Catherine Martin
Start here. The Silence of the Lambs is the clearest statement of what Brooke Smith does — accessible, 118 minutes, and rated 9.2 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Brooke 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 Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Same director as The Silence of the Lambs, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
Keeps the crime register of The Silence of the Lambs but asks for a colder reading of it.
Interstellar (2014)
Keeps the drama register of The Man Who Wasn't There but asks for a colder reading of it.
To the Bone (2017)
Keeps the drama register of Interstellar but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Jonathan Demme
Director
2 films together
Notably The Silence of the Lambs
Steve Buscemi
Director
1 film together
Notably Trees Lounge
Sydney Pollack
Director
1 film together
Notably Random Hearts
Joel Coen
Director
1 film together
Notably The Man Who Wasn't There
Joel Schumacher
Director
1 film together
Notably Bad Company
Woody Allen
Director
1 film together
Notably Melinda and Melinda
Andrei Konchalovsky
Director
1 film together
Notably To Each His Own Cinema
Doug Liman
Director
1 film together
Notably Fair Game
Jason Reitman
Director
1 film together
Notably Labor Day
Christopher Nolan
Director
1 film together
Notably Interstellar
Marti Noxon
Director
1 film together
Notably To the Bone
Jay Roach
Director
1 film together
Notably Bombshell
Jodie Foster
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Silence of the Lambs
Anthony Hopkins
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Silence of the Lambs
Scott Glenn
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Silence of the Lambs
Ted Levine
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Silence of the Lambs
Anthony Heald
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Silence of the Lambs
Diane Baker
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Silence of the Lambs
Kasi Lemmons
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Silence of the Lambs
Frankie Faison
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Silence of the Lambs
Tracey Walter
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Silence of the Lambs
Charles Napier
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Silence of the Lambs
Danny Darst
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Silence of the Lambs
Alex Coleman
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Silence of the Lambs
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Jonathan Demme
Director
2 films together · 8.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Silence of the LambsChristopher Nolan
Director
1 film together · 8.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
InterstellarJoel Coen
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 Man Who Wasn't ThereMarti Noxon
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
To the BoneJason Reitman
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Labor DaySteve Buscemi
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Trees LoungeJay Roach
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BombshellDoug Liman
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fair GameAndrei Konchalovsky
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
To Each His Own CinemaWoody Allen
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Melinda and MelindaSydney Pollack
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Random HeartsJoel Schumacher
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Bad CompanySix 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
The Silence of the Lambs
as Catherine Martin
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Labor Day
as Evelyn
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
The Silence of the Lambs
as Catherine Martin
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
To Each His Own Cinema
as (segment "World cinema")
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
The Silence of the Lambs
as Catherine Martin
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. Brooke Smith has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
| Nutevio Performer Score | 8.2 | 8.9 |
|---|---|---|
| Career ranking | #235 of 681 | #2 of 681 |
| Awards on file | Unknown | 4 recorded |
| Oscar wins | Unknown | 2 |
| Oscar nominations | Unknown | 6 |
| Average Nutevio score | 9.2 | 9.3 |
| Genres | Thriller, Crime, Horror | Sci-Fi, Adventure, Drama, Thriller |
| Directors | Jonathan Demme | Christopher Nolan |
| Performance DNA | Intensity, Villain presence, Screen presence | Transformation, Screen presence, Rewatchability |
| Career timeline | 1991–1991 | 2006–2014 |
| Most iconic role | Catherine Martin — The Silence of the Lambs | Professor Brand — Interstellar |
| Most rewatchable film | The Silence of the Lambs | The Dark Knight |
| 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
Thriller Movies, Crime Movies
Michael Caine 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
28 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
11 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
The Silence of the Lambs
as Catherine Martin
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Silence of the Lambs
as Catherine Martin
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Labor Day
as Evelyn
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Silence of the Lambs
as Catherine Martin
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The Silence of the Lambs
as Catherine Martin
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Bad Company
as Officer Swanson
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Man Who Wasn't There
as Sobbing Prisoner
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
The Silence of the Lambs
as Catherine Martin
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 5 Nutevio collections
Keep reading
genre
Best Psychological Thrillers
Features The Silence of the Lambs at #1
Read the collectiongenre
Best Horror Movies
Features The Silence of the Lambs at #2
Read the collectiongenre
Horror Movies
Features The Silence of the Lambs at #2
Read the collectiongenre
Thriller Movies
Features The Silence of the Lambs at #3
Read the collectiongenre
Crime Movies
Features The Silence of the Lambs
Read the collectionFrom the magazine
If you like this performer
Michael Caine
Works with the same directors — Christopher Nolan
Matt Damon
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
Elliot Page
Works with the same directors — Christopher Nolan
Have your say
Community
Which Brooke Smith 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
