Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#682
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
C. Thomas Howell represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 44 years in, and C. is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
C. Thomas Howell appears in 20 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without C.. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is the clearest case: a film rated 8.9 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 action, crime, romance. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Adam Davidson, Jake Allyn, Sean McNamara and others, C. Thomas Howell 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.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) as Tyler · Where the Wind Blows (2025) as Nathan · E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) as Tyler
Career snapshot
Ranked #682 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
20
1982–2026
Career length
44 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.9
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Average Nutevio score
6.9
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.0
Where the Wind Blows
Most frequent director
Adam Davidson
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Adam Davidson
Most common genre
Action
9 titles
Average runtime
1h 50m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.2
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
7.1
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
7.4 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. The Hitcher, Red Dawn, The Outsiders — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
7.4
Across 5 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1980s
7.2
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 Hitcher, Red Dawn, The Outsiders.
Most productive era
2010s
7 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 | 6.82 films | 6.81 film | — | 5.32 films | 7.23 films |
| Action | 6.72 films | — | — | 6.65 films | 6.82 films |
| Thriller | 6.72 films | — | — | — | — |
| Comedy | — | — | — | — | 6.21 film |
| Sci-Fi | 8.91 film | — | — | — | — |
| Crime | 7.11 film | — | — | — | 6.93 films |
| Romance | — | — | — | — | 8.01 film |
| Horror | 7.01 film | — | — | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio · Highest rated performance · Career peak
1982E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Tyler. 8.9 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
The current state of the argument, as Stanley Dixon.
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.
20 of 20 films
as Tyler
Directed by Steven Spielberg
as Professor Zoom / Thawne (voice)
Directed by Jay Oliva
as John Hawkins
Directed by Jake Allyn
as Ponyboy Curtis
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
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 29 titles · 29 total credits · active 1982–2026
One Mile: Chapter Two
2026 · Stanley Dixon
One Mile: Chapter One
2026 · Stanley Dixon
Where the Wind Blows
2025 · Nathan
Ride
2024 · John Hawkins
Reagan
2024 · Caspar Weinberger
Old Dads
2023 · Ed Cameron
Obliterated
2023 · TV · Hagerty
1923
2022 · TV · Anders
Dauntless: The Battle of Midway
2019 · Captain Miles Browning
I Am Patrick Swayze
2019 · Self
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay
2018 · Zoom (voice)
The Terror
2018 · TV · Major Bowen
LBJ
2017 · Walter Jenkins
SEAL Team
2017 · TV · Ash Spenser
Marvel's The Punisher
2017 · TV · Carson Wolf
Justice League: Gods and Monsters
2015 · Dr. Will Magnus (voice)
Stitchers
2015 · TV · Daniel Stinger
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
2013 · Professor Zoom / Thawne (voice)
The Amazing Spider-Man
2012 · Jack's Father
Grimm
2011 · TV · Weston Steward
The Glades
2010 · TV · Peyton Robinson
Southland
2009 · TV · Officer Dewey Dudek
Criminal Minds
2005 · TV · The Reaper / George Foyet
Hidalgo
2004 · Preston Webb
The defining work
#1
Tyler
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Performance score8.5
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Tyler gives C. Thomas Howell a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Nathan
Where the Wind Blows (2025)
Performance score8.2
Where the Wind Blows asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Nathan is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Professor Zoom / Thawne (voice)
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)
Performance score7.9
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Professor Zoom / Thawne (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
John Hawkins
Ride (2024)
Performance score7.7
Ride asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. John Hawkins 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 Tyler
Start here. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is the clearest statement of what C. Thomas Howell does — accessible, 115 minutes, and rated 8.9 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet C. 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 Outsiders (1983)
A deliberate change of key after E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)
A deliberate change of key after The Outsiders — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Ride (2024)
A deliberate change of key after Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Where the Wind Blows (2025)
Keeps the drama register of Ride but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Steven Spielberg
Director
2 films together
Notably E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Sam Liu
Director
2 films together
Notably Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay
Adam Davidson
Director
2 films together
Notably One Mile: Chapter One
Francis Ford Coppola
Director
1 film together
Notably The Outsiders
John Milius
Director
1 film together
Notably Red Dawn
Robert Harmon
Director
1 film together
Notably The Hitcher
Ronald F. Maxwell
Director
1 film together
Notably Gettysburg
Joe Johnston
Director
1 film together
Notably Hidalgo
Marc Webb
Director
1 film together
Notably The Amazing Spider-Man
Jay Oliva
Director
1 film together
Notably Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
Rob Reiner
Director
1 film together
Notably LBJ
Bill Burr
Director
1 film together
Notably Old Dads
Sean McNamara
Director
1 film together
Notably Reagan
Jake Allyn
Director
1 film together
Notably Ride
Henry Thomas
Actor
1 film together
Notably E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Drew Barrymore
Actor
1 film together
Notably E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Robert MacNaughton
Actor
1 film together
Notably E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Peter Coyote
Actor
1 film together
Notably E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Dee Wallace
Actor
1 film together
Notably E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Erika Eleniak
Actor
1 film together
Notably E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
K.C. Martel
Actor
1 film together
Notably E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Sean Frye
Actor
1 film together
Notably E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
David M. O'Dell
Actor
1 film together
Notably E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Richard Swingler
Actor
1 film together
Notably E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Frank Toth
Actor
1 film together
Notably E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Robert Barton
Actor
1 film together
Notably E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Steven Spielberg
Director
2 films together · 8.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
E.T. the Extra-TerrestrialSam Liu
Director
2 films together · 7.1 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Suicide Squad: Hell to PayAdam Davidson
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
One Mile: Chapter OneJay 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 ParadoxJake Allyn
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RideFrancis Ford Coppola
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The OutsidersMarc Webb
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Amazing Spider-ManRobert Harmon
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The HitcherJoe Johnston
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HidalgoRonald F. Maxwell
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GettysburgSean McNamara
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ReaganRob Reiner
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
LBJJohn Milius
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Red DawnBill Burr
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Old DadsSix 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
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
as Tyler
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Where the Wind Blows
as Nathan
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
as Tyler
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
as Tyler
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
as Tyler
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. C. Thomas Howell 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 | 7.9 | 9.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Career ranking | #531 of 681 | #1 of 681 |
| Awards on file | Unknown | 3 recorded |
| Oscar wins | Unknown | 1 |
| Oscar nominations | Unknown | 5 |
| Average Nutevio score | 8.9 | 9.1 |
| Genres | Family, Sci-Fi, Adventure | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, History |
| Directors | Steven Spielberg | Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese |
| Performance DNA | Emotional range, Screen presence, Rewatchability | Transformation, Drama, Screen presence |
| Career timeline | 1982–1982 | 2006–2026 |
| Most iconic role | Tyler — E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Odysseus — The Odyssey |
| Most rewatchable film | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Interstellar |
| 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
Adventure Movies, Sci-Fi Movies
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.
Career Achievement
Awarded
44 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
9 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
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
as Tyler
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
as Tyler
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
LBJ
as Walter Jenkins
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
as Tyler
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
as Tyler
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Justice League: Gods and Monsters
as Dr. Will Magnus (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Where the Wind Blows
as Nathan
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
as Tyler
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
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: sci-fi and adventure
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Cillian Murphy
Built a career in the same territory: drama and history
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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