Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1353
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Daniel Mays 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.
Daniel Mays appears in 25 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Daniel. Making of Lord of the Flies is the clearest case: a film rated 9.8 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 documentary, action, crime. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Ric Roman Waugh, Chris Columbus, Jim O'Hanlon and others, Daniel Mays 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.
Making of Lord of the Flies (2026) as Self - Fred · 1917 (2019) as Sergeant Sanders · Mr. Nobody (2009) as Young Journalist
Career snapshot
Ranked #1353 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
25
2005–2026
Career length
21 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.8
Making of Lord of the Flies
Average Nutevio score
6.8
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
9.8
Making of Lord of the Flies
Most frequent director
Jim O'Hanlon
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Jim O'Hanlon
Most common genre
Drama
12 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
7.0
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
6.7
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
2000s
7.1 average MV
The 2000s are where the work and the material meet. Mr. Nobody, Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974, Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2000s
7.1
Across 7 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2000s
7.1
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2000s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Mr. Nobody, Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974, Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983.
Most productive era
2010s
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 | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.17 films | 6.85 films | — |
| Action | — | 6.72 films | 6.62 films |
| Thriller | 6.83 films | 6.33 films | 6.62 films |
| Comedy | 6.71 film | 6.24 films | 6.54 films |
| Crime | 6.83 films | 6.32 films | 7.22 films |
| Romance | 7.34 films | — | 6.32 films |
| Horror | — | 6.31 film | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Martin.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2026Making of Lord of the Flies
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 9.8 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
2026Shelter
The current state of the argument, as Booth.
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.
25 of 25 films
as Sergeant Sanders
Directed by Sam Mendes
as Booth
Directed by Ric Roman Waugh
as Young Journalist
Directed by Unknown
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
Self - Fred
Making of Lord of the Flies (2026)
Performance score9.3
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Self - Fred gives Daniel Mays a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Sergeant Sanders
1917 (2019)
Performance score7.8
1917 asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Sergeant Sanders is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Booth
Shelter (2026)
Performance score7.7
Shelter asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Booth is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Young Journalist
Mr. Nobody (2009)
Performance score7.6
Mr. Nobody asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Young Journalist 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 Self - Fred
Start here. Making of Lord of the Flies is the clearest statement of what Daniel Mays does — accessible, 62 minutes, and rated 9.8 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Daniel 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.
Mr. Nobody (2009)
Same director as Making of Lord of the Flies, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
1917 (2019)
Keeps the drama register of Mr. Nobody but asks for a colder reading of it.
Fisherman's Friends (2019)
Keeps the drama register of 1917 but asks for a colder reading of it.
Shelter (2026)
A deliberate change of key after Fisherman's Friends — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Jim O'Hanlon
Director
2 films together
Notably Your Christmas or Mine?
Isabel Coixet
Director
1 film together
Notably The Secret Life of Words
Ridley Scott
Director
1 film together
Notably A Good Year
Joe Wright
Director
1 film together
Notably Atonement
Roger Donaldson
Director
1 film together
Notably The Bank Job
Anand Tucker
Director
1 film together
Notably Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983
Julian Jarrold
Director
1 film together
Notably Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974
Nigel Cole
Director
1 film together
Notably Made in Dagenham
Susanna White
Director
1 film together
Notably Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Steven Spielberg
Director
1 film together
Notably The Adventures of Tintin
Eran Creevy
Director
1 film together
Notably Welcome to the Punch
Paul McGuigan
Director
1 film together
Notably Victor Frankenstein
Oliver Parker
Director
1 film together
Notably Dad's Army
Juan Carlos Medina
Director
1 film together
Notably The Limehouse Golem
Gareth Edwards
Director
1 film together
Notably Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Chris Foggin
Director
1 film together
Notably Fisherman's Friends
Sam Mendes
Director
1 film together
Notably 1917
Reed Morano
Director
1 film together
Notably The Rhythm Section
Chris Columbus
Director
1 film together
Notably The Thursday Murder Club
Ric Roman Waugh
Director
1 film together
Notably Shelter
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Jim O'Hanlon
Director
2 films together · 6.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Your Christmas or Mine?Sam Mendes
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
1917Ric Roman Waugh
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ShelterJoe Wright
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AtonementGareth Edwards
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Rogue One: A Star Wars StoryIsabel Coixet
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 Secret Life of WordsSteven Spielberg
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Adventures of TintinAnand Tucker
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983Roger Donaldson
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Bank JobChris Foggin
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fisherman's FriendsNigel Cole
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Made in DagenhamRidley Scott
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Good YearChris Columbus
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Thursday Murder ClubJulian Jarrold
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974Juan Carlos Medina
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 Limehouse GolemSusanna White
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Nanny McPhee and the Big BangPaul McGuigan
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Victor FrankensteinEran Creevy
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Welcome to the PunchReed Morano
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 Rhythm SectionOliver Parker
Director
1 film together · 5.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dad's ArmySix 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
Making of Lord of the Flies
as Self - Fred
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Mr. Nobody
as Young Journalist
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Making of Lord of the Flies
as Self - Fred
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Making of Lord of the Flies
as Self - Fred
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Making of Lord of the Flies
as Self - Fred
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. Daniel Mays 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
21 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
12 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
Making of Lord of the Flies
as Self - Fred
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Making of Lord of the Flies
as Self - Fred
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Mr. Nobody
as Young Journalist
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983
as Michael Myshikin
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Making of Lord of the Flies
as Self - Fred
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Welcome to the Punch
as Nathan Bartnick
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Made in Dagenham
as Eddie O'Grady
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
1917
as Sergeant Sanders
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
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Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Harry Dean Stanton
Works with the same directors — Ridley Scott
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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