Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#515
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
David Cross represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 30 years in, and David is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
David Cross appears in 44 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without David. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 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 comedy, romance, thriller. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with David Cross, Nicole Holofcener, Lev Pakman and others, David Cross 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.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) as Rob · Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) as Rob · Beastie Boys Story (2020) as Self
Career snapshot
Ranked #515 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
44
1996–2026
Career length
30 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.2
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.3
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Most frequent director
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Most common genre
Comedy
35 titles
Average runtime
1h 28m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.9
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
2010s
6.8 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. Sorry to Bother You, Next Gen, The Post — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
6.8
Across 12 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
6.8
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. Small Soldiers, Waiting for Guffman, Men in Black.
Most productive era
2000s
16 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 | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.01 film | 7.84 films | 7.02 films | 6.42 films |
| Action | 7.02 films | 6.45 films | 6.95 films | — |
| Thriller | 6.01 film | — | 7.01 film | 6.31 film |
| Comedy | 6.65 films | 6.111 films | 6.810 films | 5.29 films |
| Sci-Fi | — | 9.21 film | — | — |
| Romance | 6.11 film | 7.05 films | 7.01 film | 6.32 films |
| Horror | — | — | — | 6.81 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1996The Cable Guy
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Sales Manager.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2004Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
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
2026David Cross: The End of the Beginning of the End
The current state of the argument.
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.
44 of 44 films
as Rob
Directed by Michel Gondry
as Rob
Directed by Michel Gondry
as Crane (voice)
Directed by Mark Osborne
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 58 titles · 59 total credits · active 1995–2026
David Cross: The End of the Beginning of the End
2026 · Actor · Director
President Curtis
2026 · TV · (voice)
Oh, Hi!
2025 · Steve
You Hurt My Feelings
2023 · Jonathan
Deal of a Lifetime
2023 · Roland
Too Soon: Comedy After 9/11
2021 · Self
8-Bit Christmas
2021 · Dealer
Monty Python's Best Bits Celebrated
2021 · Self
Station Eleven
2021 · TV · Gil
Beastie Boys Story
2020 · Self
Time Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp
2020 · Self
Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics
2020 · Self
Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness
2020 · Self
The Umbrella Academy
2019 · TV · Sy Grossman
Sorry to Bother You
2018 · Cassius Green's White Voice (voice)
Next Gen
2018 · Dr. Tanner Rice / Q-Bots (voice)
The Post
2017 · Howard Simons
Genius
2017 · TV · Jerry Wexler
Kung Fu Panda 3
2016 · Crane (voice)
Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll
2016 · Crane (voice)
Goliath
2016 · TV · Pete 'The Broker' Oakland
Pitch Perfect 2
2015 · Riff Off Host
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
2015 · TV · Russ Snyder
Kill Your Darlings
2013 · Louis Ginsberg
The defining work
#1
Rob
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Performance score8.8
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Rob gives David Cross a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Rob
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Performance score8.0
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Rob is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Self
Beastie Boys Story (2020)
Performance score7.6
Beastie Boys Story 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#4
Crane (voice)
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Performance score7.3
Kung Fu Panda asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Crane (voice) 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 Rob
Start here. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the clearest statement of what David Cross does — accessible, 108 minutes, and rated 9.2 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet David 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.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Same director as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
A deliberate change of key after Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Beastie Boys Story (2020)
A deliberate change of key after Kung Fu Panda — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Deal of a Lifetime (2023)
A deliberate change of key after Beastie Boys Story — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Barry Sonnenfeld
Director
2 films together
Notably Men in Black
Michel Gondry
Director
2 films together
Notably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Director
2 films together
Notably Kung Fu Panda 2
Michael Lehmann
Director
1 film together
Notably The Truth About Cats & Dogs
Ben Stiller
Director
1 film together
Notably The Cable Guy
Christopher Guest
Director
1 film together
Notably Waiting for Guffman
Joe Dante
Director
1 film together
Notably Small Soldiers
Louis C.K.
Director
1 film together
Notably Pootie Tang
Keenen Ivory Wayans
Director
1 film together
Notably Scary Movie 2
Terry Zwigoff
Director
1 film together
Notably Ghost World
Matthew O'Callaghan
Director
1 film together
Notably Curious George
Andy Fickman
Director
1 film together
Notably She's the Man
Todd Phillips
Director
1 film together
Notably School for Scoundrels
Todd Haynes
Director
1 film together
Notably I'm Not There
Mark Osborne
Director
1 film together
Notably Kung Fu Panda
Betty Thomas
Director
1 film together
Notably Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Harold Ramis
Director
1 film together
Notably Year One
Tim Johnson
Director
1 film together
Notably Kung Fu Panda Holiday
Tom McGrath
Director
1 film together
Notably Megamind
Mike Mitchell
Director
1 film together
Notably Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Simon J. Smith
Director
1 film together
Notably Megamind: The Button of Doom
John Krokidas
Director
1 film together
Notably Kill Your Darlings
Elizabeth Banks
Director
1 film together
Notably Pitch Perfect 2
Steven Spielberg
Director
1 film together
Notably The Post
Boots Riley
Director
1 film together
Notably Sorry to Bother You
Donick Cary
Director
1 film together
Notably Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics
Spike Jonze
Director
1 film together
Notably Beastie Boys Story
Michael Dowse
Director
1 film together
Notably 8-Bit Christmas
Lev Pakman
Director
1 film together
Notably Deal of a Lifetime
Nicole Holofcener
Director
1 film together
Notably You Hurt My Feelings
David Cross
Director
1 film together
Notably David Cross: The End of the Beginning of the End
Mark Ruffalo
Actor
1 film together
Notably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Tom Wilkinson
Actor
1 film together
Notably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Jim Carrey
Actor
1 film together
Notably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Kate Winslet
Actor
1 film together
Notably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Kirsten Dunst
Actor
1 film together
Notably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Elijah Wood
Actor
1 film together
Notably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Jane Adams
Actor
1 film together
Notably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Deirdre O'Connell
Actor
1 film together
Notably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Thomas Jay Ryan
Actor
1 film together
Notably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Ryan Whitney
Actor
1 film together
Notably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Lola Daehler
Actor
1 film together
Notably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Debbon Ayer
Actor
1 film together
Notably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Michel Gondry
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
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless MindJennifer Yuh Nelson
Director
2 films together · 7.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Kung Fu Panda 2Barry Sonnenfeld
Director
2 films together · 7.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Men in BlackSpike Jonze
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Beastie Boys StoryMark Osborne
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Kung Fu PandaTerry Zwigoff
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ghost WorldSteven Spielberg
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 PostJohn Krokidas
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Kill Your DarlingsTom McGrath
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MegamindTim Johnson
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Kung Fu Panda HolidayBoots Riley
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Sorry to Bother YouElizabeth Banks
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Pitch Perfect 2Andy Fickman
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
She's the ManSimon J. Smith
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Megamind: The Button of DoomChristopher Guest
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Waiting for GuffmanDonick Cary
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Have a Good Trip: Adventures in PsychedelicsJoe Dante
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Small SoldiersLev Pakman
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Deal of a LifetimeTodd Haynes
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
I'm Not ThereMatthew O'Callaghan
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Curious GeorgeMichael Dowse
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
8-Bit ChristmasNicole Holofcener
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
You Hurt My FeelingsMichael Lehmann
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Truth About Cats & DogsBen Stiller
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Cable GuyKeenen Ivory Wayans
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scary Movie 2Mike Mitchell
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Alvin and the Chipmunks: ChipwreckedBetty Thomas
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The SqueakquelTodd Phillips
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
School for ScoundrelsLouis C.K.
Director
1 film together · 5.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Pootie TangHarold Ramis
Director
1 film together · 5.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Year OneDavid Cross
Director
1 film together · 2.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
David Cross: The End of the Beginning of the EndSix 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
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
as Rob
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
as Rob
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
as Rob
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Time Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp
as Self
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
as Rob
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. David Cross 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 | 8.1 | 9.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Career ranking | #370 of 681 | #1 of 681 |
| Awards on file | Unknown | 3 recorded |
| Oscar wins | Unknown | 1 |
| Oscar nominations | Unknown | 5 |
| Average Nutevio score | 9.2 | 9.1 |
| Genres | Romance, Drama, Sci-Fi | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, History |
| Directors | Michel Gondry | Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese |
| Performance DNA | Emotional range, Drama, Quiet performance | Transformation, Drama, Screen presence |
| Career timeline | 2004–2004 | 2006–2026 |
| Most iconic role | Rob — Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | Odysseus — The Odyssey |
| Most rewatchable film | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | 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
Sci-Fi Movies, Drama 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
30 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.
Comedy Legend
Awarded
35 catalogue titles in comedy, 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
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
as Rob
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
as Rob
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
The Post
as Howard Simons
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
as Rob
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
as Rob
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Kung Fu Panda 3
as Crane (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Kung Fu Panda 3
as Crane (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
as Rob
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 Romance Movies
Features Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at #1
Read the collectiongenre
Romance Movies
Features Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at #1
Read the collectiontheme
Hidden Sci-Fi Gems
Features Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Read the collectiongenre
Sci-Fi Movies
Features Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Read the collectiongenre
Drama Movies
Features Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Read the collectionFrom the magazine
Genre guide
The evolution of David Cross, read through best romance movies
4 min read
Genre guide
Why Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind still sets the terms for romance movies
4 min read
Essay
Hidden Sci-Fi Gems: where Cross fits
5 min read
Genre guide
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, explained
12 min read
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Tom Wilkinson
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Elliot Page
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: sci-fi and adventure
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Have your say
Community
Which David Cross performance holds up best?
Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
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Reference
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