Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#2798
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Emily Mortimer represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 30 years in, and Emily is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Emily Mortimer appears in 33 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Emily. Shutter Island is the clearest case: a film rated 8.4 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, drama. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Thea Sharrock, Noah Baumbach, Gina Gershon and others, Emily Mortimer 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.
Shutter Island (2010) as Rachel 1 · Match Point (2005) as Chloe Hewett Wilton · Notting Hill (1999) as Perfect Girl
Career snapshot
Ranked #2798 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
33
1996–2026
Career length
30 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.4
Shutter Island
Average Nutevio score
6.4
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.2
Shutter Island
Most frequent director
Martin Scorsese
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Martin Scorsese
Most common genre
Drama
18 titles
Average runtime
1h 46m
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
6.5
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
7.0 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Notting Hill, Elizabeth, The Ghost and the Darkness — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.0
Across 3 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
7.1
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. Notting Hill, Elizabeth, The Ghost and the Darkness.
Most productive era
2000s
13 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 | 7.01 film | 6.88 films | 6.57 films | 5.12 films |
| Action | — | 6.81 film | 6.61 film | — |
| Thriller | 6.81 film | 6.64 films | 7.52 films | — |
| Comedy | 7.31 film | 6.24 films | 6.06 films | 5.84 films |
| Crime | — | 6.34 films | — | — |
| Romance | 7.31 film | 6.75 films | — | — |
| Horror | — | 6.01 film | 5.01 film | 6.11 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1996The Ghost and the Darkness
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Helena Patterson.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2010Shutter Island
8.4 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
2026Ladies First
The current state of the argument, as Sunny Black.
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.
33 of 33 films
as Rachel 1
Directed by Martin Scorsese
as Chloe Hewett Wilton
Directed by Woody Allen
as Lizzie
Directed by Unknown
as Lisette
Directed by Martin Scorsese
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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The defining work
#1
Rachel 1
Shutter Island (2010)
Performance score8.3
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Rachel 1 gives Emily Mortimer a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Chloe Hewett Wilton
Match Point (2005)
Performance score7.7
Match Point asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Chloe Hewett Wilton is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Karin
Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
Performance score7.6
Lars and the Real Girl asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Karin is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Lizzie
Dear Frankie (2004)
Performance score7.5
Dear Frankie asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Lizzie 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 Rachel 1
Start here. Shutter Island is the clearest statement of what Emily Mortimer does — accessible, 138 minutes, and rated 8.4 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Emily 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.
Dear Frankie (2004)
Keeps the drama register of Shutter Island but asks for a colder reading of it.
Match Point (2005)
Keeps the drama register of Dear Frankie but asks for a colder reading of it.
Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
Keeps the romance register of Match Point but asks for a colder reading of it.
Hugo (2011)
Keeps the drama register of Lars and the Real Girl but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Martin Scorsese
Director
2 films together
Notably Shutter Island
Stephen Hopkins
Director
1 film together
Notably The Ghost and the Darkness
Shekhar Kapur
Director
1 film together
Notably Elizabeth
Roger Michell
Director
1 film together
Notably Notting Hill
Jon Turteltaub
Director
1 film together
Notably The Kid
Wes Craven
Director
1 film together
Notably Scream 3
David Mackenzie
Director
1 film together
Notably Young Adam
Woody Allen
Director
1 film together
Notably Match Point
Shawn Levy
Director
1 film together
Notably The Pink Panther
Joel Coen
Director
1 film together
Notably Paris Je T'aime
Craig Gillespie
Director
1 film together
Notably Lars and the Real Girl
David Mamet
Director
1 film together
Notably Redbelt
Brad Anderson
Director
1 film together
Notably TransSiberian
Marcos Siega
Director
1 film together
Notably Chaos Theory
Jesse Peretz
Director
1 film together
Notably Our Idiot Brother
John Lasseter
Director
1 film together
Notably Cars 2
Shari Springer Berman
Director
1 film together
Notably 10,000 Saints
Isabel Coixet
Director
1 film together
Notably The Bookshop
Rob Marshall
Director
1 film together
Notably Mary Poppins Returns
Greg Kinnear
Director
1 film together
Notably Phil
Michael Goi
Director
1 film together
Notably Mary
Natalie Erika James
Director
1 film together
Notably Relic
Gina Gershon
Director
1 film together
Notably With/In Volume 2
Noah Baumbach
Director
1 film together
Notably Jay Kelly
Thea Sharrock
Director
1 film together
Notably Ladies First
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Martin Scorsese
Director
2 films together · 7.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Shutter IslandWoody Allen
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Match PointRoger Michell
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Notting HillCraig Gillespie
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Lars and the Real GirlShekhar Kapur
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ElizabethJoel Coen
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Paris Je T'aimeJon Turteltaub
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The KidStephen Hopkins
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Ghost and the DarknessRob Marshall
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mary Poppins ReturnsIsabel Coixet
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The BookshopJohn Lasseter
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cars 2Marcos Siega
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Chaos TheoryBrad Anderson
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TransSiberianDavid Mamet
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RedbeltNoah Baumbach
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jay KellyNatalie Erika James
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RelicJesse Peretz
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Our Idiot BrotherThea Sharrock
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ladies FirstShari Springer Berman
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
10,000 SaintsWes Craven
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scream 3Shawn Levy
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Pink PantherDavid Mackenzie
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Young AdamMichael Goi
Director
1 film together · 5.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MaryGreg Kinnear
Director
1 film together · 4.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
PhilGina Gershon
Director
1 film together · 4.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
With/In Volume 2Six 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
Shutter Island
as Rachel 1
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Match Point
as Chloe Hewett Wilton
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Shutter Island
as Rachel 1
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Paris Je T'aime
as Frances (Père-Lachaise)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Shutter Island
as Rachel 1
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. Emily Mortimer 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
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.
Drama Legend
Awarded
18 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
Shutter Island
as Rachel 1
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Shutter Island
as Rachel 1
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Hugo
as Lisette
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Shutter Island
as Rachel 1
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Shutter Island
as Rachel 1
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Spectral
as Fran Madison
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
10,000 Saints
as Diane Urbanski
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Cars 2
as Holley Shiftwell (voice)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
David Krumholtz
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Leonardo DiCaprio
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Have your say
Community
Which Emily Mortimer 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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