Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#4130
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
George Cheung represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 32 years in, and George is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
George Cheung appears in 21 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without George. The Pursuit of Happyness is the clearest case: a film rated 8.0 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, screen presence. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for war, action, thriller. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Sylvester Stallone, Brett Ratner, Gabriele Muccino and others, George Cheung 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 Pursuit of Happyness (2006) as Chinese Maintenance Worker · Rush Hour (1998) as Soo Yung's Driver · Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) as Additional Voices (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #4130 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
21
1976–2008
Career length
32 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.0
The Pursuit of Happyness
Average Nutevio score
6.6
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.9
The Pursuit of Happyness
Most frequent director
Brett Ratner
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Brett Ratner
Most common genre
Action
15 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
6.8
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
1980s
6.8 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. Weekend at Bernie's, Big Trouble in Little China, Rambo: First Blood Part II — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
6.8
Across 3 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2000s
6.8
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1970s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. The Enforcer.
Most productive era
1990s
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 | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | — | — | 6.73 films | 8.01 film |
| Action | 6.71 film | 7.02 films | 6.38 films | 6.84 films |
| Thriller | 6.71 film | 6.81 film | 6.23 films | 6.82 films |
| Comedy | — | 6.82 films | 6.65 films | 6.22 films |
| Crime | 6.71 film | 6.51 film | 6.410 films | 6.22 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1976The Enforcer
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Mendez Henchman (uncredited).
Highest rated performance · Career peak
8.0 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
2008Rambo
The current state of the argument, as Tay (archive footage) (uncredited).
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.
21 of 21 films
as Chinese Maintenance Worker
Directed by Gabriele Muccino
as Soo Yung's Driver
Directed by Brett Ratner
as Additional Voices (voice)
Directed by James Foley
as Chang Sing #6
Directed by John Carpenter
as NVA Officer (uncredited)
Directed by Randall Wallace
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
Chinese Maintenance Worker
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Performance score7.8
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Chinese Maintenance Worker gives George Cheung a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Soo Yung's Driver
Rush Hour (1998)
Performance score7.1
Rush Hour asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Soo Yung's Driver is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Additional Voices (voice)
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
Performance score7.1
Glengarry Glen Ross asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Additional Voices (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Chang Sing #6
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Performance score7.1
Big Trouble in Little China asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Chang Sing #6 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 Chinese Maintenance Worker
Start here. The Pursuit of Happyness is the clearest statement of what George Cheung does — accessible, 117 minutes, and rated 8.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet George 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.
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
A deliberate change of key after The Pursuit of Happyness — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
A deliberate change of key after Big Trouble in Little China — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Rush Hour (1998)
Keeps the crime register of Glengarry Glen Ross but asks for a colder reading of it.
We Were Soldiers (2002)
Keeps the action register of Rush Hour but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Brett Ratner
Director
2 films together
Notably Rush Hour
James Fargo
Director
1 film together
Notably The Enforcer
George P. Cosmatos
Director
1 film together
Notably Rambo: First Blood Part II
John Carpenter
Director
1 film together
Notably Big Trouble in Little China
Ted Kotcheff
Director
1 film together
Notably Weekend at Bernie's
Walter Hill
Director
1 film together
Notably Another 48 Hrs.
Irvin Kershner
Director
1 film together
Notably RoboCop 2
Russell Mulcahy
Director
1 film together
Notably Ricochet
Mark L. Lester
Director
1 film together
Notably Showdown in Little Tokyo
Phil Alden Robinson
Director
1 film together
Notably Sneakers
James Foley
Director
1 film together
Notably Glengarry Glen Ross
Vic Armstrong
Director
1 film together
Notably Joshua Tree
Joel Schumacher
Director
1 film together
Notably Batman Forever
Richard Donner
Director
1 film together
Notably Lethal Weapon 4
Jay Roach
Director
1 film together
Notably Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Randall Wallace
Director
1 film together
Notably We Were Soldiers
Todd Phillips
Director
1 film together
Notably Starsky & Hutch
J.J. Abrams
Director
1 film together
Notably Mission: Impossible III
Gabriele Muccino
Director
1 film together
Notably The Pursuit of Happyness
Sylvester Stallone
Director
1 film together
Notably Rambo
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Brett Ratner
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
Rush HourGabriele Muccino
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Pursuit of HappynessJames Foley
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Glengarry Glen RossJohn Carpenter
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Big Trouble in Little ChinaRandall Wallace
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
We Were SoldiersPhil Alden Robinson
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SneakersJ.J. Abrams
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mission: Impossible IIIGeorge P. Cosmatos
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Rambo: First Blood Part IISylvester Stallone
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RamboJames Fargo
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The EnforcerRichard Donner
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Lethal Weapon 4Ted Kotcheff
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Weekend at Bernie'sMark L. Lester
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Showdown in Little TokyoJay Roach
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged MeVic Armstrong
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Joshua TreeRussell Mulcahy
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RicochetIrvin Kershner
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RoboCop 2Walter Hill
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Another 48 Hrs.Todd Phillips
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Starsky & HutchJoel Schumacher
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Batman ForeverSix 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 Pursuit of Happyness
as Chinese Maintenance Worker
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
The Pursuit of Happyness
as Chinese Maintenance Worker
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 Pursuit of Happyness
as Chinese Maintenance Worker
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Batman Forever
as Guest (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
The Pursuit of Happyness
as Chinese Maintenance Worker
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. George Cheung 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
32 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
15 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
Glengarry Glen Ross
as Additional Voices (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Glengarry Glen Ross
as Additional Voices (voice)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
The Pursuit of Happyness
as Chinese Maintenance Worker
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Glengarry Glen Ross
as Additional Voices (voice)
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Big Trouble in Little China
as Chang Sing #6
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Mission: Impossible III
as Shanghai Game Player (uncredited)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Sneakers
as Chinese Restaurant Singer
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Batman Forever
as Guest (uncredited)
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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Cillian Murphy
Built a career in the same territory: drama and history
Morgan Freeman
Built a career in the same territory: action and crime
Robert Downey Jr.
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Reference
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