Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1386
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Ian Holm represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 45 years in, and Ian is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Ian Holm appears in 27 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Ian. Alien 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 science fiction, horror, action. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Fede Álvarez, Peter Jackson, Brad Bird and others, Ian Holm 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.
Alien (1979) as Ash · The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) as Bilbo · The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) as Bilbo
Career snapshot
Ranked #1386 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
27
1979–2024
Career length
45 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.2
Alien
Average Nutevio score
7.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.5
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Most frequent director
Peter Jackson
4 films together
Longest collaboration
4×
With Peter Jackson
Most common genre
Drama
12 titles
Average runtime
2h 9m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.5
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
7.6
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
1970s
8.1 average MV
The 1970s are where the work and the material meet. Alien, All Quiet on the Western Front, Alien — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1970s
8.1
Across 3 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1970s
7.8
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. Alien, All Quiet on the Western Front, Alien.
Most productive era
1990s
9 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 | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.61 film | 6.82 films | 6.86 films | 7.23 films | — | — |
| Action | — | — | 7.32 films | 8.82 films | 7.62 films | — |
| Thriller | — | — | 6.81 film | 6.93 films | — | — |
| Comedy | — | 7.12 films | 6.73 films | 7.62 films | — | — |
| Sci-Fi | 9.21 film | — | — | — | — | — |
| Crime | — | — | 7.01 film | 7.41 film | — | — |
| Romance | — | — | 6.63 films | 7.11 film | — | — |
| Horror | 8.82 films | — | 6.51 film | 6.71 film | — | 7.31 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio · First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
1979Alien
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Ash. 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
2024Alien: Romulus
The current state of the argument, as Rook (Facial and Vocal Reference).
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.
27 of 27 films
as Ash
Directed by Ridley Scott
as Bilbo
Directed by Peter Jackson
as Bilbo
Directed by Peter Jackson
as Skinner (voice)
Directed by Brad Bird
as Ash
Directed by Ridley Scott
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 28 titles · 28 total credits · active 1974–2024
Alien: Romulus
2024 · Rook (Facial and Vocal Reference)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
2014 · Old Bilbo Baggins
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
2012 · Old Bilbo Baggins
Ratatouille
2007 · Skinner (voice)
Lord of War
2005 · Simeon Weisz
The Aviator
2004 · Professor Fitz
The Day After Tomorrow
2004 · Terry Rapson
Garden State
2004 · Gideon Largeman
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2003 · Bilbo
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2001 · Bilbo
From Hell
2001 · Sir William Gull
eXistenZ
1999 · Kiri Vinokur
The Fifth Element
1997 · Cornelius
A Life Less Ordinary
1997 · Mr. Naville
The Sweet Hereafter
1997 · Mitchell Stephens
Big Night
1996 · Pascal
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
1994 · Baron Frankenstein
The Madness of King George
1994 · Willis
Naked Lunch
1991 · Tom Frost
Hamlet
1990 · Polonius
Henry V
1989 · Captain Fluellen
Brazil
1985 · Mr. Kurtzmann
Chariots of Fire
1981 · Sam Mussabini
Time Bandits
1981 · Napoleon
The defining work
#1
Ash
Alien (1979)
Performance score9.0
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Ash gives Ian Holm a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Bilbo
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Performance score8.6
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Bilbo is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Bilbo
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Performance score8.4
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Bilbo is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Skinner (voice)
Ratatouille (2007)
Performance score8.3
Ratatouille asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Skinner (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 Ash
Start here. Alien is the clearest statement of what Ian Holm does — accessible, 117 minutes, and rated 9.2 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Ian 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.
Alien (1979)
Same director as Alien, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
A deliberate change of key after Alien — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Same director as The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
Ratatouille (2007)
Keeps the fantasy register of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Peter Jackson
Director
4 films together
Notably The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Ridley Scott
Director
2 films together
Notably Alien
Terry Gilliam
Director
2 films together
Notably Brazil
Kenneth Branagh
Director
2 films together
Notably Henry V
David Cronenberg
Director
2 films together
Notably Naked Lunch
Delbert Mann
Director
1 film together
Notably All Quiet on the Western Front
Hugh Hudson
Director
1 film together
Notably Chariots of Fire
Franco Zeffirelli
Director
1 film together
Notably Hamlet
Nicholas Hytner
Director
1 film together
Notably The Madness of King George
Stanley Tucci
Director
1 film together
Notably Big Night
Atom Egoyan
Director
1 film together
Notably The Sweet Hereafter
Danny Boyle
Director
1 film together
Notably A Life Less Ordinary
Luc Besson
Director
1 film together
Notably The Fifth Element
Albert Hughes
Director
1 film together
Notably From Hell
Zach Braff
Director
1 film together
Notably Garden State
Roland Emmerich
Director
1 film together
Notably The Day After Tomorrow
Martin Scorsese
Director
1 film together
Notably The Aviator
Andrew Niccol
Director
1 film together
Notably Lord of War
Brad Bird
Director
1 film together
Notably Ratatouille
Fede Álvarez
Director
1 film together
Notably Alien: Romulus
Tom Skerritt
Actor
1 film together
Notably Alien
Sigourney Weaver
Actor
1 film together
Notably Alien
Veronica Cartwright
Actor
1 film together
Notably Alien
Harry Dean Stanton
Actor
1 film together
Notably Alien
John Hurt
Actor
1 film together
Notably Alien
Yaphet Kotto
Actor
1 film together
Notably Alien
Bolaji Badejo
Actor
1 film together
Notably Alien
Helen Horton
Actor
1 film together
Notably Alien
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Peter Jackson
Director
4 films together · 8.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingRidley Scott
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
AlienTerry Gilliam
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
BrazilDavid Cronenberg
Director
2 films together · 6.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Naked LunchKenneth Branagh
Director
2 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Henry VBrad Bird
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RatatouilleLuc Besson
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Fifth ElementAndrew Niccol
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Lord of WarFede Álvarez
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Alien: RomulusMartin Scorsese
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The AviatorZach Braff
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Garden StateStanley Tucci
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Big NightAtom Egoyan
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 Sweet HereafterNicholas Hytner
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 Madness of King GeorgeAlbert Hughes
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
From HellHugh Hudson
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Chariots of FireRoland Emmerich
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 Day After TomorrowDelbert Mann
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
All Quiet on the Western FrontFranco Zeffirelli
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HamletDanny Boyle
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Life Less OrdinarySix 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
Alien
as Ash
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Chariots of Fire
as Sam Mussabini
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Alien
as Ash
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
as Old Bilbo Baggins
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Alien
as Ash
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. Ian Holm 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 | #347 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 | Horror, Sci-Fi | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, History |
| Directors | Ridley Scott | Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese |
| Performance DNA | Intensity, Screen presence, Villain presence | Transformation, Drama, Screen presence |
| Career timeline | 1979–1979 | 2006–2026 |
| Most iconic role | Ash — Alien | Odysseus — The Odyssey |
| Most rewatchable film | Alien | 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
Best Space 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
45 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
Alien
as Ash
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Alien
as Ash
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Chariots of Fire
as Sam Mussabini
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
From Hell
as Sir William Gull
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
as Bilbo
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
as Bilbo
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Madness of King George
as Willis
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Alien
as Ash
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 4 Nutevio collections
Keep reading
From the magazine
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: sci-fi and adventure
Leonardo DiCaprio
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Harry Dean Stanton
Works with the same directors — Ridley Scott
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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