Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#2500
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
James Le Gros represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 37 years in, and James is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
James Le Gros appears in 23 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without James. Zodiac is the clearest case: a film rated 8.8 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 drama, comedy, war. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Ken Kwapis, Rowan Woods, Pete Travis and others, James Le Gros 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.
Zodiac (2007) as George Bawart · Zodiac (2007) as George Bawart · Living in Oblivion (1995) as Chad Palomino
Career snapshot
Ranked #2500 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
23
1987–2024
Career length
37 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.8
Zodiac
Average Nutevio score
6.2
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.7
Zodiac
Most frequent director
David Fincher
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With David Fincher
Most common genre
Drama
15 titles
Average runtime
1h 45m
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
6.8
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
6.9 average MV
The 2000s are where the work and the material meet. Winged Creatures, Vantage Point, Zodiac — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2000s
6.9
Across 5 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1980s
6.9
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1980s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Born on the Fourth of July, *batteries not included.
Most productive era
1990s
7 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 | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.01 film | 7.03 films | 7.03 films | 6.14 films | 4.64 films |
| Action | — | 7.13 films | 6.02 films | — | 6.11 film |
| Thriller | — | 6.64 films | 7.12 films | 5.91 film | — |
| Comedy | 6.71 film | 7.12 films | — | 5.41 film | 5.81 film |
| Crime | — | 7.12 films | 7.24 films | — | — |
| Romance | — | 5.81 film | — | 6.71 film | — |
| Horror | — | 5.11 film | — | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Goon #2.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2007Zodiac
8.8 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
2024Good One
The current state of the argument, as Chris.
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.
23 of 23 films
as George Bawart
Directed by David Fincher
as George Bawart
Directed by David Fincher
as Roach
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
as Billy Hill
Directed by Skip Woods
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 30 titles · 31 total credits · active 1987–2024
Good One
2024 · Chris · Executive Producer
Showing Up
2023 · Ira
Mosquito
2022 · William Rossdale
Foxhole
2021 · Wilson
The Mosquito Coast
2021 · TV · Special Agent Shapland
Hunters
2020 · TV · Chief Grimsby
Buck Run
2019 · William Templeton
Phoenix, Oregon
2019 · Bobby
Certain Women
2016 · Ryan
Night Moves
2014 · Feed Factory Clerk
Constantine
2014 · TV · Ellis McGee
Big Miracle
2012 · Karl Hootkin
Girls
2012 · TV · Jeff Lavoyt
Mildred Pierce
2011 · TV · Wally Burgan
Person of Interest
2011 · TV · Bruce Moran
Justified
2010 · TV · Wade Messer
Winged Creatures
2009 · Dr. Dan Howland
Vantage Point
2008 · Ted Heinkin
Zodiac
2007 · George Bawart
Catch That Kid
2004 · Ferrell
Enemy of the State
1998 · Jerry Miller
Psycho
1998 · California Charlie
Thursday
1998 · Billy Hill
Ally McBeal
1997 · TV · Mark Albert
The defining work
#1
George Bawart
Zodiac (2007)
Performance score8.4
The performance the rest of the career is read through. George Bawart gives James Le Gros a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
George Bawart
Zodiac (2007)
Performance score7.5
Zodiac asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. George Bawart is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Chad Palomino
Living in Oblivion (1995)
Performance score7.3
Living in Oblivion asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Chad Palomino is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Roach
Point Break (1991)
Performance score7.3
Point Break asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Roach 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 George Bawart
Start here. Zodiac is the clearest statement of what James Le Gros does — accessible, 157 minutes, and rated 8.8 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet James 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.
Point Break (1991)
Keeps the crime register of Zodiac but asks for a colder reading of it.
Living in Oblivion (1995)
A deliberate change of key after Point Break — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Thursday (1998)
Keeps the comedy register of Living in Oblivion but asks for a colder reading of it.
Zodiac (2007)
Keeps the mystery register of Thursday but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
David Fincher
Director
2 films together
Notably Zodiac
Matthew Robbins
Director
1 film together
Notably *batteries not included
Oliver Stone
Director
1 film together
Notably Born on the Fourth of July
Kathryn Bigelow
Director
1 film together
Notably Point Break
Jonathan Kaplan
Director
1 film together
Notably Bad Girls
Todd Haynes
Director
1 film together
Notably Safe
Tom DiCillo
Director
1 film together
Notably Living in Oblivion
Skip Woods
Director
1 film together
Notably Thursday
Gus Van Sant
Director
1 film together
Notably Psycho
Tony Scott
Director
1 film together
Notably Enemy of the State
Bart Freundlich
Director
1 film together
Notably Catch That Kid
Pete Travis
Director
1 film together
Notably Vantage Point
Rowan Woods
Director
1 film together
Notably Winged Creatures
Ken Kwapis
Director
1 film together
Notably Big Miracle
Zach Grenier
Actor
1 film together
Notably Zodiac
Richmond Arquette
Actor
1 film together
Notably Zodiac
Bob Stephenson
Actor
1 film together
Notably Zodiac
Jake Gyllenhaal
Actor
1 film together
Notably Zodiac
Mark Ruffalo
Actor
1 film together
Notably Zodiac
Anthony Edwards
Actor
1 film together
Notably Zodiac
Robert Downey Jr.
Actor
1 film together
Notably Zodiac
Chloë Sevigny
Actor
1 film together
Notably Zodiac
Elias Koteas
Actor
1 film together
Notably Zodiac
John Carroll Lynch
Actor
1 film together
Notably Zodiac
Brian Cox
Actor
1 film together
Notably Zodiac
Dermot Mulroney
Actor
1 film together
Notably Zodiac
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
David Fincher
Director
2 films together · 8.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
ZodiacTom DiCillo
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Living in OblivionKathryn Bigelow
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Point BreakTony Scott
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Enemy of the StateTodd Haynes
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SafeOliver Stone
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Born on the Fourth of JulySkip Woods
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ThursdayKen Kwapis
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Big MiracleMatthew Robbins
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
*batteries not includedPete Travis
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Vantage PointRowan Woods
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Winged CreaturesJonathan Kaplan
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Bad GirlsBart Freundlich
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Catch That KidGus Van Sant
Director
1 film together · 5.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
PsychoSix 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
Zodiac
as George Bawart
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Big Miracle
as Karl Hootkin
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Zodiac
as George Bawart
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Born on the Fourth of July
as Platoon - Vietnam
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Zodiac
as George Bawart
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. James Le Gros 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 | 7.8 | 8.7 |
|---|---|---|
| Career ranking | #573 of 681 | #7 of 681 |
| Awards on file | Unknown | 4 recorded |
| Oscar wins | Unknown | 1 |
| Oscar nominations | Unknown | 5 |
| Average Nutevio score | 8.8 | 9.4 |
| Genres | Crime, Mystery, Drama | Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller |
| Directors | David Fincher | Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, Frank Darabont |
| Performance DNA | Quiet performance, Intensity, Drama | Screen presence, Drama, Rewatchability |
| Career timeline | 2007–2007 | 1994–2008 |
| Most iconic role | George Bawart — Zodiac | Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding — The Shawshank Redemption |
| Most rewatchable film | Zodiac | The Shawshank Redemption |
| Filmography | 1 catalogue film | 3 catalogue films |
Films together
Nothing in common in the library yet.
Shared directors
David Fincher
Shared collections
Best Detective Movies, Best Psychological Thrillers, Top 100 Crime Movies, Mystery Movies, Crime Movies, Drama Movies
Collaborators in common
David Fincher
Morgan Freeman 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
37 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
15 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
Zodiac
as George Bawart
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Zodiac
as George Bawart
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Big Miracle
as Karl Hootkin
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Zodiac
as George Bawart
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Zodiac
as George Bawart
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Catch That Kid
as Ferrell
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Foxhole
as Wilson
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Zodiac
as George Bawart
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 6 Nutevio collections
Keep reading
genre
Best Detective Movies
Features Zodiac at #1
Read the collectiongenre
Best Psychological Thrillers
Features Zodiac
Read the collectiongenre
Top 100 Crime Movies
Features Zodiac
Read the collectiongenre
Mystery Movies
Features Zodiac
Read the collectiongenre
Crime Movies
Features Zodiac
Read the collectiongenre
Drama Movies
Features Zodiac
Read the collectionFrom the magazine
If you like this performer
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Works with the same directors — David Fincher
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Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Robert Downey Jr.
Works with the same directors — David Fincher
Edward Norton
Works with the same directors — David Fincher
Brad Pitt
Works with the same directors — David Fincher
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