Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1712
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Jerry O'Connell represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 40 years in, and Jerry is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Jerry O'Connell appears in 30 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Jerry. Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is the clearest case: a film rated 7.9 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 action, comedy, romance. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Adam Shankman, Melanie Scrofano, Patrick Lussier and others, Jerry O'Connell 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.
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020) as Clark Kent / Superman (voice) · Stand by Me (1986) as Vern Tessio · The Death of Superman (2019) as Clark Kent / Superman (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #1712 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
30
1986–2026
Career length
40 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.9
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
Average Nutevio score
5.9
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.2
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
Most frequent director
Jake Castorena
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With Jake Castorena
Most common genre
Comedy
13 titles
Average runtime
1h 34m
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
6.5
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
1980s
7.9 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. Stand by Me — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
7.9
Across 1 catalogue film in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1980s
7.8
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. Stand by Me.
Most productive era
2010s
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 | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.91 film | 7.01 film | 5.52 films | 6.54 films | 7.31 film |
| Action | — | — | — | 7.16 films | 6.63 films |
| Thriller | — | — | 5.81 film | 5.71 film | 5.92 films |
| Comedy | — | 7.01 film | 5.23 films | 5.64 films | 5.65 films |
| Crime | — | — | 5.31 film | 6.92 films | — |
| Romance | — | 7.01 film | 5.11 film | — | 6.72 films |
| Horror | — | 6.71 film | — | 5.52 films | 4.02 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio · Highest rated performance
1986Stand by Me
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Vern Tessio. 7.9 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Career peak
2020Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
The current state of the argument, as Glenn.
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.
30 of 30 films
as Clark Kent / Superman (voice)
Directed by Matt Peters
as Clark Kent / Superman (voice)
Directed by Jake Castorena
as Vern Tessio
Directed by Rob Reiner
as Clark Kent / Superman / Cyborg Superman (voice)
Directed by Jake Castorena
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
Clark Kent / Superman (voice)
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020)
Performance score8.2
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Clark Kent / Superman (voice) gives Jerry O'Connell a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Clark Kent / Superman (voice)
The Death of Superman (2019)
Performance score8.1
The Death of Superman asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Clark Kent / Superman (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Vern Tessio
Stand by Me (1986)
Performance score7.9
Stand by Me asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Vern Tessio is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Tucker Wells
The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
Performance score7.6
The Secret: Dare to Dream asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Tucker Wells 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 Clark Kent / Superman (voice)
Start here. Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is the clearest statement of what Jerry O'Connell does — accessible, 90 minutes, and rated 7.9 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Jerry 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.
Stand by Me (1986)
Keeps the adventure register of Justice League Dark: Apokolips War but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Death of Superman (2019)
Keeps the drama register of Stand by Me but asks for a colder reading of it.
Reign of the Supermen (2019)
Same director as The Death of Superman, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
Keeps the drama register of Reign of the Supermen but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Jake Castorena
Director
3 films together
Notably The Death of Superman
Rob Reiner
Director
1 film together
Notably Stand by Me
Cameron Crowe
Director
1 film together
Notably Jerry Maguire
Wes Craven
Director
1 film together
Notably Scream 2
Brian De Palma
Director
1 film together
Notably Mission to Mars
Mike Binder
Director
1 film together
Notably Man About Town
Steve Shill
Director
1 film together
Notably Obsessed
Jack Plotnick
Director
1 film together
Notably Space Station 76
Rob Thomas
Director
1 film together
Notably Veronica Mars
Ethan Spaulding
Director
1 film together
Notably Justice League: Throne of Atlantis
Sam Liu
Director
1 film together
Notably Justice League vs. Teen Titans
John R. Leonetti
Director
1 film together
Notably Wish Upon
Tom Hines
Director
1 film together
Notably Ballbuster
Andy Tennant
Director
1 film together
Notably The Secret: Dare to Dream
Matt Peters
Director
1 film together
Notably Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
MJ Bassett
Director
1 film together
Notably Endangered Species
Patrick Lussier
Director
1 film together
Notably Play Dead
Melanie Scrofano
Director
1 film together
Notably Summer's Last Resort
Adam Shankman
Director
1 film together
Notably Stop! That! Train!
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Jake Castorena
Director
3 films together · 7.1 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Death of SupermanMatt Peters
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Justice League Dark: Apokolips WarRob Reiner
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Stand by MeAndy Tennant
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Secret: Dare to DreamSam Liu
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Justice League vs. Teen TitansEthan Spaulding
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Justice League: Throne of AtlantisCameron Crowe
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jerry MaguireWes Craven
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scream 2Rob Thomas
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Veronica MarsAdam Shankman
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Stop! That! Train!Melanie Scrofano
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Summer's Last ResortPatrick Lussier
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Play DeadBrian De Palma
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mission to MarsSteve Shill
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ObsessedMJ Bassett
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Endangered SpeciesJohn R. Leonetti
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Wish UponMike Binder
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Man About TownJack Plotnick
Director
1 film together · 4.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Space Station 76Tom Hines
Director
1 film together · 4.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BallbusterSix 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
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
as Clark Kent / Superman (voice)
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 Secret: Dare to Dream
as Tucker Wells
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Stand by Me
as Vern Tessio
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Stop! That! Train!
as Bickering Husband
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
as Clark Kent / Superman (voice)
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. Jerry O'Connell 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
40 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
13 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
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
as Clark Kent / Superman (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Batman: Hush
as Superman / Kal-El / Clark Kent (voice)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
The Secret: Dare to Dream
as Tucker Wells
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Scream 2
as Derek
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
as Clark Kent / Superman (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Endangered Species
as Mitch Hanover
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Veronica Mars
as Sheriff Dan Lamb
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Stop! That! Train!
as Bickering Husband
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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Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Morgan Freeman
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Jamie Harris
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Have your say
Community
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Reference
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