Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#941
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Joaquin Phoenix represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 39 years in, and Joaquin is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Joaquin Phoenix appears in 38 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Joaquin. Gladiator is the clearest case: a film rated 8.5 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 western, comedy, crime. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Ari Aster, Todd Phillips, Ridley Scott and others, Joaquin Phoenix 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.
Gladiator (2000) as Commodus · Joker (2019) as Arthur Fleck · Joker: Put on a Happy Face (2020) as Self
Career snapshot
Ranked #941 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
38
1986–2025
Career length
39 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.5
Gladiator
Average Nutevio score
6.8
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.2
Gladiator
Most frequent director
Ari Aster
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Ari Aster
Most common genre
Drama
30 titles
Average runtime
1h 56m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.2
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
7.0
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
7.0 average MV
The 2000s are where the work and the material meet. Two Lovers, Reservation Road, We Own the Night — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2000s
7.0
Across 14 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2000s
7.0
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. Parenthood, SpaceCamp.
Most productive era
2000s
14 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 | 6.71 film | 6.54 films | 6.911 films | 6.811 films | 6.33 films |
| Action | — | — | 7.52 films | — | — |
| Thriller | — | 6.52 films | 6.57 films | 7.52 films | 5.41 film |
| Comedy | 6.71 film | 6.61 film | 6.31 film | 6.55 films | 6.62 films |
| Crime | — | 6.62 films | 6.44 films | 7.52 films | 6.02 films |
| Romance | — | 6.53 films | 7.22 films | 7.22 films | 7.11 film |
| Horror | — | — | 6.71 film | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1986SpaceCamp
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Max.
Highest rated performance
2000Gladiator
8.5 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Career peak
2019Joker
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2025Eddington
The current state of the argument, as Joe Cross.
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.
38 of 38 films
as Arthur Fleck
Directed by Todd Phillips
as Commodus
Directed by Ridley Scott
as Theodore
Directed by Spike Jonze
as John R. Cash
Directed by James Mangold
as Narrator (voice)
Directed by Shaun Monson
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
Arthur Fleck
Joker (2019)
Performance score8.8
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Arthur Fleck gives Joaquin Phoenix a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Commodus
Gladiator (2000)
Performance score8.7
Gladiator asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Commodus is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Theodore
Her (2013)
Performance score8.5
Her asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Theodore is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
John R. Cash
Walk the Line (2005)
Performance score8.1
Walk the Line asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. John R. Cash 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 Arthur Fleck
Start here. Joker is the clearest statement of what Joaquin Phoenix does — accessible, 122 minutes, and rated 8.4 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Joaquin 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.
Gladiator (2000)
Keeps the drama register of Joker but asks for a colder reading of it.
Walk the Line (2005)
Keeps the drama register of Gladiator but asks for a colder reading of it.
Earthlings (2005)
A deliberate change of key after Walk the Line — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Her (2013)
A deliberate change of key after Earthlings — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
M. Night Shyamalan
Director
2 films together
Notably Signs
Terry George
Director
2 films together
Notably Hotel Rwanda
Paul Thomas Anderson
Director
2 films together
Notably The Master
Gus Van Sant
Director
2 films together
Notably Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
Ridley Scott
Director
2 films together
Notably Gladiator
Todd Phillips
Director
2 films together
Notably Joker
Ari Aster
Director
2 films together
Notably Beau Is Afraid
Harry Winer
Director
1 film together
Notably SpaceCamp
Ron Howard
Director
1 film together
Notably Parenthood
Oliver Stone
Director
1 film together
Notably U Turn
Philip Kaufman
Director
1 film together
Notably Quills
Gregor Jordan
Director
1 film together
Notably Buffalo Soldiers
Robert Walker
Director
1 film together
Notably Brother Bear
James Mangold
Director
1 film together
Notably Walk the Line
Shaun Monson
Director
1 film together
Notably Earthlings
Casey Affleck
Director
1 film together
Notably I'm Still Here
Spike Jonze
Director
1 film together
Notably Her
Woody Allen
Director
1 film together
Notably Irrational Man
Jacques Audiard
Director
1 film together
Notably The Sisters Brothers
Garth Davis
Director
1 film together
Notably Mary Magdalene
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Ridley Scott
Director
2 films together · 7.4 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
GladiatorTerry George
Director
2 films together · 7.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Hotel RwandaTodd Phillips
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
JokerPaul Thomas Anderson
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
The MasterGus Van Sant
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
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on FootAri Aster
Director
2 films together · 6.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Beau Is AfraidM. Night Shyamalan
Director
2 films together · 6.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
SignsSpike Jonze
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HerJames Mangold
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Walk the LineShaun Monson
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
EarthlingsRobert Walker
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Brother BearPhilip Kaufman
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
QuillsJacques Audiard
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 Sisters BrothersRon Howard
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ParenthoodOliver Stone
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
U TurnWoody Allen
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Irrational ManGarth Davis
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mary MagdaleneGregor Jordan
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Buffalo SoldiersCasey Affleck
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
I'm Still HereHarry Winer
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SpaceCampSix 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
Joker
as Arthur Fleck
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Walk the Line
as John R. Cash
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Gladiator
as Commodus
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Joker: Put on a Happy Face
as Self
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Joker
as Arthur Fleck
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. Joaquin Phoenix 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
39 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
30 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
Gladiator
as Commodus
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Joker
as Arthur Fleck
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
The Immigrant
as Bruno Weiss
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Village
as Lucius Hunt
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Gladiator
as Commodus
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Gladiator
as Commodus
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Buffalo Soldiers
as Ray Elwood
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Joker
as Arthur Fleck
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
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
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
Harry Dean Stanton
Works with the same directors — Ridley Scott
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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