Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#7
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Keith David represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 46 years in, and Keith is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Keith David appears in 95 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Keith. Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II is the clearest case: a film rated 9.0 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, drama, animation. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with BenDavid Grabinski, Ian Nathan, Destin Daniel Cretton and others, Keith David 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.
Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II (2025) as The Depression Demon (voice) · The Thing Expanded (2026) as Self · Hazbin Hotel: Live on Broadway (2025) as (voice) (uncredited)
Career snapshot
Ranked #7 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
95
1982–2028
Career length
46 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.0
Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II
Average Nutevio score
6.1
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
9.0
Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II
Most frequent director
David A. Weiner
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With David A. Weiner
Most common genre
Comedy
41 titles
Average runtime
1h 48m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.0
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
6.9
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
7.0 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. Road House, Always, Bird — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
7.0
Across 7 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1980s
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. Road House, Always, Bird.
Most productive era
2020s
32 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 | 6.93 films | 6.38 films | 6.97 films | 6.53 films | 5.58 films |
| Action | 7.04 films | 6.55 films | 5.916 films | 6.63 films | 5.66 films |
| Thriller | 7.02 films | 6.16 films | 6.18 films | 5.91 film | 5.85 films |
| Comedy | — | 6.46 films | 5.915 films | 6.08 films | 6.012 films |
| Crime | — | 6.34 films | 6.65 films | 6.92 films | 6.24 films |
| Romance | 6.21 film | 6.74 films | 6.74 films | 6.11 film | 7.71 film |
| Horror | 8.21 film | 5.81 film | — | 6.14 films | 6.16 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1982The Thing
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Childs.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2025Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 9.0 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
The current state of the argument, as The Depression Demon (voice).
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.
95 of 95 films
as The Depression Demon (voice)
Directed by Unknown
as Childs
Directed by John Carpenter
as The Cat (voice)
Directed by Henry Selick
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
The Depression Demon (voice)
Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II (2025)
Performance score9.1
The performance the rest of the career is read through. The Depression Demon (voice) gives Keith David a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Self
The Thing Expanded (2026)
Performance score8.7
The Thing Expanded asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Childs
The Thing (1982)
Performance score8.2
The Thing asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Childs is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
The Cat (voice)
Coraline (2009)
Performance score8.1
Coraline asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. The Cat (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 The Depression Demon (voice)
Start here. Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II is the clearest statement of what Keith David does — accessible, 14 minutes, and rated 9.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Keith 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.
The Thing (1982)
A deliberate change of key after Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Coraline (2009)
A deliberate change of key after The Thing — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Hazbin Hotel: Live on Broadway (2025)
A deliberate change of key after Coraline — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Thing Expanded (2026)
A deliberate change of key after Hazbin Hotel: Live on Broadway — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
David A. Weiner
Director
3 films together
Notably In Search of Darkness: Part II
John Carpenter
Director
2 films together
Notably The Thing
David Twohy
Director
2 films together
Notably Pitch Black
John Musker
Director
2 films together
Notably Hercules
Oliver Stone
Director
1 film together
Notably Platoon
Aaron Norris
Director
1 film together
Notably Braddock: Missing in Action III
Clint Eastwood
Director
1 film together
Notably Bird
Steven Spielberg
Director
1 film together
Notably Always
Rowdy Herrington
Director
1 film together
Notably Road House
Emilio Estevez
Director
1 film together
Notably Men at Work
Dwight H. Little
Director
1 film together
Notably Marked for Death
Phil Joanou
Director
1 film together
Notably Final Analysis
Stuart Orme
Director
1 film together
Notably The Puppet Masters
Ben Stiller
Director
1 film together
Notably Reality Bites
Albert Hughes
Director
1 film together
Notably Dead Presidents
Spike Lee
Director
1 film together
Notably Clockers
Sam Raimi
Director
1 film together
Notably The Quick and the Dead
John Schlesinger
Director
1 film together
Notably Eye for an Eye
Howard Franklin
Director
1 film together
Notably Larger Than Life
Mick Jackson
Director
1 film together
Notably Volcano
Michael Bay
Director
1 film together
Notably Armageddon
Bobby Farrelly
Director
1 film together
Notably There's Something About Mary
Matt Williams
Director
1 film together
Notably Where the Heart Is
Howard Deutch
Director
1 film together
Notably The Replacements
Darren Aronofsky
Director
1 film together
Notably Requiem for a Dream
Tim Story
Director
1 film together
Notably Barbershop
Chris Rock
Director
1 film together
Notably Head of State
Ron Shelton
Director
1 film together
Notably Hollywood Homicide
Kevin Allen
Director
1 film together
Notably Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London
Peter Chung
Director
1 film together
Notably The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury
Paul Haggis
Director
1 film together
Notably Crash
Louis Leterrier
Director
1 film together
Notably Transporter 2
Doug Liman
Director
1 film together
Notably Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Chris Robinson
Director
1 film together
Notably ATL
George Gallo
Director
1 film together
Notably My Mom's New Boyfriend
Dave Bullock
Director
1 film together
Notably Justice League: The New Frontier
Craig Mazin
Director
1 film together
Notably Superhero Movie
Tim Matheson
Director
1 film together
Notably Behind Enemy Lines III: Colombia
Phil Traill
Director
1 film together
Notably All About Steve
Brian Taylor
Director
1 film together
Notably Gamer
Henry Selick
Director
1 film together
Notably Coraline
Erik White
Director
1 film together
Notably Lottery Ticket
Neil LaBute
Director
1 film together
Notably Death at a Funeral
Lilly Wachowski
Director
1 film together
Notably Cloud Atlas
Uwe Boll
Director
1 film together
Notably Assault on Wall Street
Shane Black
Director
1 film together
Notably The Nice Guys
Malcolm D. Lee
Director
1 film together
Notably Night School
Brian Kirk
Director
1 film together
Notably 21 Bridges
Brett Simmons
Director
1 film together
Notably You Might Be the Killer
Robert Luketic
Director
1 film together
Notably The Wedding Year
Shinsuke Terasawa
Director
1 film together
Notably Catwoman: Hunted
Debra Neil-Fisher
Director
1 film together
Notably Unplugging
Jordan Peele
Director
1 film together
Notably Nope
Cord Jefferson
Director
1 film together
Notably American Fiction
Menhaj Huda
Director
1 film together
Notably Heist 88
Maureen Bharoocha
Director
1 film together
Notably The Prank
Barry Jenkins
Director
1 film together
Notably Mufasa: The Lion King
Joe DeMaio
Director
1 film together
Notably Hazbin Hotel: Live on Broadway
Brian Ward
Director
1 film together
Notably What is an Ocean… Reconnecting the Cast and Crew of Cloud Atlas
Rob Edwards
Director
1 film together
Notably Sneaks
Destin Daniel Cretton
Director
1 film together
Notably Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Ian Nathan
Director
1 film together
Notably The Thing Expanded
BenDavid Grabinski
Director
1 film together
Notably Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
David A. Weiner
Director
3 films together · 7.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
In Search of Darkness: Part IIJohn Carpenter
Director
2 films together · 7.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The ThingJohn Musker
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
HerculesDavid Twohy
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
Pitch BlackIan Nathan
Director
1 film together · 8.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Thing ExpandedJoe DeMaio
Director
1 film together · 8.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hazbin Hotel: Live on BroadwayHenry Selick
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CoralineDarren Aronofsky
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Requiem for a DreamOliver Stone
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
PlatoonDestin Daniel Cretton
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Spider-Man: Brand New DayBarry Jenkins
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mufasa: The Lion KingCord Jefferson
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
American FictionPaul Haggis
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CrashShane Black
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Nice GuysMatt Williams
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Where the Heart IsChris Robinson
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ATLMichael Bay
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ArmageddonLilly Wachowski
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cloud AtlasDoug Liman
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mr. & Mrs. SmithJordan Peele
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
NopeBrian Kirk
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
21 BridgesDave Bullock
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Justice League: The New FrontierRowdy Herrington
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Road HouseBenDavid Grabinski
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mike & Nick & Nick & AliceMenhaj Huda
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Heist 88Howard Deutch
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 ReplacementsBobby Farrelly
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
There's Something About MarySpike Lee
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ClockersAlbert 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
Dead PresidentsClint Eastwood
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BirdSam Raimi
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 Quick and the DeadTim Story
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BarbershopBen Stiller
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Reality BitesLouis Leterrier
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Transporter 2John Schlesinger
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Eye for an EyeSteven Spielberg
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AlwaysMalcolm D. Lee
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Night SchoolPeter Chung
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark FuryDwight H. Little
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Marked for DeathMick Jackson
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
VolcanoAaron Norris
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Braddock: Missing in Action IIIRob Edwards
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SneaksRobert Luketic
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Wedding YearUwe Boll
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Assault on Wall StreetNeil LaBute
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Death at a FuneralShinsuke Terasawa
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Catwoman: HuntedBrett Simmons
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
You Might Be the KillerStuart Orme
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Puppet MastersPhil Joanou
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Final AnalysisBrian Taylor
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GamerTim Matheson
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Behind Enemy Lines III: ColombiaEmilio Estevez
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Men at WorkMaureen Bharoocha
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The PrankErik White
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Lottery TicketKevin Allen
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination LondonChris Rock
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Head of StateHoward Franklin
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Larger Than LifeGeorge Gallo
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
My Mom's New BoyfriendCraig Mazin
Director
1 film together · 5.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Superhero MovieRon Shelton
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hollywood HomicidePhil Traill
Director
1 film together · 5.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
All About SteveDebra Neil-Fisher
Director
1 film together · 4.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
UnpluggingBrian Ward
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
What is an Ocean… Reconnecting the Cast and Crew of Cloud AtlasSix 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 Thing
as Childs
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Coraline
as The Cat (voice)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II
as The Depression Demon (voice)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Requiem for a Dream
as Big Tim
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II
as The Depression Demon (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. Keith David 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
46 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
41 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
Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II
as The Depression Demon (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II
as The Depression Demon (voice)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Entergalactic
as Mr. Rager (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Clockers
as André the Giant
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II
as The Depression Demon (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
as Narrator of Spider Video (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Hercules
as Apollo the Sun God (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Braddock: Missing in Action III
as Embassy Gate Captain
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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Have your say
Community
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