Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1863
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Kevin Kline represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 43 years in, and Kevin is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Kevin Kline appears in 34 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Kevin. Chaplin is the clearest case: a film rated 7.4 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 romance, fantasy, drama. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Kogonada, Loren Bouchard, Billy Crystal and others, Kevin Kline 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.
Chaplin (1992) as Douglas Fairbanks · The Road to El Dorado (2000) as Tulio (voice) · The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) as Phoebus (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #1863 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
34
1982–2025
Career length
43 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.4
Chaplin
Average Nutevio score
6.2
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.4
Chaplin
Most frequent director
Lawrence Kasdan
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With Lawrence Kasdan
Most common genre
Comedy
19 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
6.7
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. A Fish Called Wanda, Cry Freedom, Silverado — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
7.0
Across 5 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1980s
7.1
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. A Fish Called Wanda, Cry Freedom, Silverado.
Most productive era
1990s
8 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 | 6.94 films | 7.04 films | 6.53 films | 6.22 films | 6.64 films |
| Action | 6.81 film | 5.61 film | — | — | — |
| Comedy | 6.92 films | 6.35 films | 6.36 films | 6.23 films | 6.73 films |
| Crime | 7.11 film | — | 5.91 film | 6.61 film | 6.91 film |
| Romance | 7.11 film | 6.43 films | 6.22 films | 6.72 films | 6.22 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1982Sophie's Choice
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Nathan Landau.
Highest rated performance
1992Chaplin
7.4 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Career peak
2001Life as a House
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2025A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
The current state of the argument, as The Mechanic.
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.
34 of 34 films
as George Monroe
Directed by Irwin Winkler
as Tulio (voice)
Directed by Bibo Bergeron
as Phoebus (voice)
Directed by Kirk Wise
as Donald Woods
Directed by Richard Attenborough
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
George Monroe
Life as a House (2001)
Performance score7.7
The performance the rest of the career is read through. George Monroe gives Kevin Kline a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Tulio (voice)
The Road to El Dorado (2000)
Performance score7.6
The Road to El Dorado asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Tulio (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Phoebus (voice)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Performance score7.6
The Hunchback of Notre Dame asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Phoebus (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Donald Woods
Cry Freedom (1987)
Performance score7.6
Cry Freedom asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Donald Woods 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 Monroe
Start here. Life as a House is the clearest statement of what Kevin Kline does — accessible, 125 minutes, and rated 7.1 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Kevin 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.
Cry Freedom (1987)
Keeps the drama register of Life as a House but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Keeps the drama register of Cry Freedom but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Ice Storm (1997)
Keeps the drama register of The Hunchback of Notre Dame but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Road to El Dorado (2000)
A deliberate change of key after The Ice Storm — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Lawrence Kasdan
Director
3 films together
Notably Silverado
Richard Attenborough
Director
2 films together
Notably Chaplin
Ivan Reitman
Director
2 films together
Notably Dave
Alan J. Pakula
Director
1 film together
Notably Sophie's Choice
Charles Crichton
Director
1 film together
Notably A Fish Called Wanda
Kirk Wise
Director
1 film together
Notably The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Robert Young
Director
1 film together
Notably Fierce Creatures
Ang Lee
Director
1 film together
Notably The Ice Storm
Michael Hoffman
Director
1 film together
Notably A Midsummer Night's Dream
Barry Sonnenfeld
Director
1 film together
Notably Wild Wild West
Bibo Bergeron
Director
1 film together
Notably The Road to El Dorado
Irwin Winkler
Director
1 film together
Notably Life as a House
Bradley Raymond
Director
1 film together
Notably The Hunchback of Notre Dame II
Jake Kasdan
Director
1 film together
Notably Orange County
Robert Altman
Director
1 film together
Notably A Prairie Home Companion
Shawn Levy
Director
1 film together
Notably The Pink Panther
Adam Brooks
Director
1 film together
Notably Definitely, Maybe
Robert Redford
Director
1 film together
Notably The Conspirator
Jon Turteltaub
Director
1 film together
Notably Last Vegas
Jonathan Demme
Director
1 film together
Notably Ricki and the Flash
Bill Condon
Director
1 film together
Notably Beauty and the Beast
Wallace Wolodarsky
Director
1 film together
Notably The Good House
Theodore Melfi
Director
1 film together
Notably The Starling
Billy Crystal
Director
1 film together
Notably Here Today
Loren Bouchard
Director
1 film together
Notably The Bob's Burgers Movie
Kogonada
Director
1 film together
Notably A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Lawrence Kasdan
Director
3 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
SilveradoRichard Attenborough
Director
2 films together · 7.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
ChaplinIvan Reitman
Director
2 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
DaveBibo Bergeron
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 Road to El DoradoKirk Wise
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 Hunchback of Notre DameIrwin Winkler
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Life as a HouseCharles Crichton
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Fish Called WandaAlan J. Pakula
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Sophie's ChoiceBilly Crystal
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Here TodayBill Condon
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Beauty and the BeastLoren Bouchard
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 Bob's Burgers MovieTheodore Melfi
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 StarlingAdam Brooks
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Definitely, MaybeAng Lee
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 Ice StormRobert Redford
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 ConspiratorJon Turteltaub
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Last VegasMichael Hoffman
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Midsummer Night's DreamRobert Altman
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Prairie Home CompanionKogonada
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 Big Bold Beautiful JourneyWallace Wolodarsky
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Good HouseRobert Young
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fierce CreaturesJake Kasdan
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Orange CountyShawn Levy
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 Pink PantherJonathan Demme
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ricki and the FlashBarry Sonnenfeld
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Wild Wild WestBradley Raymond
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Hunchback of Notre Dame IISix 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
Chaplin
as Douglas Fairbanks
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 Hunchback of Notre Dame
as Phoebus (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
Chaplin
as Douglas Fairbanks
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Orange County
as Marcus Skinner (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Life as a House
as George Monroe
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. Kevin Kline 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
43 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
19 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
The Road to El Dorado
as Tulio (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Bob's Burgers Movie
as Calvin Fischoeder (voice)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
as The Mechanic
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Bob's Burgers Movie
as Calvin Fischoeder (voice)
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Silverado
as Paden
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Wild Wild West
as U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon / President Grant
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Hunchback of Notre Dame II
as Phoebus (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Wild Wild West
as U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon / President Grant
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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