Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#890
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Kiefer Sutherland represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 40 years in, and Kiefer is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Kiefer Sutherland appears in 33 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Kiefer. Stand by Me 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, mystery, drama. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Justin Chadwick, Chris Foggin, Clint Eastwood and others, Kiefer Sutherland 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.
Stand by Me (1986) as Ace Merrill · A Few Good Men (1992) as Lt. Jonathan Kendrick · A Time to Kill (1996) as Freddie Lee Cobb
Career snapshot
Ranked #890 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
33
1986–2026
Career length
40 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.9
Stand by Me
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.8
Stand by Me
Most frequent director
Joel Schumacher
5 films together
Longest collaboration
5×
With Joel Schumacher
Most common genre
Drama
16 titles
Average runtime
1h 40m
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
6.6
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
7.1 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. Young Guns, The Lost Boys, Stand by Me — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
7.1
Across 4 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. Young Guns, The Lost Boys, Stand by Me.
Most productive era
1990s
10 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 | 7.32 films | 6.78 films | — | 6.23 films | 6.43 films |
| Action | 6.71 film | 6.01 film | — | 5.32 films | 6.13 films |
| Thriller | 6.92 films | 6.55 films | 6.72 films | 5.72 films | 6.34 films |
| Comedy | 7.11 film | 6.32 films | 6.11 film | 5.12 films | 6.22 films |
| Crime | 6.81 film | 6.63 films | 6.91 film | 5.71 film | 6.21 film |
| Romance | — | — | — | — | 5.81 film |
| Horror | 7.11 film | 6.73 films | — | 5.71 film | 6.11 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio · Highest rated performance · Career peak
1986Stand by Me
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Ace Merrill. 7.9 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 Capt. Jordan Wright.
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.
33 of 33 films
as Ace Merrill
Directed by Rob Reiner
as Lt. Jonathan Kendrick
Directed by Rob Reiner
as John
Directed by Lars von Trier
as Dr. Daniel P. Schreber
Directed by Alex Proyas
as Lt. Philip Francis Queeg
Directed by William Friedkin
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
Ace Merrill
Stand by Me (1986)
Performance score7.9
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Ace Merrill gives Kiefer Sutherland a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Lt. Jonathan Kendrick
A Few Good Men (1992)
Performance score7.7
A Few Good Men asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Lt. Jonathan Kendrick is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
John
Melancholia (2011)
Performance score7.6
Melancholia asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. John is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Dr. Daniel P. Schreber
Dark City (1998)
Performance score7.6
Dark City asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Dr. Daniel P. Schreber 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 Ace Merrill
Start here. Stand by Me is the clearest statement of what Kiefer Sutherland does — accessible, 89 minutes, and rated 7.9 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Kiefer 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.
A Few Good Men (1992)
Same director as Stand by Me, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
Dark City (1998)
A deliberate change of key after A Few Good Men — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Melancholia (2011)
Keeps the science fiction register of Dark City but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)
Keeps the drama register of Melancholia but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Joel Schumacher
Director
5 films together
Notably A Time to Kill
Rob Reiner
Director
2 films together
Notably Stand by Me
James Foley
Director
1 film together
Notably At Close Range
Christopher Cain
Director
1 film together
Notably Young Guns
Geoff Murphy
Director
1 film together
Notably Young Guns II
David Lynch
Director
1 film together
Notably Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
George Sluizer
Director
1 film together
Notably The Vanishing
Gregg Champion
Director
1 film together
Notably The Cowboy Way
John Schlesinger
Director
1 film together
Notably Eye for an Eye
Alex Proyas
Director
1 film together
Notably Dark City
D.J. Caruso
Director
1 film together
Notably Taking Lives
Peter Ramsey
Director
1 film together
Notably Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space
Rob Letterman
Director
1 film together
Notably Monsters vs Aliens
Lars von Trier
Director
1 film together
Notably Melancholia
Jon Cassar
Director
1 film together
Notably Forsaken
Ben Stiller
Director
1 film together
Notably Zoolander 2
Niels Arden Oplev
Director
1 film together
Notably Flatliners
Greg Nicotero
Director
1 film together
Notably A Creepshow Animated Special
Tarik Saleh
Director
1 film together
Notably The Contractor
William Friedkin
Director
1 film together
Notably The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
Clint Eastwood
Director
1 film together
Notably Juror #2
Chris Foggin
Director
1 film together
Notably Tinsel Town
Justin Chadwick
Director
1 film together
Notably Brothers Under Fire
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Joel Schumacher
Director
5 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 5 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
A Time to KillRob Reiner
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
Stand by MeAlex Proyas
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dark CityDavid Lynch
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with MeLars von Trier
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MelancholiaClint Eastwood
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Juror #2James Foley
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
At Close RangeWilliam Friedkin
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 Caine Mutiny Court-MartialChristopher Cain
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Young GunsRob Letterman
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Monsters vs AliensGeoff Murphy
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Young Guns IITarik Saleh
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The ContractorD.J. Caruso
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Taking LivesJohn 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 EyeJon Cassar
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ForsakenGeorge Sluizer
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 VanishingGreg Nicotero
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Creepshow Animated SpecialPeter Ramsey
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mutant Pumpkins from Outer SpaceGregg Champion
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Cowboy WayChris Foggin
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Tinsel TownJustin Chadwick
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Brothers Under FireNiels Arden Oplev
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
FlatlinersBen Stiller
Director
1 film together · 4.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Zoolander 2Six 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
A Few Good Men
as Lt. Jonathan Kendrick
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Stand by Me
as Ace Merrill
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 Ace Merrill
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
as Sam Stanley
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Stand by Me
as Ace Merrill
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. Kiefer Sutherland 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.
Drama Legend
Awarded
16 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
Dark City
as Dr. Daniel P. Schreber
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
as Sam Stanley
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Stand by Me
as Ace Merrill
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
They Cloned Tyrone
as Nixon
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Stand by Me
as Ace Merrill
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
The Cowboy Way
as Sonny Gilstrap
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Cowboy Way
as Sonny Gilstrap
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
The Cowboy Way
as Sonny Gilstrap
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
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Reference
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