Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#3496
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Lil Rel Howery works on versatility rather than volume, and the catalogue keeps proving that the quieter choice was the correct one.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Lil Rel Howery appears in 38 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Lil. Haunted Heist is the clearest case: a film rated 9.7 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 comedy, adventure, romance. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Peter Atencio, Mark Gantt, Lil Rel Howery and others, Lil Rel Howery 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.
Haunted Heist (2026) as Ron · Luck (2022) as Marvin (voice) · Clouds (2020) as Mr. Weaver
Career snapshot
Ranked #3496 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
38
2018–2027
Career length
9 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.7
Haunted Heist
Average Nutevio score
6.5
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
9.7
Haunted Heist
Most frequent director
Tim Story
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Tim Story
Most common genre
Comedy
29 titles
Average runtime
1h 35m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.9
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
6.4
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
2010s
6.8 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. Brittany Runs a Marathon, Good Boys, The Angry Birds Movie 2 — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
6.8
Across 6 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
6.8
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2010s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Brittany Runs a Marathon, Good Boys, The Angry Birds Movie 2.
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 | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.72 films | 6.810 films |
| Action | 6.92 films | 6.83 films |
| Thriller | 6.81 film | 5.81 film |
| Comedy | 6.85 films | 6.424 films |
| Romance | — | 5.84 films |
| Horror | 6.81 film | 7.82 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
2018Uncle Drew
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Dax Winslow.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2026Haunted Heist
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 9.7 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
2027Animal Friends
The current state of the argument.
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 Ron
Directed by Lil Rel Howery
as Buddy
Directed by Shawn Levy
as Mr. Weaver
Directed by Justin Baldoni
as Chief (voice)
Directed by Peter Hastings
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
Ron
Haunted Heist (2026)
Performance score9.5
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Ron gives Lil Rel Howery a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Marvin (voice)
Luck (2022)
Performance score7.8
Luck asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Marvin (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Buddy
Free Guy (2021)
Performance score7.8
Free Guy asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Buddy is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Mr. Weaver
Clouds (2020)
Performance score7.8
Clouds asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Mr. Weaver 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 Ron
Start here. Haunted Heist is the clearest statement of what Lil Rel Howery does — accessible, 87 minutes, and rated 9.7 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Lil 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.
Clouds (2020)
A deliberate change of key after Haunted Heist — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Free Guy (2021)
A deliberate change of key after Clouds — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Luck (2022)
Keeps the comedy register of Free Guy but asks for a colder reading of it.
Dog Man (2025)
Keeps the comedy register of Luck but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Clay Tarver
Director
2 films together
Notably Vacation Friends
Tim Story
Director
2 films together
Notably Tom & Jerry
Jeff Tomsic
Director
1 film together
Notably Tag
Susanne Bier
Director
1 film together
Notably Bird Box
Charles Stone III
Director
1 film together
Notably Uncle Drew
Thurop Van Orman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Angry Birds Movie 2
Gene Stupnitsky
Director
1 film together
Notably Good Boys
Stella Meghie
Director
1 film together
Notably The Photograph
Justin Baldoni
Director
1 film together
Notably Clouds
Shaka King
Director
1 film together
Notably Judas and the Black Messiah
Ric Roman Waugh
Director
1 film together
Notably National Champions
Franka Potente
Director
1 film together
Notably Home
Malcolm D. Lee
Director
1 film together
Notably Space Jam: A New Legacy
Shawn Levy
Director
1 film together
Notably Free Guy
Paul Weitz
Director
1 film together
Notably Fatherhood
Kitao Sakurai
Director
1 film together
Notably Bad Trip
Adrian Lyne
Director
1 film together
Notably Deep Water
Phil Traill
Director
1 film together
Notably Good Burger 2
Tyler Spindel
Director
1 film together
Notably The Out-Laws
Minhal Baig
Director
1 film together
Notably We Grown Now
Carlos Saldanha
Director
1 film together
Notably Harold and the Purple Crayon
Christopher Leone
Director
1 film together
Notably Code 3
Peter Hastings
Director
1 film together
Notably Dog Man
Lil Rel Howery
Director
1 film together
Notably Haunted Heist
Mark Gantt
Director
1 film together
Notably F Valentine's Day
Peter Atencio
Director
1 film together
Notably Animal Friends
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Clay Tarver
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
Vacation FriendsTim Story
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
Tom & JerryLil Rel Howery
Director
1 film together · 9.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Haunted HeistJustin Baldoni
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CloudsPaul Weitz
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
FatherhoodShawn Levy
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Free GuyPeter Hastings
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dog ManShaka King
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Judas and the Black MessiahChristopher Leone
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Code 3Thurop Van Orman
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 Angry Birds Movie 2Franka Potente
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HomeGene Stupnitsky
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Good BoysSusanne Bier
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Bird BoxCharles Stone III
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Uncle DrewJeff Tomsic
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TagCarlos Saldanha
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Harold and the Purple CrayonMalcolm D. Lee
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Space Jam: A New LegacyMinhal Baig
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
We Grown NowRic Roman Waugh
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
National ChampionsPhil Traill
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Good Burger 2Stella Meghie
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The PhotographKitao Sakurai
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Bad TripMark Gantt
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
F Valentine's DayTyler Spindel
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 Out-LawsAdrian Lyne
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Deep WaterPeter Atencio
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Animal FriendsSix 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
Haunted Heist
as Ron
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Clouds
as Mr. Weaver
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Haunted Heist
as Ron
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Space Jam: A New Legacy
as Game Announcer
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Haunted Heist
as Ron
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. Lil Rel Howery 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.
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
29 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
Haunted Heist
as Ron
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Haunted Heist
as Ron
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Clouds
as Mr. Weaver
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Deep Water
as Grant
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Haunted Heist
as Ron
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Dog Man
as Chief (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Luck
as Marvin (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Tom & Jerry
as Angel / Devil Tom (voice)
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
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Jamie Harris
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Have your say
Community
Which Lil Rel Howery performance holds up best?
Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
Join the conversation
Reference
Continue exploring
Trending performers
Directors they work with
Collections to read next
