Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1033
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Martin Sheen represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 53 years in, and Martin is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Martin Sheen appears in 35 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Martin. The Departed 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 documentary, action, drama. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Shaka King, Thomas Schlamme, Edward James Olmos and others, Martin Sheen 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.
The Departed (2006) as Queenan · The Departed (2006) as Queenan · Apocalypse Now (1979) as Captain Benjamin Willard
Career snapshot
Ranked #1033 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
35
1970–2023
Career length
53 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.0
The Departed
Average Nutevio score
6.9
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.5
The Departed
Most frequent director
Marc Webb
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Marc Webb
Most common genre
Drama
22 titles
Average runtime
2h 1m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.3
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
7.2
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
7.3 average MV
The 2000s are where the work and the material meet. Imagine That, Love Happens, The Departed — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2000s
7.3
Across 6 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1970s
7.4
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1970s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Apocalypse Now, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, Badlands.
Most productive era
2010s
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 | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.53 films | 7.32 films | 7.03 films | 7.65 films | 6.15 films | 7.14 films |
| Action | — | 6.61 film | 6.33 films | — | 6.92 films | 7.21 film |
| Thriller | 6.81 film | 6.72 films | 6.52 films | 8.72 films | 5.31 film | — |
| Comedy | 6.61 film | — | 6.61 film | 6.01 film | 6.14 films | — |
| Crime | 7.31 film | 7.11 film | 6.71 film | 8.53 films | — | — |
| Romance | 7.31 film | — | — | 5.81 film | 6.22 films | — |
| Horror | — | 6.72 films | 5.51 film | — | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1970Catch-22
Where our catalogue meets this career, as 1st Lt. Dobbs.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2006The Departed
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
2023Downwind
The current state of the argument, as Self Narrator.
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.
35 of 35 films
as Queenan
Directed by Martin Scorsese
as Captain Benjamin Willard
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
as Josiah Bartlet
Directed by Thomas Schlamme
as Queenan
Directed by Martin Scorsese
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Showing 24 of 42 titles · 42 total credits · active 1970–2026
The American Experiment
2026 · TV · George Washington
aka Charlie Sheen
2025 · TV · Self (archive footage)
Downwind
2023 · Self Narrator
12 Mighty Orphans
2021 · Doc Hall
Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed
2021 · Narrator
Judas and the Black Messiah
2021 · J. Edgar Hoover
Princess of the Row
2020 · John Austin
A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote
2020 · Josiah Bartlet
Gay Byrne's Late Late Moments
2020 · TV · Self (archive footage)
The Devil Has a Name
2019 · Ralph
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
2016 · Martin Sheen
Rules Don't Apply
2016 · Noah Dietrich
Grace and Frankie
2015 · TV · Robert Hanson
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
2014 · Uncle Ben (uncredited)
Selma
2014 · Frank Minis Johnson (uncredited)
Ask Me Anything
2014 · Actor
The Amazing Spider-Man
2012 · Uncle Ben
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
2012 · Frank Petersen
Anger Management
2012 · TV · Martin Goodson
Imagine That
2009 · Dante D'Enzo
Love Happens
2009 · Donald, Burke's Father-in-Law
The Departed
2006 · Queenan
Bobby
2006 · Jack Stevens
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
2006 · TV · Radio Host
The defining work
#1
Queenan
The Departed (2006)
Performance score8.9
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Queenan gives Martin Sheen a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Captain Benjamin Willard
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Performance score8.8
Apocalypse Now asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Captain Benjamin Willard is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Josiah Bartlet
A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote (2020)
Performance score8.4
A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Josiah Bartlet is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Queenan
The Departed (2006)
Performance score8.3
The Departed asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Queenan 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 Queenan
Start here. The Departed is the clearest statement of what Martin Sheen does — accessible, 151 minutes, and rated 9.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Martin 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.
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Keeps the drama register of The Departed but asks for a colder reading of it.
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Keeps the drama register of Apocalypse Now but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Departed (2006)
Keeps the crime register of Catch Me If You Can but asks for a colder reading of it.
A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote (2020)
Keeps the drama register of The Departed but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Oliver Stone
Director
2 films together
Notably JFK
Martin Scorsese
Director
2 films together
Notably The Departed
Marc Webb
Director
2 films together
Notably The Amazing Spider-Man
Mike Nichols
Director
1 film together
Notably Catch-22
Terrence Malick
Director
1 film together
Notably Badlands
Nicolas Gessner
Director
1 film together
Notably The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane
Francis Ford Coppola
Director
1 film together
Notably Apocalypse Now
Don Taylor
Director
1 film together
Notably The Final Countdown
Richard Attenborough
Director
1 film together
Notably Gandhi
David Cronenberg
Director
1 film together
Notably The Dead Zone
Mark L. Lester
Director
1 film together
Notably Firestarter
Fax Bahr
Director
1 film together
Notably Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
Jim Abrahams
Director
1 film together
Notably Hot Shots! Part Deux
Ronald F. Maxwell
Director
1 film together
Notably Gettysburg
Albert Hughes
Director
1 film together
Notably Dead Presidents
Steven Spielberg
Director
1 film together
Notably Catch Me If You Can
Emilio Estevez
Director
1 film together
Notably Bobby
Karey Kirkpatrick
Director
1 film together
Notably Imagine That
Lorene Scafaria
Director
1 film together
Notably Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Ava DuVernay
Director
1 film together
Notably Selma
Warren Beatty
Director
1 film together
Notably Rules Don't Apply
Jorma Taccone
Director
1 film together
Notably Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Edward James Olmos
Director
1 film together
Notably The Devil Has a Name
Thomas Schlamme
Director
1 film together
Notably A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote
Shaka King
Director
1 film together
Notably Judas and the Black Messiah
Matt Damon
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Leonardo DiCaprio
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Jack Nicholson
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Mark Wahlberg
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Ray Winstone
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Vera Farmiga
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Anthony Anderson
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Alec Baldwin
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Kevin Corrigan
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
James Badge Dale
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
David O'Hara
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Mark Rolston
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Martin Scorsese
Director
2 films together · 8.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The DepartedOliver Stone
Director
2 films together · 7.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
JFKMarc Webb
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
The Amazing Spider-ManFrancis Ford Coppola
Director
1 film together · 8.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Apocalypse NowSteven Spielberg
Director
1 film together · 8.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Catch Me If You CanThomas Schlamme
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All VoteAva DuVernay
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SelmaRichard Attenborough
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GandhiShaka 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 MessiahFax Bahr
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's ApocalypseTerrence Malick
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BadlandsDavid Cronenberg
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Dead ZoneRonald F. Maxwell
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GettysburgNicolas Gessner
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 Little Girl Who Lives Down the LaneAlbert 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 PresidentsJorma Taccone
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Popstar: Never Stop Never StoppingLorene Scafaria
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Seeking a Friend for the End of the WorldJim Abrahams
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hot Shots! Part DeuxDon Taylor
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 Final CountdownMike Nichols
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Catch-22Emilio Estevez
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BobbyMark L. Lester
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
FirestarterKarey Kirkpatrick
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Imagine ThatWarren Beatty
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Rules Don't ApplyEdward James Olmos
Director
1 film together · 5.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Devil Has a NameSix 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 Departed
as Queenan
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
JFK
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
The Departed
as Queenan
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
JFK
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
The Departed
as Queenan
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. Martin Sheen has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
| Nutevio Performer Score | 8.0 | 9.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Career ranking | #427 of 681 | #1 of 681 |
| Awards on file | Unknown | 3 recorded |
| Oscar wins | Unknown | 1 |
| Oscar nominations | Unknown | 5 |
| Average Nutevio score | 9.0 | 9.1 |
| Genres | Crime, Thriller, Drama | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, History |
| Directors | Martin Scorsese | Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese |
| Performance DNA | Intensity, Quiet performance, Drama | Transformation, Drama, Screen presence |
| Career timeline | 2006–2006 | 2006–2026 |
| Most iconic role | Queenan — The Departed | Odysseus — The Odyssey |
| Most rewatchable film | The Departed | Interstellar |
| Filmography | 1 catalogue film | 4 catalogue films |
Films together
The Departed
Shared directors
Martin Scorsese
Shared collections
Top 100 Crime Movies, Thriller Movies, Crime Movies, Drama Movies
Collaborators in common
Martin Scorsese · Leonardo DiCaprio · Jack Nicholson · Mark Wahlberg
Matt Damon edges ahead here — a higher floor across a comparable body of work.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
53 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
22 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
The Departed
as Queenan
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Departed
as Queenan
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Selma
as Frank Minis Johnson (uncredited)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane
as Frank Hallet
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The Departed
as Queenan
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
as Uncle Ben (uncredited)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
as Frank Petersen
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
The Departed
as Queenan
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
Across the library
Every Nutevio collection this name turns up in, and how high they rank there.
Collection footprint
Appears in 4 Nutevio collections
Keep reading
From the magazine
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Robert De Niro
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Al Pacino
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Leonardo DiCaprio
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
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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