Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#396
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Maya Rudolph represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 29 years in, and Maya is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Maya Rudolph appears in 46 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Maya. Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love is the clearest case: a film rated 8.3 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, comedy, tv movie. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Morgan Neville, Alex Timbers, Beth McCarthy-Miller and others, Maya Rudolph 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.
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love (2023) as Self - Guest · Big Hero 6 (2014) as Aunt Cass (voice) · Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince (2020) as Self
Career snapshot
Ranked #396 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
46
1997–2026
Career length
29 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.3
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
Average Nutevio score
6.4
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.3
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
Most frequent director
Paul Thomas Anderson
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Paul Thomas Anderson
Most common genre
Comedy
42 titles
Average runtime
1h 39m
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
6.5
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
1990s
7.5 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Gattaca, As Good as It Gets — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.5
Across 2 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
7.5
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1990s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Gattaca, As Good as It Gets.
Most productive era
2010s
23 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 | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.52 films | 6.23 films | 6.34 films | 6.91 film |
| Action | — | — | 6.75 films | 7.21 film |
| Comedy | 7.41 film | 6.37 films | 6.322 films | 6.212 films |
| Crime | — | — | 5.92 films | — |
| Romance | 7.41 film | 6.82 films | 5.94 films | 6.91 film |
| Horror | — | — | — | 5.91 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1997Gattaca
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Delivery Nurse.
Career peak
2021The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Highest rated performance
2023Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
8.3 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Most recent film
2026The Muppet Show
The current state of the argument, as Maya Rudolph.
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.
46 of 46 films
as Self - Guest
Directed by Paul Miller
as Linda (voice)
Directed by Mike Rianda
as Aunt Cass (voice)
Directed by Chris Williams
as Delivery Nurse
Directed by Andrew Niccol
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
Self - Guest
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love (2023)
Performance score8.0
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Self - Guest gives Maya Rudolph a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Linda (voice)
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
Performance score8.0
The Mitchells vs. the Machines asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Linda (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Aunt Cass (voice)
Big Hero 6 (2014)
Performance score7.8
Big Hero 6 asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Aunt Cass (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Self
Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince (2020)
Performance score7.7
Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince 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 movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Self - Guest
Start here. Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love is the clearest statement of what Maya Rudolph does — accessible, 84 minutes, and rated 8.3 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Maya 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.
Gattaca (1997)
A deliberate change of key after Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Big Hero 6 (2014)
A deliberate change of key after Gattaca — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince (2020)
A deliberate change of key after Big Hero 6 — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
A deliberate change of key after Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Dennis Dugan
Director
2 films together
Notably Grown Ups
Paul Thomas Anderson
Director
2 films together
Notably Licorice Pizza
James L. Brooks
Director
1 film together
Notably As Good as It Gets
Andrew Niccol
Director
1 film together
Notably Gattaca
Bruce Paltrow
Director
1 film together
Notably Duets
Danny DeVito
Director
1 film together
Notably Duplex
Adam McKay
Director
1 film together
Notably Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie
Peter Segal
Director
1 film together
Notably 50 First Dates
Robert Altman
Director
1 film together
Notably A Prairie Home Companion
Chris Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably Shrek the Third
Sam Mendes
Director
1 film together
Notably Away We Go
Paul Feig
Director
1 film together
Notably Bridesmaids
Frank Coraci
Director
1 film together
Notably Zookeeper
Jennifer Westfeldt
Director
1 film together
Notably Friends with Kids
Jim Rash
Director
1 film together
Notably The Way Way Back
Chris Williams
Director
1 film together
Notably Big Hero 6
Sofia Coppola
Director
1 film together
Notably A Very Murray Christmas
Jason Moore
Director
1 film together
Notably Sisters
Rebecca Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably Maggie's Plan
Jorma Taccone
Director
1 film together
Notably Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Dax Shepard
Director
1 film together
Notably CHiPs
Jake Szymanski
Director
1 film together
Notably Tour de Pharmacy
Brian Henson
Director
1 film together
Notably The Happytime Murders
Ben Falcone
Director
1 film together
Notably Life of the Party
Olivia Wilde
Director
1 film together
Notably Booksmart
Thurop Van Orman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Angry Birds Movie 2
Mike Mitchell
Director
1 film together
Notably The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Steven Brill
Director
1 film together
Notably Hubie Halloween
Natasha Lyonne
Director
1 film together
Notably Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine
Mike Rianda
Director
1 film together
Notably The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Adam Shankman
Director
1 film together
Notably Disenchanted
Paul Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
Phil Traill
Director
1 film together
Notably Good Burger 2
Jeff Rowe
Director
1 film together
Notably Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
John Krasinski
Director
1 film together
Notably IF
Brent Hodge
Director
1 film together
Notably Downey Wrote That
Beth McCarthy-Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably SNL50: The Homecoming Concert
Alex Timbers
Director
1 film together
Notably The Muppet Show
Morgan Neville
Director
1 film together
Notably Lorne
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Paul Thomas Anderson
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
Licorice PizzaDennis Dugan
Director
2 films together · 6.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Grown UpsPaul Miller
Director
1 film together · 8.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + LoveChris Williams
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Big Hero 6Mike Rianda
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Mitchells vs. the MachinesAndrew Niccol
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GattacaJames L. Brooks
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
As Good as It GetsAlex Timbers
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 Muppet ShowJeff Rowe
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant MayhemThurop 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 2Jim Rash
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 Way Way BackOlivia Wilde
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BooksmartPeter Segal
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
50 First DatesJohn Krasinski
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
IFMorgan Neville
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
LorneAdam Shankman
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DisenchantedMike Mitchell
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 Lego Movie 2: The Second PartJake Szymanski
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Tour de PharmacySam Mendes
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Away We GoJorma 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 StoppingPaul Feig
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BridesmaidsChris Miller
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Shrek the ThirdBeth McCarthy-Miller
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SNL50: The Homecoming ConcertPhil 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 2Robert 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 CompanionBen Falcone
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Life of the PartyDax Shepard
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CHiPsDanny DeVito
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DuplexJason Moore
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SistersJennifer Westfeldt
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Friends with KidsAdam McKay
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost MovieSteven Brill
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hubie HalloweenBrian Henson
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 Happytime MurdersRebecca Miller
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Maggie's PlanBruce Paltrow
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DuetsFrank Coraci
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ZookeeperNatasha Lyonne
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Sarah Cooper: Everything's FineSofia Coppola
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Very Murray ChristmasBrent Hodge
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Downey Wrote ThatSix 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
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
as Self - Guest
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince
as Self
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
as Self - Guest
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
SNL50: The Homecoming Concert
as Self
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
as Self - Guest
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. Maya Rudolph 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
29 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
42 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
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
as Self - Guest
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Big Hero 6
as Aunt Cass (voice)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince
as Self
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Inherent Vice
as Petunia Leeway
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Big Hero 6
as Aunt Cass (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Big Hero 6
as Aunt Cass (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Big Hero 6
as Aunt Cass (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Big Hero 6
as Aunt Cass (voice)
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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Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
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Reference
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