Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#448
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Peter Serafinowicz represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 29 years in, and Peter is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Peter Serafinowicz appears in 25 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Peter. Guardians of the Galaxy is the clearest case: a film rated 8.1 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, fantasy, adventure. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Alex Garland, Dean DeBlois, Michael Fimognari and others, Peter Serafinowicz 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.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) as Denarian Saal · How to Train Your Dragon (2025) as Spitelout · Sing 2 (2021) as Big Daddy (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #448 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
25
1999–2028
Career length
29 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.1
Guardians of the Galaxy
Average Nutevio score
6.5
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.9
How to Train Your Dragon
Most frequent director
Paul Feig
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With Paul Feig
Most common genre
Comedy
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
2010s
6.9 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. Last Christmas, John Wick: Chapter 2, Going in Style — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
6.9
Across 9 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
6.9
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. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.
Most productive era
2020s
12 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 | — | — | 6.72 films | — |
| Action | 6.81 film | 7.01 film | 7.05 films | 5.44 films |
| Thriller | — | 7.01 film | 7.31 film | — |
| Comedy | — | 6.62 films | 6.86 films | 6.48 films |
| Crime | — | — | 6.84 films | 6.01 film |
| Romance | — | 5.61 film | 7.21 film | 6.01 film |
| Horror | — | 7.32 films | — | 6.62 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1999Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Darth Maul / Battle Droid Commander / Gungan Scout (voice).
Highest rated performance · Career peak
8.1 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
2028Elden Ring
The current state of the argument, as Godfrey.
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.
25 of 25 films
as Denarian Saal
Directed by James Gunn
as Spitelout
Directed by Dean DeBlois
as Big Daddy (voice)
Directed by Garth Jennings
as The Phantom Stranger (voice)
Directed by Bruce Timm
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
Denarian Saal
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Performance score7.8
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Denarian Saal gives Peter Serafinowicz a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Spitelout
How to Train Your Dragon (2025)
Performance score7.7
How to Train Your Dragon asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Spitelout is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Big Daddy (voice)
Sing 2 (2021)
Performance score7.6
Sing 2 asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Big Daddy (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
The Phantom Stranger (voice)
DC Showcase: The Phantom Stranger (2020)
Performance score7.4
DC Showcase: The Phantom Stranger asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. The Phantom Stranger (voice) 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 Denarian Saal
Start here. Guardians of the Galaxy is the clearest statement of what Peter Serafinowicz does — accessible, 121 minutes, and rated 8.1 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Peter 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.
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
A deliberate change of key after Guardians of the Galaxy — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
DC Showcase: The Phantom Stranger (2020)
Keeps the horror register of Shaun of the Dead but asks for a colder reading of it.
Sing 2 (2021)
Keeps the animation register of DC Showcase: The Phantom Stranger but asks for a colder reading of it.
How to Train Your Dragon (2025)
Keeps the family register of Sing 2 but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Paul Feig
Director
3 films together
Notably Last Christmas
Edgar Wright
Director
2 films together
Notably Shaun of the Dead
Garth Jennings
Director
2 films together
Notably Sing 2
George Lucas
Director
1 film together
Notably Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Quentin Tarantino
Director
1 film together
Notably Grindhouse
Peter Billingsley
Director
1 film together
Notably Couples Retreat
James Bobin
Director
1 film together
Notably Muppets Most Wanted
James Gunn
Director
1 film together
Notably Guardians of the Galaxy
Brad Silberling
Director
1 film together
Notably An Ordinary Man
Zach Braff
Director
1 film together
Notably Going in Style
Chad Stahelski
Director
1 film together
Notably John Wick: Chapter 2
Bruce Timm
Director
1 film together
Notably DC Showcase: The Phantom Stranger
Brandon Vietti
Director
1 film together
Notably DC Showcase - Batman: Death in the Family
Dave Willis
Director
1 film together
Notably Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm
Judd Apatow
Director
1 film together
Notably The Bubble
Michael Cusack
Director
1 film together
Notably The Paloni Show! Halloween Special!
Michael Fimognari
Director
1 film together
Notably Jingle Bell Heist
Dean DeBlois
Director
1 film together
Notably How to Train Your Dragon
Alex Garland
Director
1 film together
Notably Elden Ring
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Paul Feig
Director
3 films together · 7.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Last ChristmasGarth Jennings
Director
2 films together · 7.4 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Sing 2Edgar Wright
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
Shaun of the DeadJames Gunn
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Guardians of the GalaxyDean DeBlois
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
How to Train Your DragonChad Stahelski
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
John Wick: Chapter 2Brandon Vietti
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DC Showcase - Batman: Death in the FamilyQuentin Tarantino
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GrindhouseGeorge Lucas
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom MenaceBruce Timm
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DC Showcase: The Phantom StrangerZach Braff
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Going in StyleMichael Cusack
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 Paloni Show! Halloween Special!Dave Willis
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Aqua Teen Forever: PlantasmJames Bobin
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Muppets Most WantedBrad Silberling
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
An Ordinary ManMichael Fimognari
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jingle Bell HeistPeter Billingsley
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Couples RetreatJudd Apatow
Director
1 film together · 4.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The BubbleAlex Garland
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Elden RingSix 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
Guardians of the Galaxy
as Denarian Saal
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Last Christmas
as Theatre Producer
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Guardians of the Galaxy
as Denarian Saal
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Grindhouse
as Screaming Man (segment "Don't") (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Guardians of the Galaxy
as Denarian Saal
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. Peter Serafinowicz 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
16 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
How to Train Your Dragon
as Spitelout
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
John Wick: Chapter 2
as Sommelier
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Last Christmas
as Theatre Producer
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The School for Good and Evil
as Yuba
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Guardians of the Galaxy
as Denarian Saal
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
How to Train Your Dragon
as Spitelout
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Amazing Maurice
as Death (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
as Darth Maul / Battle Droid Commander / Gungan Scout (voice)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Harvey Keitel
Works with the same directors — Quentin Tarantino
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Christopher Walken
Works with the same directors — Quentin Tarantino
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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