Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#274
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Rhys Ifans represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 26 years in, and Rhys is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Rhys Ifans appears in 30 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Rhys. Spider-Man: No Way Home 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 thriller, action, science fiction. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Neil Burger, Kelly Marcel, Craig Roberts and others, Rhys Ifans 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.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) as Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard · Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) as Xenophilius Lovegood · Mr. Nobody (2009) as Nemo's Father
Career snapshot
Ranked #274 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
30
1999–2025
Career length
26 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.3
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Average Nutevio score
6.4
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.9
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Most frequent director
Neil Burger
1 film together
Longest collaboration
1×
With Neil Burger
Most common genre
Drama
17 titles
Average runtime
1h 52m
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
6.5
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
7.3 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Notting Hill — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.3
Across 1 catalogue film in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
7.3
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. Notting Hill.
Most productive era
2010s
11 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 | — | 6.47 films | 6.26 films | 6.54 films |
| Action | — | — | 7.01 film | 7.33 films |
| Thriller | — | 4.81 film | 6.63 films | 6.32 films |
| Comedy | 7.31 film | 6.44 films | 6.04 films | 5.24 films |
| Crime | — | 4.81 film | 7.11 film | — |
| Romance | 7.31 film | 6.74 films | 5.93 films | — |
| Horror | — | — | 5.41 film | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1999Notting Hill
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Spike.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
8.3 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
2025Inheritance
The current state of the argument, as Sam Welch.
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.
30 of 30 films
as Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard
Directed by Jon Watts
as Xenophilius Lovegood
Directed by David Yates
as Nemo's Father
Directed by Unknown
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
Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Performance score8.0
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard gives Rhys Ifans a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Xenophilius Lovegood
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
Performance score7.8
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Xenophilius Lovegood is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Nemo's Father
Mr. Nobody (2009)
Performance score7.8
Mr. Nobody asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Nemo's Father is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Gavin
The Boat That Rocked (2009)
Performance score7.6
The Boat That Rocked asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Gavin 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 Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard
Start here. Spider-Man: No Way Home is the clearest statement of what Rhys Ifans does — accessible, 148 minutes, and rated 8.3 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Rhys 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.
Mr. Nobody (2009)
Keeps the science fiction register of Spider-Man: No Way Home but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Boat That Rocked (2009)
Keeps the drama register of Mr. Nobody but asks for a colder reading of it.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
A deliberate change of key after The Boat That Rocked — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
NYAD (2023)
A deliberate change of key after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Roger Michell
Director
1 film together
Notably Notting Hill
Steven Brill
Director
1 film together
Notably Little Nicky
Howard Deutch
Director
1 film together
Notably The Replacements
Michel Gondry
Director
1 film together
Notably Human Nature
Lasse Hallström
Director
1 film together
Notably The Shipping News
Mira Nair
Director
1 film together
Notably Vanity Fair
Shekhar Kapur
Director
1 film together
Notably Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Gregor Jordan
Director
1 film together
Notably The Informers
Richard Curtis
Director
1 film together
Notably The Boat That Rocked
Noah Baumbach
Director
1 film together
Notably Greenberg
Susanna White
Director
1 film together
Notably Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
David Yates
Director
1 film together
Notably Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Nicholas Stoller
Director
1 film together
Notably The Five-Year Engagement
Marc Webb
Director
1 film together
Notably The Amazing Spider-Man
Isabel Coixet
Director
1 film together
Notably Another Me
Susanne Bier
Director
1 film together
Notably Serena
Peter Bogdanovich
Director
1 film together
Notably She's Funny That Way
Oliver Stone
Director
1 film together
Notably Snowden
James Bobin
Director
1 film together
Notably Alice Through the Looking Glass
Gavin Hood
Director
1 film together
Notably Official Secrets
Philippa Lowthorpe
Director
1 film together
Notably Misbehaviour
Matthew Vaughn
Director
1 film together
Notably The King's Man
Jon Watts
Director
1 film together
Notably Spider-Man: No Way Home
Craig Roberts
Director
1 film together
Notably The Phantom of the Open
Kelly Marcel
Director
1 film together
Notably Venom: The Last Dance
Neil Burger
Director
1 film together
Notably Inheritance
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Jon Watts
Director
1 film together · 8.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Spider-Man: No Way HomeDavid Yates
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1Roger Michell
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Notting HillGavin Hood
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Official SecretsRichard Curtis
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 Boat That RockedOliver Stone
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SnowdenMarc Webb
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 Amazing Spider-ManKelly Marcel
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Venom: The Last DanceCraig Roberts
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 Phantom of the OpenMatthew Vaughn
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 King's ManShekhar Kapur
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Elizabeth: The Golden AgeHoward Deutch
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 ReplacementsJames Bobin
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Alice Through the Looking GlassPhilippa Lowthorpe
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MisbehaviourLasse Hallström
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 Shipping NewsSusanna White
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Nanny McPhee and the Big BangMichel Gondry
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Human NatureNeil Burger
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
InheritancePeter Bogdanovich
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
She's Funny That WayNicholas Stoller
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Five-Year EngagementNoah Baumbach
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GreenbergMira Nair
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Vanity FairSteven Brill
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Little NickySusanne Bier
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SerenaIsabel Coixet
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Another MeGregor Jordan
Director
1 film together · 4.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The InformersSix 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
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Mr. Nobody
as Nemo's Father
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard
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. Rhys Ifans 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
26 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
17 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
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
as Xenophilius Lovegood
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Official Secrets
as Ed Vulliamy
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Another Me
as Don Delussey
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Misbehaviour
as Eric Morley
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard
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
Mark Ruffalo
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Tom Wilkinson
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: family and comedy
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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