Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1158
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Toby Huss represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 31 years in, and Toby is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Toby Huss appears in 35 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Toby. The Basketball Diaries is the clearest case: a film rated 7.4 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, mystery, horror. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with David Wain, Zach Cregger, Tony Tost and others, Toby Huss 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 Basketball Diaries (1995) as Kenny · Weapons (2025) as Captain Ed · 42 (2013) as Clyde Sukeforth
Career snapshot
Ranked #1158 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
35
1995–2026
Career length
31 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.4
The Basketball Diaries
Average Nutevio score
6.2
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.4
The Basketball Diaries
Most frequent director
David Gordon Green
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With David Gordon Green
Most common genre
Drama
18 titles
Average runtime
1h 46m
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
7.0 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Jerry Maguire, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, The Basketball Diaries — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.0
Across 3 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
7.0
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. Jerry Maguire, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, The Basketball Diaries.
Most productive era
2010s
15 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 | 7.22 films | 6.52 films | 6.39 films | 6.05 films |
| Action | — | 5.81 film | 5.85 films | 6.32 films |
| Thriller | — | — | 6.14 films | 5.92 films |
| Comedy | 6.82 films | 5.73 films | 5.85 films | 6.16 films |
| Crime | 7.02 films | 5.52 films | 6.22 films | 6.14 films |
| Romance | 7.01 film | — | 6.42 films | — |
| Horror | — | — | 6.61 film | 6.42 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio · Highest rated performance
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Kenny. 7.4 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Career peak
2007Rescue Dawn
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2026Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass
The current state of the argument, as Scott Lindhome.
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 Spook
Directed by Werner Herzog
as Captain Ed
Directed by Zach Cregger
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
Spook
Rescue Dawn (2007)
Performance score7.4
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Spook gives Toby Huss a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Captain Ed
Weapons (2025)
Performance score7.2
Weapons asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Captain Ed is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Kenny
The Basketball Diaries (1995)
Performance score7.2
The Basketball Diaries asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Kenny is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Clyde Sukeforth
42 (2013)
Performance score7.1
42 asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Clyde Sukeforth 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 Spook
Start here. Rescue Dawn is the clearest statement of what Toby Huss does — accessible, 125 minutes, and rated 7.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Toby 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.
The Basketball Diaries (1995)
Keeps the drama register of Rescue Dawn but asks for a colder reading of it.
42 (2013)
Keeps the drama register of The Basketball Diaries but asks for a colder reading of it.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
A deliberate change of key after 42 — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Weapons (2025)
A deliberate change of key after Weird: The Al Yankovic Story — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Robert Ben Garant
Director
2 films together
Notably Reno 911!: Miami
Sarah Adina Smith
Director
2 films together
Notably Birds of Paradise
David Gordon Green
Director
2 films together
Notably Halloween
Mike Judge
Director
1 film together
Notably Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
Cameron Crowe
Director
1 film together
Notably Jerry Maguire
Michel Gondry
Director
1 film together
Notably Human Nature
Werner Herzog
Director
1 film together
Notably Rescue Dawn
Roger Kumble
Director
1 film together
Notably Furry Vengeance
Jon Favreau
Director
1 film together
Notably Cowboys & Aliens
Brian Helgeland
Director
1 film together
Notably 42
Robert Schwentke
Director
1 film together
Notably R.I.P.D.
Nicole Holofcener
Director
1 film together
Notably Enough Said
Ti West
Director
1 film together
Notably In a Valley of Violence
Jay Roach
Director
1 film together
Notably All the Way
Paul Feig
Director
1 film together
Notably Ghostbusters
Karyn Kusama
Director
1 film together
Notably Destroyer
Jason Reitman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Front Runner
Lynn Shelton
Director
1 film together
Notably Sword of Trust
Dave Franco
Director
1 film together
Notably The Rental
Joe Carnahan
Director
1 film together
Notably Copshop
Albert Calleros
Director
1 film together
Notably Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe
Christian Hoffman
Director
1 film together
Notably Reno 911!: It's a Wonderful Heist
Eric Appel
Director
1 film together
Notably Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Andrew Dominik
Director
1 film together
Notably Blonde
Phillip Noyce
Director
1 film together
Notably Fast Charlie
Tony Tost
Director
1 film together
Notably Americana
Zach Cregger
Director
1 film together
Notably Weapons
David Wain
Director
1 film together
Notably Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
David Gordon Green
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
HalloweenSarah Adina Smith
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
Birds of ParadiseRobert Ben Garant
Director
2 films together · 5.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Reno 911!: MiamiZach Cregger
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
WeaponsBrian Helgeland
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
42Werner Herzog
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Rescue DawnCameron Crowe
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jerry MaguireAlbert Calleros
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Beavis and Butt-Head Do the UniverseEric Appel
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Weird: The Al Yankovic StoryJay Roach
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
All the WayNicole Holofcener
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Enough SaidMike Judge
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Beavis and Butt-Head Do AmericaJoe Carnahan
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CopshopTony Tost
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AmericanaPhillip Noyce
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fast CharlieTi West
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
In a Valley of ViolenceLynn Shelton
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Sword of TrustMichel 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 NatureAndrew Dominik
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BlondeJason Reitman
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 Front RunnerKaryn Kusama
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DestroyerRobert Schwentke
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
R.I.P.D.Christian Hoffman
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Reno 911!: It's a Wonderful HeistJon Favreau
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cowboys & AliensDave Franco
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The RentalPaul Feig
Director
1 film together · 5.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GhostbustersDavid Wain
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex PassRoger Kumble
Director
1 film together · 5.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Furry VengeanceSix 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
Weapons
as Captain Ed
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Enough Said
as Peter
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 Basketball Diaries
as Kenny
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Jerry Maguire
as Steve Remo
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Rescue Dawn
as Spook
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. Toby Huss 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
31 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
18 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
Weapons
as Captain Ed
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Weapons
as Captain Ed
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Enough Said
as Peter
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Weapons
as Captain Ed
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The Basketball Diaries
as Kenny
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
In a Valley of Violence
as Harris
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
as TV Thief #2 / Concierge/Bellboy / Male TV Reporter (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Nutcrackers
as Al Wilmington
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
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Mark Ruffalo
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Tom Wilkinson
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
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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