Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#2018
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
'Weird Al' Yankovic represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 38 years in, and 'Weird is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
'Weird Al' Yankovic appears in 17 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without 'Weird. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now! is the clearest case: a film rated 7.7 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, action, crime. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with David Wain, Akiva Schaffer, Russell Norman and others, 'Weird Al' Yankovic 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.
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now! (2021) as Self - Singer, Songwriter, Accordionist · Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans (2019) as Gentleman Ghost / Darkseid (voice) · The Sparks Brothers (2021) as Self
Career snapshot
Ranked #2018 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
17
1988–2026
Career length
38 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.7
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.7
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!
Most frequent director
David Wain
1 film together
Longest collaboration
1×
With David Wain
Most common genre
Comedy
13 titles
Average runtime
1h 23m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.8
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
1980s
7.3 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
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
1980s
7.3
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1980s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!.
Most productive era
2020s
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 | 1980s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Action | — | 7.32 films | 6.41 film |
| Comedy | 7.31 film | 6.84 films | 5.48 films |
| Crime | 7.31 film | 7.21 film | 6.41 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1988The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Where our catalogue meets this career, as 'Weird Al'.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2021Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!
7.7 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
2026Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass
The current state of the argument, as 'Weird Al' Yankovic.
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.
17 of 17 films
as Self - Singer, Songwriter, Accordionist
Directed by Jonathan Stern
as Gentleman Ghost / Darkseid (voice)
Directed by Jeff Mednikow
as Barton Mathis / Dollmaker (voice)
Directed by Jay Oliva
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 - Singer, Songwriter, Accordionist
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now! (2021)
Performance score7.5
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Self - Singer, Songwriter, Accordionist gives 'Weird Al' Yankovic a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Gentleman Ghost / Darkseid (voice)
Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans (2019)
Performance score7.3
Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Gentleman Ghost / Darkseid (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Barton Mathis / Dollmaker (voice)
Batman vs. Robin (2015)
Performance score7.3
Batman vs. Robin asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Barton Mathis / Dollmaker (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Self
The Sparks Brothers (2021)
Performance score7.2
The Sparks Brothers 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 - Singer, Songwriter, Accordionist
Start here. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now! is the clearest statement of what 'Weird Al' Yankovic does — accessible, 40 minutes, and rated 7.7 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet 'Weird 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 Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
A deliberate change of key after Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now! — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Batman vs. Robin (2015)
Keeps the crime register of The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! but asks for a colder reading of it.
Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans (2019)
Keeps the action register of Batman vs. Robin but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Sparks Brothers (2021)
A deliberate change of key after Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
David Zucker
Director
1 film together
Notably The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Jay Oliva
Director
1 film together
Notably Batman vs. Robin
Jorma Taccone
Director
1 film together
Notably Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Ken Marino
Director
1 film together
Notably How to Be a Latin Lover
Jeff Mednikow
Director
1 film together
Notably Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans
Dan Povenmire
Director
1 film together
Notably Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe
Tom Scharpling
Director
1 film together
Notably The Postal Service Zoom Auditions
Dean Parisot
Director
1 film together
Notably Bill & Ted Face the Music
Edgar Wright
Director
1 film together
Notably The Sparks Brothers
Jonathan Stern
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!
Ken Cunningham
Director
1 film together
Notably LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation
Mitch Schauer
Director
1 film together
Notably The Soccer Football Movie
Eric Appel
Director
1 film together
Notably Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Russell Norman
Director
1 film together
Notably Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
Akiva Schaffer
Director
1 film together
Notably The Naked Gun
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.
Jonathan Stern
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!Jeff Mednikow
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen TitansEdgar Wright
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Sparks BrothersDavid Zucker
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!Dan Povenmire
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the UniverseJay Oliva
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Batman vs. RobinRussell Norman
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of MagicKen Marino
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
How to Be a Latin LoverEric 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 StoryJorma 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 StoppingAkiva Schaffer
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 Naked GunKen Cunningham
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
LEGO Star Wars Summer VacationDean Parisot
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Bill & Ted Face the MusicMitch Schauer
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Soccer Football MovieDavid 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 PassTom Scharpling
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Postal Service Zoom AuditionsSix 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 Sparks Brothers
as Self
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
as Self - Performer
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!
as Self - Singer, Songwriter, Accordionist
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
as Hammerleg Lead Singer
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!
as Self - Singer, Songwriter, Accordionist
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. 'Weird Al' Yankovic 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
38 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
13 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
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!
as Self - Singer, Songwriter, Accordionist
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!
as Self - Singer, Songwriter, Accordionist
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
as Self - Performer
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!
as Self - Singer, Songwriter, Accordionist
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans
as Gentleman Ghost / Darkseid (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Batman vs. Robin
as Barton Mathis / Dollmaker (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Batman vs. Robin
as Barton Mathis / Dollmaker (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
The Soccer Football Movie
as 'Weird Al' Yankovic (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
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Reference
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