Alessandro Nivola

Alessandro Nivola’s first professional leading role earned him a Drama Desk Award Nomination for his performance opposite Helen Mirren on Broadway in Turgenev’s A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY. The following year he drew critical acclaim and a Blockbuster Award Nomination for playing Nicolas Cage’s paranoid genius younger brother in John Woo’s FACE/OFF. A series of roles in English movies followed, establishing him as one of the few Americans capable of playing British characters from all regions and classes.

He starred as a Hastings fisherman opposite Rachel Weisz in Michael Winterbottom’s I WANT YOU, played Henry Crawford in the Patricia Rozema adaptation of Jane Austen’s MANSFIELD PARK, and a singing/dancing King Ferdinand of Navarre in Kenneth Brannagh’s musical film of Shakespeare’s LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST. Back in the U.S. he starred opposite Reese Witherspoon in BEST LAID PLANS, and played leading roles in JURASSIC PARK 3, and Mike Figgis’ TIME CODE.

He returned to the theater to play Orlando to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Rosalind in AS YOU LIKE IT at Williamstown, before being reunited with Helen Mirren in Peter Jan Brugge’s film THE CLEARING, where he played Robert Redford’s son. He earned an Independent Spirit Award Nomination for his performance as the rock singer Ian McNight in Lisa Cholodenko’s LAUREL CANYON. Apart from seducing both Kate Beckinsale and Frances McDormand in the film, he recorded the character’s songs himself prompting Vogue magazine to write, “he sings Brit pop well enough to get a record deal.”

He starred in JUNEBUG, which premiered in competition at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival as well as at Cannes and opened to critical acclaim in 2006. He then starred in GOAL and GOAL 2 both with Stephen Dillane, Anna Friel, and David Beckham, playing an international soccer star. In 2007 he starred opposite John Cusack in GRACE IS GONE whichwon the audience award at Sundance, Ridley Scott’s mini-series THE COMPANY and the Lionsgate thriller THE EYE opposite Jessica Alba.

At the 2008 Toronto Film Festival, Alessandro headlined two new films: FIVE DOLLARS A DAY, a fatherson road movie opposite Christopher Walken, and WHO DO YOU LOVE?, a bio picture about the life of Chess Records founder Leonard Chess in which he plays Leonard. Alessandro recently took on the romantic leading role opposite Audrey Tautou in COCO BEFORE CHANEL, a film about the early life of Coco Chanel. He is a graduate of Yale University with a BA in English.

Telling Pictures