Alessandro Antine Nivola (born June 28, 1972)[1] is an American actor. He has been nominated for a Tony Award and an Independent Spirit Award and has won a Screen Actors Guild Award, a British Independent Film Award (BIFA), and the Best Actor Award at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival among others.

Alessandro Nivola
Nivola in 2024.
Born
Alessandro Antine Nivola

(1972-06-28) June 28, 1972 (age 52)
Citizenship
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
Alma materYale University (BA)
OccupationActor
Years active1993–present
Spouse
(m. 2003)
Children2, including Sam

As a producer he runs King Bee Productions, which has made two seasons of the HBO comedy Doll & Em and the Independent Spirit Award nominated feature film To Dust.

Early life

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Nivola was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His mother, Virginia (née Davis), is an artist, and his father, Pietro Salvatore Nivola, was a professor of political science and a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution.[2][3][4]

Nivola's paternal grandfather was the Italian sculptor Costantino Nivola,[5] and his paternal grandmother, Ruth Guggenheim,[6] was a Jewish refugee from Germany.[7][8][9][10][11] He was born the first of two boys; his brother, Adrian Nivola, a painter, is five years younger.

Nivola attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale University. His family also lived in Burlington, Vermont, where he attended Mater Christi School, a ministry of the Sisters of Mercy.[citation needed]

Career

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Nivola graduated from Yale University with a BA in English in 1994 and a year later made his Broadway debut opposite Helen Mirren in A Month in the Country earning a Drama Desk Award nomination.[12] Shortly after that came his breakthrough performance in John Woo's feature film Face/Off (1997) playing Nicolas Cage's brother Pollux Troy. In the ensuing years he has starred in many films including Mansfield Park (1999), Love's Labour's Lost (2000), Jurassic Park III (2001), Laurel Canyon (2002), Junebug (2005), Goal! 1 & 2 (2005, 2007), Coco Before Chanel (2009), Ginger & Rosa (2012), American Hustle (2013), A Most Violent Year (2014), Selma (2014), The Neon Demon (2016), One Percent More Humid (2017),[13] You Were Never Really Here (2017), Disobedience (2017),[14] The Art of Self Defense (2019), and The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019).

He played Dickie Moltisanti, the lead role in The Many Saints of Newark, David Chase's feature film prequel to his television series The Sopranos.[15] In 2022, he appeared in David O. Russell's Amsterdam opposite Christian Bale and Margot Robbie,[16] as well as the comedy feature Spin Me Round opposite Alison Brie and Aubrey Plaza.[17]

Nivola has also worked frequently in television, starring opposite Robert De Niro in Barry Levinson's Madoff family biopic The Wizard of Lies (2017), as well as the TNT miniseries The Company (2007), the UK Channel 4 series Chimerica (2019), and the three-part BBC miniseries Black Narcissus, broadcast 27, 28, and 29 December 2020.

Onstage, in addition to A Month in the Country, he starred on Broadway in 2013 in The Winslow Boy and in 2014 in The Elephant Man opposite Bradley Cooper (Tony Award nomination), and off-Broadway in the Ethan Hawke-directed Sam Shepard play A Lie of the Mind (2010) with Laurie Metcalf. He also starred opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in the 1995 Williamstown Theater Festival production of Shakespeare's As You Like It.

In 2013 Nivola established King Bee Productions with his wife Emily Mortimer. The company produced two seasons of the half hour comedy Doll & Em for HBO and BSkyB. He also produced To Dust starring Matthew Broderick which won the Audience Award at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and was nominated for a 2020 Independent Spirit Award.

In March 2022, it was announced that Nivola was cast in Sony's Kraven the Hunter film, in which he will play Spider-Man antagonist The Rhino.[18][19]

Personal life

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Nivola married British actress Emily Mortimer in Buckinghamshire in January 2003. The couple have a son, Sam, born 26 September 2003, and daughter, May, born 2010, and live in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.[20] Sam and May play brother and sister in the 2022 Netflix film White Noise as the children of characters played by Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig. Nivola became a British citizen the same day Mortimer became an American citizen.[21]

Acting credits

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1997 Face/Off Pollux Troy
Inventing the Abbotts Peter Vanlaningham
1998 I Want You Martin
Reach the Rock Robin
1999 Best Laid Plans Nick
Mansfield Park Henry Crawford
2000 Love's Labour's Lost King Ferdinand of Navarre
Timecode Joey Z
2001 Jurassic Park III Billy Brennan
2002 Imprint Matt Short film
Laurel Canyon Ian McKnight
2003 Carolina Albert Morris
2004 The Clearing Tim Hayes
2005 Junebug George Johnsten
The Sisters Andrew Prior
Turning Green Bill the Bookie
Goal! Gavin Harris
2006 The Darwin Awards Ad Exec
2007 Grace Is Gone John Phillips
Goal II: Living the Dream Gavin Harris
The Girl in the Park Chris
2008 The Eye Dr. Paul Faulkner
Five Dollars a Day Ritchie Flynn Parker
Who Do You Love? Leonard Chess
2009 Coco Before Chanel Arthur 'Boy' Capel
2010 Howl Luther Nichols
Janie Jones Ethan Brand
2012 Ginger & Rosa[22] Roland
2013 American Hustle Anthony Amado
2014 Devil's Knot Terry Hobbs
Selma John Doar
A Most Violent Year Peter Forente
2016 The Neon Demon Robert Sarno Psychological Horror / Thriller
2017 One Percent More Humid Gerald
You Were Never Really Here Governor Williams
Disobedience Rabbi Dovid Kuperman Drama
2018 Weightless Joel Drama
To Dust Producer
2019 The Art of Self-Defense Sensei
The Red Sea Diving Resort Sammy Navon
2021 With/In: Volume 2 Segment: "Neighborhood Watch"
The Many Saints of Newark Dickie Moltisanti
2022 Spin Me Round Nick Martucci Comedy / Romance
Amsterdam Detective Hiltz
2023 Boston Strangler Detective Conley Directed by Matt Ruskin
Wildcat John Selby
2024 The Brutalist Attila Drama

Directed by Brady Corbet

The Room Next Door Policeman
Kraven the Hunter Aleksei Sytsevich / Rhino Post-production
2025 Untitled Downton Abbey: A New Era sequel TBA Post-production
Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1996 Remember WENN Paul Rice Episode: "Valentino Speaks!"
The Ring Noel Television film
1998 The Almost Perfect Bank Robbery Doug Television film
2007 The Company Leo Kritzky Miniseries
2015 Doll & Em John 4 episodes; also producer
2017 The Wizard of Lies Mark Madoff Television film
2019 Chimerica Lee Berger 4 episodes
2020 Black Narcissus Mr. Dean Miniseries
2022 The Last Movie Stars Richard Brooks / Robert Redford (voice) 4 episodes
2024 The Big Cigar Bert Schneider Main role
Key
Denotes series that have not yet been released

Stage

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Stage credits
Year Title Role Venue
1993 "Master Harold"...and the Boys Hally Intiman Theatre Festival
1995 A Month in the Country Beliaev Criterion Center Stage Right
1999 As You Like It Orlando Williamstown Theatre Festival
2010 A Lie of the Mind Jake Acorn Theater
2012 The Elephant Man Frederick Treves Williamstown Theatre Festival
2013 The Winslow Boy Sir Robert Morton American Airlines Theatre
2014 The Elephant Man Frederick Treves Booth Theatre
2015 Theatre Royal Haymarket

Awards and nominations

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References

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  1. ^ "Celebrity Birthdays: June 28". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021. Actor Alessandro Nivola ... is 49
  2. ^ "Alessandro Nivola Biography". Tvguide.com. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  3. ^ Fee, Gayle (October 1, 2007). "Inside Track". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012.
  4. ^ "Thomas J. Davis, 77, Investment Executive". The New York Times. September 13, 1990.
  5. ^ Elias, Justine (September 13, 1998). "The New Season/Film: Up and Coming: Alessandro Nivola; From a Family of Painters, a Quick-Change Artist". The New York Times. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  6. ^ "Costantino Nivola: public and private: a selection of Nivola's sculptures, soon to leave the U.S. for a permanent home in a museum devoted to the artist in Sardinia, provided a rare overview of his work at the Parrish Museum". Art in America. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  7. ^ Tangcay, Jazz (April 25, 2018). "Interview: Alessandro Nivola on Playing the Conflicted Dovid in Disobedience". Awards Daily. Archived from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018. Alessandro Nivola: "My grandmother was German-Jewish from Frankfurt and she ended up being a Holocaust refugee."
  8. ^ Pisani, Lavinia (November 10, 2015). "A Conversation with Italian American Star Alessandro Nivola". L'Italo-Americano Newspaper. Archived from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  9. ^ Bloom, Nate (April 18, 2018). "Amy Schumer 'feeling pretty'; and a young Jewish Picasso". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  10. ^ Menzel, Scott (May 9, 2018). "Alessandro Nivola talks Disobedience, reuniting with Rachel Weisz, and The Art of Self-Defense". We Live Entertainment. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  11. ^ "WGNTV.com". Timeliness: Will it help 'Goal' score?. Retrieved June 17, 2006. [dead link]
  12. ^ "A Month in the Country Production History". Broadwayworld.com.
  13. ^ Cox, Gordon (April 27, 2017). "Tribeca Film Festival 'Keep the Change,' 'Bobbi Jene' Win Top Awards". Variety.com.
  14. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (December 2, 2018). "British Independent Film Awards: 'The Favourite' Wins A Record Ten Awards". Deadline Hollywood.
  15. ^ Vlessing, Etan (November 20, 2018). "'Sopranos' Prequel Film Taps Alessandro Nivola For Lead Role". hollywoodreporter.com.
  16. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (January 14, 2021). "Robert De Niro, Mike Myers, Timothy Olyphant, Michael Shannon, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy & More Join David O. Russell Movie". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  17. ^ "Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Alessandro Nivola Top Ensemble Comedy 'Spin Me Round' from Limelight & Duplass Brothers". Deadline Hollywood. May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  18. ^ Jackson, Angelique (March 4, 2022). "Sony's 'Kraven the Hunter' Casts Alessandro Nivola". Variety. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  19. ^ "Aaron Taylor-Johnson Brings Bloody, R-Rated 'Kraven the Hunter' Footage to CinemaCon". The Hollywood Reporter. April 25, 2023.
  20. ^ Vincentelli, Elizabeth (November 16, 2013). "Alessandro Nivola: My Brooklyn". New York Post. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  21. ^ de Bertodano, Helena (July 24, 2011). "Emily Mortimer interview: 'I hope my kids don't look like my father'". Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited.
  22. ^ Potter, Sally. "Ginger & Rosa". Sally Potter. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
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