Alessandro Nivola | |
|---|---|
 Nivola in 2025 | |
| Born | Alessandro Antine Nivola (1972-06-28)June 28, 1972 (age 53) Boston,Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Citizenship |
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| Alma mater | Yale University (BA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2, includingSam |
| Awards | Full list |
Alessandro Antine Nivola (born June 28, 1972)[1] is an American actor. His work includes both screen and stage, andhis accolades include aScreen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for aTony Award and anIndependent Spirit Award.
Nivola made his acting film debut inFace/Off (1997) and has since acted in films such asMansfield Park (1999),Jurassic Park III (2001),Laurel Canyon (2002),Junebug (2005),Coco Before Chanel (2009),Ginger & Rosa (2012),American Hustle (2013),Selma (2014),A Most Violent Year (2014),Disobedience (2017),You Were Never Really Here (2017),The Art of Self-Defense (2019),The Many Saints of Newark (2021),Boston Strangler (2023),The Room Next Door (2024), andThe Brutalist (2024). He portrayedAleksei Sytsevich / Rhino in theMarvelsuperhero filmKraven the Hunter (2024).
He founded the production company King Bee Productions with his wifeEmily Mortimer in 2013. On television, he acted in and produced theHBO comedyDoll & Em (2015), and has portrayedMark Madoff in the HBO television filmThe Wizard of Lies (2017), Mr. Dean in theFX /BBC One seriesBlack Narcissus (2020) andBert Schneider in theApple TV+ thriller miniseriesThe Big Cigar (2024).
On stage, he made hisBroadway debut in the playA Month in the Country (1995) for which he was nominated for theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. He returned to Broadway acting in the revivals ofTerence Rattigan'sThe Winslow Boy (2012), andBernard Pomerance'sThe Elephant Man earning aTony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play nomination for the latter.
Italian-American, Nivola was born inBoston,Massachusetts to Virginia (née Davis), an artist, and Pietro Salvatore Nivola, a professor of political science and a senior fellow atThe Brookings Institution.[2][3][4] Nivola's paternal grandfather was the Sardinian sculptorCostantino Nivola,[5] and his paternal grandmother, Ruth Guggenheim,[6] was aJewish refugee from Germany.[7][8][9]
The elder of two boys (his brother, Adrian Nivola, a painter, is five years younger), Alessandro Nivola's childhood was divided between Boston;Burlington, Vermont, where he attended the Mater Christi School (a ministry of the Sisters of Mercy); andWashington, D.C. He later attendedPhillips Exeter Academy andYale University.
Nivola graduated from Yale University with a BA in English in 1994. A year later he made his Broadway debut oppositeHelen Mirren inA Month in the Country, earning a Drama Desk Award nomination.[10] That year he also starred oppositeGwyneth Paltrow in the 1995Williamstown Theater Festival production of Shakespeare'sAs You Like It. Shortly after that came his breakthrough performance in John Woo's feature filmFace/Off (1997), playing Nicolas Cage's brother Pollux Troy.
In the ensuing years he has starred in many films, includingMansfield 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),[11]You Were Never Really Here (2017),Disobedience (2017),[12]The Art of Self Defense (2019), andThe Red Sea Diving Resort (2019). He played Dickie Moltisanti, the lead role inThe Many Saints of Newark,David Chase's feature film prequel to his television seriesThe Sopranos.[13] In 2022, he appeared inDavid O. Russell'sAmsterdam oppositeChristian Bale andMargot Robbie,[14] as well as the comedy featureSpin Me Round oppositeAlison Brie andAubrey Plaza.[15]
Nivola worked frequently in television, starring oppositeRobert De Niro inBarry Levinson's Madoff family biopicThe Wizard of Lies (2017), as well as the TNT miniseriesThe Company (2007), the UK Channel 4 seriesChimerica (2019), and the three-part BBC miniseriesBlack Narcissus, broadcast 27, 28, and 29 December 2020.
Onstage, he starred off-Broadway in a revival of theSam Shepard playA Lie of the Mind (2010), withLaurie Metcalf and directed byEthan Hawke. On Broadway, he starred in 2013 inThe Winslow Boy and in 2014 in the revivalThe Elephant Man oppositeBradley Cooper (for which he earned a Tony Award nomination). In 2013, Nivola established King Bee Productions with his wifeEmily Mortimer. The company produced two seasons of the half-hour comedyDoll & Em for HBO and BSkyB. He also producedTo Dust, starringMatthew Broderick. It won the Audience Award at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and was nominated for a 2020 Independent Spirit Award.[citation needed]
In 2024, Nivola appeared in Sony'sKraven the Hunter film, in which he playedSpider-Man antagonistThe Rhino.[16][17]
Nivola married British actressEmily Mortimer inBuckinghamshire in January 2003. The couple have a son,Sam, born 26 September 2003, and daughter, May, born 2010, and live inBoerum Hill,Brooklyn.[18] Sam and May play brother and sister in the 2022 Netflix filmWhite Noise as the children of characters played byAdam Driver andGreta Gerwig. Nivola became a British citizen the same day Mortimer became an American citizen.[19]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| † | Denotes series that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | "Master Harold"...and the Boys | Hally | Intiman Theatre Festival, Seattle | |
| 1995 | A Month in the Country | Beliaev | Criterion Center Stage Right, Broadway | |
| 1999 | As You Like It | Orlando | Williamstown Theatre Festival | |
| 2010 | A Lie of the Mind | Jake | Acorn Theater, Off-Broadway | |
| 2012 | The Elephant Man | Frederick Treves | Williamstown Theatre Festival | |
| 2013 | The Winslow Boy | Sir Robert Morton | American Airlines Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2014 | The Elephant Man | Frederick Treves | Booth Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2015 | Theatre Royal Haymarket, West End |
He has won aBritish Independent Film Award (BIFA), and the Best Actor Award at the 2017Tribeca Film Festival among others.
Actor Alessandro Nivola ... is 49
Alessandro Nivola: "My grandmother was German-Jewish from Frankfurt and she ended up being a Holocaust refugee."
