Alden Ehrenreich

Early life

Alden Caleb Ehrenreich was born in on November 22, 1989, in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Sari (née Newmann), an interior designer, and Mark Ehrenreich, an accountant. He is named after the director Phil Alden Robinson, a family friend. His stepfather, Harry Aronowitz, is an orthodontist. Ehrenreich is Jewish; his ancestors were Jewish emigrants from Austria, Hungary, Russia, and Poland, and he was raised in Reconstructionist Judaism.

Ehrenreich began acting at the Palisades Elementary School in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, and continued doing so at Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California. After graduating from high school, he studied acting at New York University at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, but never finished his degree. In 2009, he co-founded "The Collectin" with his friend Zoë Worth, a group of New York City actors, writers, producers and directors who collaborate on films and theater performances.

Career

Ehrenreich was discovered at a friend's bat mitzvah reception by Steven Spielberg, who watched a comedy video created by Ehrenreich and a friend, "which began in the present and eventually cut to 20 or 30 years later, with Mr. Ehrenreich, in a kimono, screaming to stop a wedding." Ehrenreich has described the comedic performance he gave in the movie as, "I ran around as a skinny little punk, trying on girls' clothes and eating dirt." He was then contacted by DreamWorks, a studio which Spielberg helped found, and met with its casting director. Spielberg said of Ehrenreich:

The meeting with Spielberg led to acting roles on television shows such as Supernatural and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

In 2007, Ehrenreich won the role of Bennie Tetrocini in Francis Ford Coppola's Tetro. Coppola asked Ehrenreich to read a passage from The Catcher in the Rye for his main audition. The film was released in limited release in 2009 and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Ehrenreich's performance. In 2011, he played a minor role in Coppola's subsequent film Twixt and appeared alongside Natalie Portman in the Sofia Coppola-directed Miss Dior Cherie commercial.

In 2013, he starred as Ethan Wate in the film adaptation of the novel Beautiful Creatures, and appeared as Whip Taylor in Park Chan-wook's thriller film Stoker. He then played the stepson of Cate Blanchett in the Woody Allen-directed drama film Blue Jasmine. In 2016, Ehrenreich became more widely known for his co-leading role as Hobie Doyle in the Coen brothers film Hail, Caesar!, alongside a cast that included Josh Brolin and George Clooney. Many critics praised Ehrenreich's performance in particular. That same year, Ehrenreich starred in the leading role of Frank Forbes in Warren Beatty's romantic comedy-drama Rules Don't Apply. He then starred in The Yellow Birds with Tye Sheridan, Jack Huston, and Jennifer Aniston, which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

Ehrenreich starred as Han Solo in the Star Wars anthology film Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), following Solo's early life before the events of the original 1977 Star Wars. He headlined the Brave New World series on NBC, based on the 1932 novel of the same name by Aldous Huxley.

Ehrenreich's recent projects include the thriller Fair Play co-starring Phoebe Dynevor, Cocaine Bear, directed by Elizabeth Banks, Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan, and played Ezekiel Stane in the Marvel Cinematic Universe miniseries Ironheart.

In 2024, he joined Zach Cregger's horror thriller film Weapons (2025). He also joined Anton Corbijn's Switzerland, alongside Helen Mirren, and The Last Resort with Daisy Ridley.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. {{YouTube. sT69mUzogKo. "Alden Ehrenreich's Explains the Story Behind His Unusual Name"
2. "Kvell Corner".
3. Pappademas, Alex. (April 24, 2018). "Alden Ehrenreich Is Ready to Prove He's Worthy of Han Solo". [[Esquire (magazine).
4. Motika, Libby. (May 9, 2016). "Ehrenreich Earns Raves for Acting".
5. "Alden Caleb Ehrenreich".
6. Keeps, David A.. (December 1, 2005). "Tradition, but with a twist".
7. Barshad, Amos. (April 24, 2018). "Alden Ehrenreich can be your intergalactic hero". [[The Fader]].
8. Allen, Robert. (May 24, 2018). "Alden Ehrenreich: Going Solo".
9. Ayers, Mike. (February 5, 2016). "Alden Ehrenreich's Road to the Coen Brothers and 'Hail, Caesar!'".
10. (July 12, 2010). "Collectin Consciousness".
11. Sancton, Julian. (April 7, 2010). "Alden Ehrenreich's Magic Show".
12. Grierson, Tim. (February 4, 2016). "Meet the Coen Brothers' New Breakout Star: Alden Ehrenreich".
13. Schneier, Matthew. (May 6, 2016). "The Man Who Would Be Han Solo".
14. Johnson, Zach. (May 6, 2016). "Alden Ehrenreich Cast as Young Han Solo: 5 Things to Know About Star Wars' Newest Star".
15. Tatna, Meher. (May 23, 2018). "Alden Ehrenreich hits big time and flies Solo in A Star Wars Story". [[The New Paper]].
16. Boone, John. (June 10, 2016). "EXCLUSIVE: Steven Spielberg on Discovering Young Han Solo: 'People Don't Know How Really Funny He Is'". [[Entertainment Tonight]].
17. Hill, Logan. (June 9, 2009). "Francis Ford Coppola's New Star Alden Ehrenreich on Not 'Trickling Up' Vulture". [[Paste (magazine).
18. Patel, Jay. (April 15, 2016). "Alden Ehrenreich is tipped to star as Han Solo but who is he?". [[BBC]].
19. Hill, Logan. (March 30, 2009). "Blessed".
20. Martin, Michael. (May 1, 2010). "Alden Ehrenreich".
21. Corliss, Richard. (June 11, 2009). "Coppola's Tetro: An Offer You Can Refuse".
22. Ebert, Roger. (June 17, 2009). "Tetro Movie Review".
23. Han, Angie. (February 22, 2011). "Watch the Sofia Coppola-directed Miss Dior Cherie TV Commercial Starring Natalie Portman".
24. Kroll, Justin. (September 2, 2014). "Alden Ehrenreich Joins Cast of Coen Brothers' 'Hail Caesar!' (EXCLUSIVE)".
25. "'Hail, Caesar!': Hooray For the Coen brothets' Hollywood Homage".
26. Busch, Anita. (February 24, 2014). "Warren Beatty's Untitled Howard Hughes Pic Finally Takes Flight Financed By Billionaire Boys' Club; Ehrenreich, Collins To Star In Love Story".
27. Busch, Anita. (October 6, 2015). "Jack Huston & Jennifer Aniston Join War Pic 'The Yellow Birds'".
28. Andreeva, Nellie. (16 April 2019). "'Solo' Star Alden Ehrenreich To Headline NBCU Series 'Brave New World'". Deadline Hollywood.
29. (December 1, 2021). "Alden Ehrenreich And Phoebe Dynevor To Star In ''Fair Play''".
30. (July 1, 2021). "Keri Russell, O'Shea Jackson, Ray Liotta, Alden Ehrenreich and Jesse Tyler Ferguson To Star in Elizabeth Banks' ''Cocaine Bear'' For Universal".
31. Kit, Borys. (February 22, 2022). "''Oppenheimer'': Alden Ehrenreich, David Krumholtz Join Christopher Nolan Drama (Exclusive)".
32. Kroll, Justin. (July 12, 2022). "'Ironheart': Alden Ehrenreich Latest To Join Cast of Marvel Series".
33. (29 April 2024). "Alden Ehrenreich Joins New Line Horror Thriller 'Weapons' From Zach Cregger". deadline.
34. (2024-03-08). "Anton Corbijn set to shoot the thriller Switzerland, with Helen Mirren in the leading role".
35. (17 March 2025). "Daisy Ridley & Alden Ehrenreich Making A Date For Philippines-Set Rom-Com 'The Last Resort'".