Alessandro Nivola

Early life and education

Italian-American, Nivola was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Virginia (née Davis), an artist, and Pietro Salvatore Nivola, a professor of political science and a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution. Nivola's paternal grandfather was the Italian (Sardinian) sculptor Costantino Nivola, and his paternal grandmother, Ruth Guggenheim, was a Jewish refugee from Germany.

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); and Washington, D.C. He later attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale University.

Career

Nivola graduated from Yale University with a BA in English in 1994. A year later he made his Broadway debut opposite Helen Mirren in A Month in the Country, earning a Drama Desk Award nomination. That year he also starred opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in the 1995 Williamstown Theater Festival production of Shakespeare's As You Like It. 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), You Were Never Really Here (2017), Disobedience (2017), 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. In 2022, he appeared in David O. Russell's Amsterdam opposite Christian Bale and Margot Robbie, as well as the comedy feature Spin Me Round opposite Alison Brie and Aubrey Plaza.

Nivola 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, he starred off-Broadway in a revival of the Sam Shepard play A Lie of the Mind (2010), with Laurie Metcalf and directed by Ethan Hawke. On Broadway, he starred in 2013 in The Winslow Boy and in 2014 in the revival The Elephant Man opposite Bradley Cooper (for which he earned a Tony Award nomination). 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. It won the Audience Award at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and was nominated for a 2020 Independent Spirit Award.

In 2024, Nivola appeared in Sony's Kraven the Hunter film, in which he played Spider-Man antagonist The Rhino.

Personal life

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. 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.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theater

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Alessandro Nivola

He has won a British Independent Film Award (BIFA), and the Best Actor Award at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival among others.

References

References

1. (June 28, 2021). "Celebrity Birthdays: June 28". [[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]].
2. "Alessandro Nivola Biography". Tvguide.com.
3. Fee, Gayle. (October 1, 2007). "Inside Track". Boston Herald.
4. (September 13, 1990). "Thomas J. Davis, 77, Investment Executive". The New York Times.
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]].
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.
7. Tangcay, Jazz. (April 25, 2018). "Interview: Alessandro Nivola on Playing the Conflicted Dovid in Disobedience". Awards Daily.
8. Pisani, Lavinia. (November 10, 2015). "A Conversation with Italian American Star Alessandro Nivola". L'Italo-Americano Newspaper.
9. Bloom, Nate. (April 18, 2018). "Amy Schumer 'feeling pretty'; and a young Jewish Picasso". [[J. The Jewish News of Northern California]].
10. "A Month in the Country Production History".
11. (April 27, 2017). "Tribeca Film Festival 'Keep the Change,' 'Bobbi Jene' Win Top Awards".
12. (December 2, 2018). "British Independent Film Awards: 'The Favourite' Wins A Record Ten Awards".
13. (November 20, 2018). "'Sopranos' Prequel Film Taps Alessandro Nivola For Lead Role".
14. 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".
15. (May 6, 2021). "Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Alessandro Nivola Top Ensemble Comedy 'Spin Me Round' from Limelight & Duplass Brothers".
16. Jackson, Angelique. (March 4, 2022). "Sony's 'Kraven the Hunter' Casts Alessandro Nivola".
17. Couch, Aaron. (April 25, 2023). "Aaron Taylor-Johnson Brings Bloody, R-Rated 'Kraven the Hunter' Footage to CinemaCon".
18. (November 16, 2013). "Alessandro Nivola: My Brooklyn". New York Post.
19. de Bertodano, Helena. (July 24, 2011). "Emily Mortimer interview: 'I hope my kids don't look like my father'". Telegraph Media Group Limited.
20. Potter, Sally. "Ginger & Rosa". Sally Potter.