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Max Minghella

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Max Minghella
Minghella in 2017
Born
Max Giorgio Choa Minghella

(1985-09-16) 16 September 1985 (age 39)
Hampstead, London, England
EducationColumbia University (BA)
OccupationActor
Years active1999–present
Parents
Relatives

Max Giorgio Choa Minghella (born 16 September 1985)[1] is an English actor. He is known for his roles in the films Syriana (2005), Art School Confidential (2006), Elvis and Anabelle (2007), The Social Network (2010), The Darkest Hour (2011), The Ides of March (2011), The Internship (2013), Horns (2013), and Spiral (2021), as well as his role as Nick Blaine in the television series The Handmaid's Tale (2017–present), which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2021.

Early life and education

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Minghella was born in Hampstead, London, the son of director Anthony Minghella (1954–2008) and dancer and choreographer Carolyn Jane Choa.[2] His father was born in Ryde, Isle of Wight, and was of Italian descent, and his mother was born in Hong Kong.

While Minghella was growing up he spent time on his father's film sets. He has said that he has "fond memories" of them and that he felt "no pressure" from his father to succeed in the entertainment industry.[3] He was educated at St Anthony's Preparatory School and University College School in Hampstead. He then attended Columbia University, which he considered his "first priority", and studied history,[4] graduating in 2009. He was a resident of John Jay Hall during his studies at Columbia.[5] He typically worked on films only during his summer breaks. He has said that he felt like "an English boy at an American school", that he kept to himself, and that most of his fellow students did not know that he was an actor.[6][7]

Heritage

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Minghella's father was born on the Isle of Wight, and was of Italian descent. His mother, who was from Hong Kong, is from a family of multiple heritage. His maternal grandfather George Choa was of three-quarters Chinese and one-quarter Jewish descent, and his maternal grandmother Maisie Nora (née Kotewall)[8][6] was of Indian Parsi, English, Irish, Swedish and Chinese ancestry.

Sir Robert Kotewall is his great-grandfather.[α] Olympic swimmer Robyn Lamsam is his second cousin through the Kotewalls.

Career

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Minghella was inspired to become an actor during his young years, after seeing a production of the play This Is Our Youth in London's West End; he subsequently dropped out of the University College School to pursue an acting career, and attended the National Youth Theatre.[4] He did not always want to become an actor. He said, "I thought it was sort of embarrassing to say you wanted to be an actor – it was, like, uncool. And growing up, I was massively concerned with seeming cool. I thought up until about age 16 that I was going to be a music video director."[14]

Minghella had an uncredited appearance as an extra in his father's film Cold Mountain.[15] His first professional role was in Bee Season, playing the son of a dysfunctional Jewish American family. The film was released in November 2005 to mostly mixed reviews and low box office, grossing only $1 million in its limited release.[16][17] One critic who rated the film "7 out of 10" remarked that Minghella was "a talented young actor to watch, delivering a strong performance".[18]

Minghella's other November 2005 role was the political thriller Syriana, in which he played the son of George Clooney's CIA agent character. In 2006, he starred in the Daniel Clowes adaptation Art School Confidential, a comedy directed by Terry Zwigoff. He got the part after meeting Zwigoff when he visited the set of Bee Season.[6] His film Elvis and Anabelle, a dark romantic drama in which he plays an undertaker's son, premiered at the South by Southwest film festival in 2007. He described it as "a really sweet film".[6] He was to play Art Bechstein in the film version of writer Michael Chabon's novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, but dropped out of the project due to his university schedule.[19]

The press reported in 2007 that Minghella was cast in Beeban Kidron's Hippie Hippie Shake, a film about writer Richard Neville set in 1960s London.[20] In March 2008, it was announced that he would star in Alejandro Amenábar's second English language film, Agora.[21] The film is set in 4th century Egypt and revolves around Hypatia of Alexandria. Later in 2008, Minghella played a pompous film director in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, and was seen in a segment of the dark comedy Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.[22]

In David Fincher's The Social Network, the 2010 film about the origins of Facebook,[23] he plays Divya Narendra, one of the Harvard upperclassmen who sues Mark Zuckerberg for stealing the idea behind Facebook. In June 2010, Minghella was cast in the Russian science-fiction film The Darkest Hour, released in December 2011.[24] He appeared in the ensemble dramedy 10 Years (2012). The following year, he had a supporting role as Graham Hawtrey in the comedy The Internship.

In November 2013, it was announced that Minghella would be playing Richie Castellano in the second season of the Fox sitcom The Mindy Project.[25] In 2013, he appeared in the music video for "Shot at the Night" by The Killers.[26]

Minghella has been playing the role of Nick Blaine, an Eye in the Republic of Gilead and the love interest of June Osborne, in the Hulu dystopian series The Handmaid's Tale since 2017. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the role in 2021.[27]

Minghella made his directorial debut with 2018's Teen Spirit, a musical, from his own screenplay.[28]

Minghella starred in the 2022 film Babylon.[29] He currently lives in Los Angeles.

Filmography

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Film

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List of films and roles
Year Title Role Notes
1999 Toy Boys Danny Short film
Let the Good Times Roll Boy with dog Short film
2005 Bee Season Aaron Naumann
Syriana Robby Barnes
2006 Art School Confidential Jerome Platz
2007 Elvis and Anabelle Elvis
2008 How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Vincent Lepak
2009 Brief Interviews with Hideous Men Kevin (Subject No. 28)
Agora Davus
2010 The Social Network Divya Narendra Hollywood Film Festival for Ensemble of the Year
Palm Springs International Film Festival Ensemble Cast Award
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Nominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association for Best Ensemble
Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2011 The Ides of March Ben Harpen Nominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association for Best Ensemble
10 Years AJ
The Darkest Hour Ben
2013 The Internship Graham Hawtrey
Horns Lee Tourneau
2014 About Alex Isaac
Not Safe for Work Thomas Miller
2015 Into the Forest Eli
Just a Minute The Voice Short film
2016 The 9th Life of Louis Drax Nurse Uncredited; also screenwriter and producer
Fluffy Mark Mason Short film
2018 Teen Spirit Director and screenwriter
2021 Spiral William Schenk / William Emmerson
2022 Babylon Irving Thalberg Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2023 Maximum Truth Antonio Kelly-Zhang
TBA Shell Post-production; Director

Television

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List of television appearances and roles
Year Title Role Notes
2013–
2017 		The Mindy Project Richie Castellano 8 episodes
2017–
present 		The Handmaid's Tale Nick Blaine Main role
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2021)
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2018–19, 2022)

Notes

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  1. ^ Minghella's maternal great-grandfather and great-grandmother were Hong Kong legislator Sir Robert Kotewall (half-Indian Parsi and half-Chinese) and Edith Kotewall (née Lowcock)[9] (her father George Lowcock was half-English and half-Irish, and her mother, née Jönsson/Johnsford, was half-Swedish),[10][11] and his maternal great-great-grandfather was Calcutta-born Italian Jewish businessman Emanuel Raphael Belilios (through Belilios' daughter Maria Felicie, mother of George Choa).[12][13]

References

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  1. ^ "Max Minghella". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  2. ^ Roy, Donald (27 November 2015). "Minghella, Anthony (1954–2008), playwright, screenwriter, and film director". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/100058. ISBN 978-0-19-861411-1. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) (subscription required)
  3. ^ Pearlman, Cindy. "Film director's son makes his own busy career". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 30 April 2006.[dead link‍]
  4. ^ a b Ghorbani, Liza (14 May 2006). "The Talented History Student". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 January 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  5. ^ Ghorbani, Liza (14 May 2006). "The Talented History Student". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 29 April 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d Roman, Julian (8 May 2006). "Max Minghella Talks Art School Confidential". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  7. ^ Day, Elizabeth (23 October 2011). "Max Minghella: "At first it was difficult to be taken seriously"". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  8. ^ "Webb-site Who's Who: Choa, Maisie Nora 羅璇基". Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  9. ^ "Edith Kotewall". 22 November 1889. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  10. ^ "Johnsford". 25 October 1838. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  11. ^ "Lowcock". 12 July 2021. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  12. ^ "Webb-site Who's Who: Belilios, Emanuel Raphael". Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Maria Felicie (Felicie) Choa". 17 March 1885. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  14. ^ Cerula, Erica. "The Social Network's Max Minghella". Details (October 2010). United States. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  15. ^ Petruzzi, Elissa (20 November 2005). "The Max Factor". USA Weekend. Archived from the original on 27 November 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  16. ^ "Bee Season". The Numbers. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  17. ^ "Bee Season (2005)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 25 January 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  18. ^ Douglas, Edward. "Bee Season Movie Review". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on 10 June 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  19. ^ "Interview with Rawson Marshall Thurber". Pajiba. 5 July 2006. Archived from the original on 19 January 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  20. ^ Dawtrey, Adam (2 May 2007). "'Hippie' grooves for Universal". Variety. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  21. ^ Max Minghella Prepares for Earth's 'Darkest Hour' Archived 24 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ McLovin/Red Mist Becomes Evil Ed in 'Fright Night' Redo!! Archived 24 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ^ Rich, Katey (20 October 2009). "New Social Network Cast Announced on Facebook, Of Course". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on 17 November 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  24. ^ Home Max Minghella Set for The Darkest Hour Archived 10 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ "Mindy Project Scoop: Social Network Actor Max Minghella to Play Danny's Bro". TVLine. 28 October 2013. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  26. ^ Coulehan, Erin (27 September 2013). "The Killers Give Lovers a Chance in 'Shot at the Night'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  27. ^ Barlow, Eve. "Interview: Max Minghella, who plays Nick in the Handmaid's Tale, is the enigmatic Brit in LA about to make his directorial debut". Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  28. ^ Lodderhose, Diana (30 January 2017). "Max Minghella Teams With 'La La Land' Producer For Directorial Debut 'Teen Spirit' – Berlin". Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  29. ^ Kit, Borys (2 June 2021). "Max Minghella, Flea, Samara Weaving Join Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie in 'Babylon'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 18 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
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