Charles Malcolm McDowell (born July 10, 1983) is an American film director and screenwriter. He is most known for his film '' The One I Love'' (2014).

Early life

McDowell was born on July 10, 1983, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to English actor Malcolm McDowell and American actress

Mary Steenburgen Mary Nell Steenburgen (; born February 8, 1953) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter. After studying at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1970s, she made her professional acting debut in 1978 Western comedy film ''Goin' ...

. He has an older sister named Lilly (born January 22, 1981) and three younger half-brothers from his father's marriage to Kelley Kuhr. McDowell's stepfather is actor

Ted Danson Edward Bridge "Ted" Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'', for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. He ...

, who married Steenburgen in 1995. Since 2014, McDowell has had a running joke at Steenburgen's expense, claiming on numerous occasions on social media that his mother is actually actress Andie MacDowell.

Career

In 2011, McDowell's

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

feed, @charliemcdowell, was described by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' as "one of the most hilarious Twitter feeds out there," and in 2013

Three Rivers Press Three Rivers Press is the trade paperback imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House. It publishes original paperback titles as well as paperback reprints of books issued initially in hardcover by the other Crown imprints ...

published McDowell's book, ''Dear Girls Above Me'', based on his Twitter feed. His debut film, '' The One I Love'', starring

Mark Duplass Mark David Duplass (born December 7, 1976) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician. With his brother Jay Duplass, he started the film production company Duplass Brothers Productions in 1996. Duplass has written and directed films, i ...

and Elisabeth Moss had its world premiere at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

in January 2014, where shortly after it was acquired by RADiUS-TWC and released in August 2014. In 2015, McDowell directed Sarah Silverman's untitled

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series pilot. The project was not picked up by the network. McDowell's next film, '' The Discovery'', starred Rooney Mara, Jason Segel, and

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...

. The film premiered at the

and was acquired by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

for a global release in 2017. In March 2017, filmmaker McDowell announced he was adapting author Don DeLillo's novel '' Zero K'' as a limited series for FX with

Noah Hawley Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...

and

Scott Rudin Scott Rudin (born July 14, 1958) is an American film, television, and theatre producer. His films include the Academy Award-winning Best Picture ''No Country for Old Men,'' as well as ''Uncut Gems'', '' Lady Bird, Fences, The Girl with the Dragon ...

producing. McDowell previously directed an episode of Hawley's television series '' Legion'', also for FX. In 2019, McDowell directed the first and last episodes of the

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

series ''

On Becoming a God in Central Florida ''On Becoming a God in Central Florida'' is an American dark comedy television series created by Robert Funke and Matt Lutsky that premiered on Showtime (TV network), Showtime on August 25, 2019. The series stars Kirsten Dunst and is set in the e ...

'' and also served as an executive producer. He also directed episodes of ''

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

'', '' Dear White People'', ''

Tales from the Loop ''Tales from the Loop'' is an American science fiction drama television series developed and written by Nathaniel Halpern based on the art book of the same name by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag. The eight-episode first season was released in ...

'', and ''

Dispatches from Elsewhere ''Dispatches from Elsewhere'' is an American drama television series created by and starring Jason Segel that premiered on March 1, 2020, on AMC. It is based on the documentary film '' The Institute'' about the alternate reality game The Jejune ...

''. His next film, ''Gilded Rage'', will be based on the infamous murder of investment banker Thomas Gilbert Sr. Bill Skarsgård and

Christoph Waltz Christoph Waltz (; born 4 October 1956) is an Austrian-German actor. Since 2009 he has been primarily active in the United States. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two British Academy Film Awards and two Sc ...

are set to portray the character in different periods of his life. Lily Collins is also set to star in the film.

Personal life

McDowell dated

Emilia Clarke Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke (born 23 October 1986) is an English actress. She is best known for her portrayal as Daenerys Targaryen in '' Game of Thrones''. She has received various accolades, including an Empire Award, a Saturn Award, ...

from 2018 to 2019. In 2019, Charlie began a relationship with actress Lily Collins, the daughter of English drummer and singer

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

. In September 2020, they announced their engagement. They were married on September 4, 2021, in Dunton Hot Springs,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

Filmography

Film

References

External links

*
''Dear Girls Above Me''
(Google Books) * {{DEFAULTSORT:McDowell, Charlie 1983 births Living people AFI Conservatory alumni American male screenwriters American people of Dutch descent American people of English descent American people of Scottish descent American people of Welsh descent Film directors from Los Angeles Screenwriters from California Writers from Los Angeles