Max Giorgio Choa Minghella (born 16 September 1985) is an English actor, film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for his roles in the films ''

Syriana ''Syriana'' is a 2005 American political thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, loosely based on Robert Baer's 2003 memoir ''See No Evil (Baer book), See No Evil''. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of George Clooney, Mat ...

'' (2005), '' Art School Confidential'' (2006), ''

Elvis and Anabelle ''Elvis and Anabelle'' is an American romantic drama film written and directed by Will Geiger. It stars Blake Lively, Max Minghella, Joe Mantegna, Mary Steenburgen, and Keith Carradine. The film premiered on March 10, 2007, at the South by Sout ...

'' (2007), ''

The Social Network ''The Social Network'' is a 2010 American biographical drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, based on the 2009 book ''The Accidental Billionaires'' by Ben Mezrich. It portrays the founding of social networking web ...

'' (2010), ''

The Ides of March The Ides of March (; la, Idus Martiae, Late Latin: ) is the 74th day in the Roman calendar, corresponding to 15 March. It was marked by several Religion in ancient Rome, religious observances and was notable in Rome as a deadline for settling d ...

'' (2011), ''

The Internship ''The Internship'' is a 2013 American comedy film directed by Shawn Levy, written by Vince Vaughn and Jared Stern, and produced by Vaughn and Levy. The film stars Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as recently laid-off salesmen who attempt to compet ...

'' (2013), ''

Horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

'' (2013), and ''

Spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:Nick Blaine in the television series ''

The Handmaid's Tale ''The Handmaid's Tale'' is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which h ...

'' (2017–present), which earned him a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

nomination in 2021.

Early life and education

Minghella was born in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, London, the son of director

Anthony Minghella Anthony Minghella, (6 January 195418 March 2008) was a British film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. He won the Academy Award for Best Directo ...

(1954–2008) and dancer and choreographer Carolyn Jane Chao. His father was born in

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

, and was of Italian descent, and his mother was born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. 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. He was educated at St Anthony's Preparatory School and

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_hea ...

in Hampstead. He then attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, which he considered his "first priority", and studied history, graduating in 2009. He was a resident of

John Jay Hall John Jay Hall is a 15-story building located on the southeastern extremity of the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in New York City, on the northwestern corner of 114th St. and Amsterdam Avenue. Named for Founding Father, ''The ...

during his studies at Columbia. 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.

Heritage

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 George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...

was of three-quarters

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

and one-quarter

Jewish descent ''Zera Yisrael'' ( he, זרע ישראל, , meaning "Seed fIsrael") is a legal category in Halakha, Jewish law that denotes the blood descendants of Jews who, for one reason or another, are not legally of Jewish ethnicity according to religiou ...

, and his maternal grandmother Maisie Nora (née Kotewall) was of Indian Parsi, English, Irish, Swedish and Chinese ancestry.

Sir Robert Kotewall Sir Robert Hormus Kotewall (羅旭龢; 1880–1949) was a British Hong Kong businessman, civil servant and legislator. Early life Kotewall was born in 1880. He was the son of Hormusjee Rustomjee Kotewall, an Indian Parsi, and Cheung A-cheung. ...

is his great-grandfather. Olympic swimmer

Robyn Lamsam Robyn Claire Lamsam ( Chinese: 伍劭斌; born 4 August 1977) is a swimmer who represented Hong Kong at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Lamsam started swimming when she was seven years old at the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, and would go on to break 21 ...

is his second cousin through the Kotewalls.

Career

Minghella was inspired to become an actor during his young years, after seeing a production of the play ''

This Is Our Youth ''This Is Our Youth'' is a play by American dramatist and screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan. It premiered Off-Broadway in 1996 and since been produced all over the world, including the West End, Broadway Sydney and Toronto. Plot The play takes pla ...

'' in

London's West End The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

; he subsequently dropped out of the

to pursue an acting career, and attended the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth th ...

. 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." Minghella had an uncredited appearance as an

extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

in his father's film '' Cold Mountain''. His first professional role was in ''

Bee Season ''Bee Season'' is a 2000 novel by Myla Goldberg. It follows a young girl as she attempts to win the national spelling bee, and the repercussions of her success on the other members of her family. Plot summary Eleven-year-old Eliza Naumann is the ...

'', playing the son of a dysfunctional

Jewish American American Jews or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by religion, ethnicity, culture, or nationality. Today the Jewish community in the United States consists primarily of Ashkenazi Jews, who descend from diaspora Je ...

family. The film was released in November 2005 to mostly mixed reviews and low box office, grossing only $1 million in its limited release, although critics remarked that Minghella was "a talented young actor to watch, delivering a strong performance". Minghella's other November 2005 role was the political thriller ''

'' in which he played the son of

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

agent character. In 2006, he starred in the

Daniel Clowes Daniel Gillespie Clowes (; born April 14, 1961) is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter. Most of Clowes's work first appeared in '' Eightball'', a solo anthology comic book series. An ''Eightball'' issue typical ...

adaptation '' Art School Confidential'', a comedy directed by

Terry Zwigoff Terry Zwigoff (born May 18, 1949) is an American filmmaker whose work often deals with misfits, antiheroes, and themes of alienation. He first garnered attention for his work in documentary filmmaking with ''Louie Bluie'' (1985) and '' Crumb'' (1 ...

. He got the part after meeting Zwigoff when he visited the set of ''Bee Season''. His film ''

'', a dark romantic drama in which he plays an

undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...

's son, premiered at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

film festival in 2007. He described it as "a really sweet film". He was to play Art Bechstein in the film version of writer

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, gr ...

's novel ''

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh ''The Mysteries of Pittsburgh'' is a 1988 novel by American author Michael Chabon. It is a coming-of-age tale set during the early 1980s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was Chabon's first novel, which he began writing as a 21-year-old undergrad ...

'', but dropped out of the project due to his university schedule. The press reported in 2007 that Minghella was cast in

Beeban Kidron Beeban Tania Kidron, Baroness Kidron, (born 2 May 1961) is a British filmmaker and an advocate for children's rights in the digital world. Kidron is Chair of 5Rights Foundation, a charity that delivers children's rights for young people online, ...

's ''

Hippie Hippie Shake ''Hippie Hippie Shake'' is an unreleased British drama film produced by Working Title Films. It is based on a memoir by Richard Neville, editor of the Australian satirical magazine '' Oz'', and chronicles his relationship with girlfriend Loui ...

'', a film about writer Richard Neville set in 1960s London. In March 2008, it was announced that he would star in

Alejandro Amenábar Alejandro Fernando Amenábar Cantos (born March 31, 1972) is a Spanish-Chilean film director, screenwriter and composer. He has won nine Goya Award for Best Director, Goyas—including a Goya Award for Best Director for his 2001 film ''The Othe ...

's second English language film, ''

Agora The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...

''. The film is set in 4th century

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and revolves around

Hypatia of Alexandria Hypatia, Koine pronunciation (born 350–370; died 415 AD) was a neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, then part of the Eastern Roman Empire. She was a prominent thinker in Alexandria where ...

. 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 ''Brief Interviews with Hideous Men'' is a short story collection by the late American writer David Foster Wallace, first published in 1999 by Little, Brown. According to the papers in the David Foster Wallace Archive at the Harry Ransom Center, ...

''. In

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. Fin ...

's ''

'', the 2010 film about the origins of Facebook, he plays

Divya Narendra Divya Narendra (; born March 18, 1982) is an American businessman. He is the CEO and co-founder of SumZero along with Harvard classmate Aalap Mahadevia. He also co-founded HarvardConnection (later renamed ConnectU) with Harvard University classma ...

, one of the Harvard upperclassmen who sues

Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...

for stealing the idea behind Facebook. In June 2010, Minghella was cast in the Russian science-fiction film ''

The Darkest Hour "The Darkest Hour" is a phrase used to refer to an early period of World War II, from approximately mid-1940 to mid-1941. While widely attributed to Winston Churchill, the origins of the phrase are unclear. The phrase The phrase "the darkest ...

'', released in December 2011. He appeared in the ensemble dramedy ''

10 Years 10 Years or Ten Years may refer to: *Decade, a period of ten years Film * ''10 Years'' (2011 film), a film starring Channing Tatum * ''Ten Years'' (2015 film), a Hong Kong film Music *10 Years (band), an American alternative metal band * ''10 Ye ...

'' (2012). The following year, he had a supporting role as Graham Hawtrey in the comedy ''

''. In November 2013, it was announced that Minghella would be playing Richie Castellano in the second season of the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

sitcom ''

The Mindy Project ''The Mindy Project'' is an American romantic comedy television series created by and starring Mindy Kaling that began airing on Fox in September 2012 and finished its run of six seasons on Hulu in November 2017. The series was co-produced by Uni ...

''. In 2013, he appeared in the music video for " Shot at the Night" by

The Killers The Killers are an American rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingd ...

. 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 Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

dystopian series ''

'' since 2017. He was nominated for a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre, or even gender, specific. Beginning ...

for the role in 2021. Minghella made his directorial debut with 2018's '' Teen Spirit'', a musical, from his own screenplay. Minghella will next star in the 2022 film ''

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

''. He currently lives 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' ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Minghella, Max 1985 births Living people British male actors of Chinese descent English male film actors English male television actors 21st-century English male actors National Youth Theatre members People educated at University College School Columbia College (New York) alumni People from Hampstead English people of Italian descent English people of Chinese descent English people of Hong Kong descent English people of Jewish descent English people of Irish descent English people of Parsi descent English people of Swedish descent