This grandson of acclaimed Italian sculptor Constantino Nivola began his acting career while still an undergraduate at Yale, landing the plum leading role in a Seattle production of Athol Fugard's "Master Harold... and the Boys". After college, Alessandro Nivola became a rising stage star thanks to his work in regional theater and his 1995 Broadway debut as the young lover of Helen Mirren in "A Month in the Country". Inevitably, film and television roles were offered; the handsome, light-haired actor appeared in the 1996 NBC miniseries "Danielle Steel's 'The Ring'" and landed his first film role as Joanna Going's preppy husband in "Inventing the Abbotts" before landing his breakthrough part as Nicolas Cage's paranoid schizophrenic brother in John Woo's "Face/Off" (both 1997). Nivola adopted a flawless British accent to play a mystery man from Rachel Weisz's past in "I Want You" (1998), directed by Michael Winterbottom. The chameleonic actor continued to add to his gallery of characters appearing in the thriller "Best Laid Plans" and again as an Englishman in Patricia Rozema's screen version of yet another Jane Austen novel "Mansfield Park" (both 1999).
Family
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Brother: Adrian Nivola. Attended Phillips Exeter Academy, and earned a degree in English from Yale University
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Father: Pietro S Nivola. Taught at Harvard; wrote the book Laws of the Landscape: How Policies Shape Cities in Europe and America
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Grandfather: Constantino Nivola. Sardinian; taught at Harvard in the 1950s; born July 5, 1911; died in 1988
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Grandmother: Ruth Nivola. Jewish refugee from Germany
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Son: Sam Nivola. Born Sep. 26, 2003; mother, Emily Mortimer
Significant Others
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Companion: Emily Mortimer. met during filming of Love s Labor s Lost
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Companion: Rachel Weisz. met during filming of I Want You in 1997; no longer together
Education
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Yale University, New Haven, CT, English, BA, 1994
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Oxford University, Oxford, England
Milestones
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1994 Received generally strong notices for his performance as a young Brit in the Long Wharf Theater production of Paddywack
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1995 Broadway debut as the young lover of Helen Mirren in A Month in the Country
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1996 Filmed role in support of Brooke Shields in the TV-movie The Almost Perfect Bank Robbery (aired in summer 1999)
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1996 TV acting debut in the NBC miniseries Danielle Steel s The Ring
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1997 Breakthrough screen role as Nicolas Cage s paranoid schizophrenic brother in John Woo s Face/Off
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1997 First film role as Joanna Going s preppy husband in Inventing the Abbotts
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1998 Adopted a British accent to play a mystery man from former girlfriend Rachel Weisz s past in I Want You
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1999 Played the King of Navarre in Kenneth Branagh s musicalized version of Shakespeare s Love s Labour s Lost
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1999 Returned to the stage, starring opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of As You Like It
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1999 Starred opposite Reese Witherspoon in Best Laid Plans
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2001 Had featured role in Jurassic Park III the third film of the Jurassic Park film series
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2002 Played a rock singer involved with his record producer, played by Frances McDormand, in Laurel Canyon ; received Independent Spirit Award nomination for best supporting male
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2003 Cast opposite Julia Stiles in the romantic comedy Carolina
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2004 Starred opposite Robert Redford and Helen Mirren in The Clearing
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2005 Co-starred in the independent southern drama Junebug ; premiered at Sundance
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2006 Played a British football (soccer) player in Danny Cannon s Goal! The Dream Begins
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2007 Reprised role for the sequel, Goal! 2: Living the Dream...
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2008 Co-starred with Jessica Alba in the supernatural thriller, The Eye
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As a teenager, worked as an intern at the Eugene O Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT
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Early professional role in Seattle production of Master Harold...and the Boys ; landed part while still a student at Yale