Alessandro Nivola has established himself as one of the most versatile actors of his generation with an array of emotionally searing and complex roles defining his body of work.
He is currently in production on THE BIG CIGAR, Apple TV+’s limited series which chronicles Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton (André Holland) and his best friend, Bert Schneider (Nivola), a Hollywood producer who helped Newton escape to Cuba while being pursued by the FBI.
Upcoming, Nivola co-stars in David O. Russell’s AMSTERDAM alongside an all-star cast including Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, Robert DeNiro, Mike Myers, and John David Washington. The Disney/New Regency film is slated to release on November 4th, 2022. In December, he will star opposite Keira Knightley and Chris Cooper in 20th Century/Hulu’s BOSTON STRANGLER, written and directed by Matt Ruskin. The film follows Loretta McLaughlin, the reporter who broke the story of the Boston Stranger. Along with reporter Jean Cole, McLaughlin challenged the sexism of the era, pursuing the story at personal risk and uncovering corruption that cast doubt on the identity of the strangler.
He recently wrapped production on Sony Pictures’ Marvel film KRAVEN THE HUNTER, also starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, and Russell Crowe. Directed by J.C. Chandor, the film is set to release theatrically on January 13th 2023.
It was recently announced that Nivola will co-star in Todd Haynes’s Peggy Lee biopic FEVER opposite Michelle Williams for MGM. The feature written by Doug Wright will be produced by Marc Platt, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler and Reese Witherspoon.
Last year, Nivola starred as the lead role of ‘Dickie Moltisanti’ in the Warner Bros. film THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK. Written by David Chase and directed by Alan Taylor, the 1960s set mob film is a prequel to the acclaimed SOPRANOS series.
In 2018, Nivola won the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor and was also nominated for a London Critics Circle Award for his role as ‘Rabbi Dovid Kuperman’ in Sebastian Lelio’s DISOBEDIENCE opposite Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams. Of his performance, Stephanie Zacharek of Time said, “Nivola is one of those stealth actors who adds a brushstroke (or more) of grace to every film in which he appears.”
Other notable credits include: David O. Russell’s AMERICAN HUSTLE for which Nivola earned a Screen Actors Guild Award and Critics Choice Award as part of the ensemble; Lisa Cholodenko’s LAUREL CANYON opposite Frances McDormand, for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award; Ava Duvernay’s SELMA which received a Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Ensemble Cast; ONE PERCENT MORE HUMID for which Nivola won Best Actor at the TriBeca Film festival; and John Woo’s FACE/OFF for which he received a Blockbuster Movie Award.
Additional credits include: THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE opposite Jesse Eisenberg; THE RED SEA DIVING RESORT opposite Chris Evans; A MOST VIOLENT YEAR opposite Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac; COCO BEFORE CHANEL opposite Audrey Tautou; Nicholas Winding Refn’s THE NEON DEMON; Sally Potter’s GINGER & ROSA; Kenneth Branagh’s LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST; MANSFIELD PARK; JUNEBUG opposite Amy Adams; and JURASSIC PARK 3.
On the small screen, Nivola most recently starred in the BBC/FX miniseries BLACK NARCISSUS. Prior to that he played ‘Mark Madoff’ opposite Robert DeNiro in Barry Levinson’s HBO film THE WIZARD OF LIES and the drama series CHIMERICA opposite Cherry Jones.
On stage, Nivola earned both Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for his performance as ‘Frederick Treves’ in the 2015 Broadway revival of THE ELEPHANT MAN opposite Bradley Cooper. He also earned a Drama Desk Award nomination in the Broadway revival of Turgenev’s A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY opposite Helen Mirren and an Outer Critics Circle nomination for his performance in THE WINSLOW BOY, also on Broadway.
Nivola and his wife Emily Mortimer set up the film and television production company King Bee Productions in 2014, which currently has a first look deal with eOne Studios and is developing a full slate of film and television projects. In 2018, he produced the feature film TO DUST starring Geza Rohrig and Matthew Broderick, which won both the Audience Award and the Best First Feature Award at the 2018 TriBeCa Film Festival and was nominated for a 2020 Film Independent Spirit Award. On television, he produced two seasons of HBO’s critically acclaimed series DOLL & EM, starring Mortimer and Dolly Wells.
Alessandro grew up in rural Vermont and graduated from Yale University with a BA in English. He lives in New York.