Max Giorgio Choa Minghella (born September 16, 1985) is an English-born actor, director, and screenwriter best known for his roles in The Social Network, The Darkest Hour, The Internship, The Handmaid's Tale, and the Saw franchise.
He played William Emmerson in Spiral.
Early Life[]
Max Minghella was born in Hampstead, London, to director Anthony Minghella and dancer and choreographer Carolyn Jane Choa. His father was born in Ryde, Isle of Wight, and was of Italian descent, while 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 felt no pressure from his father to succeed in the entertainment industry. Minghella 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, graduating in 2009. During his studies, Minghella was a resident of John Jay Hall and 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 he was an actor.
Career[]
Minghella was inspired to become an actor in his youth after seeing a production of 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.
Minghella had an uncredited appearance as an extra in his father's film Cold Mountain. His first professional role was in Bee Season as the son of a dysfunctional Jewish American family. The film was released in November 2005 to mainly mixed reviews and low box-office results, grossing only $1 million in its limited release. One critic gave the movie a 7/10 rating and remarked that Minghella was "a talented young actor to watch, delivering a strong performance."
The same year, Minghella also appeared in 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 of Art School Confidential, a comedy directed by Terry Zwigoff. His film Elvis and Anabelle, a dark romantic drama in which Minghella plays an undertaker's son, premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2007. He described it as "a really sweet film." He also intended to play Art Bechstein in the movie version of Michael Chabon's novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh but dropped out of the project due to his university schedule.
In 2007, the press reported that Minghella was cast in Beeban Kidron's Hippie Hippie Shake, a film about writer Richard Neville set in London in the 1960s. In March 2008, it was announced that he would star in Alejandro Amenábar's second English-language film, Agora. The film was set in 4th-century Egypt and revolved around Hypatia of Alexandria. Later that year, Minghella played a pompous film director in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People and was seen in the dark comedy Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.
In David Fincher's The Social Network, he played Divya Narendra, one of the Harvard upperclassmen who sued 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. He also appeared in the ensemble dramedy 10 Years in 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 play Richie Castellano in the second season of the Fox sitcom The Mindy Project. The same year, he appeared in the music video for "Shot at the Night" by The Killers.
Since 2017, Minghella has played Nick Blaine in the Hulu dystopian series The Handmaid's Tale. In 2021, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the role.
Minghella made his directorial debut with 2018's Teen Spirit, a musical for which he wrote the screenplay.
Filmography[]
Films[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | The Talented Mr. Ripley | Boy with Signora Buffi |
| Toy Boys | Danny | |
| Let the Good Times Roll | Boy with Dog | |
| 2003 | Cold Mountain | Young Confederate Soldier |
| 2005 | Bee Season | Aaron |
| Syriana | Robby Barnes | |
| 2006 | Art School Confidential | Jerome |
| 2007 | Elvis and Anabelle | Elvis |
| Hippie Hippie Shake | Martin Sharp | |
| 2008 | How to Lose Friends & Alienate People | Vincent Lepak |
| 2009 | Brief Interviews with Hideous Men | Kevin / Subject #28 |
| Agora | Davus | |
| 2010 | The Social Network | Divya Narendra |
| 2011 | The Ides of March | Ben Harpen |
| 10 Years | AJ | |
| The Darkest Hour | Ben | |
| 2013 | The Internship | Graham Hawtrey |
| Horns | Lee Tourneau | |
| The Killers: Shot at the Night | Hotel Guest | |
| 2014 | Trentemøller: Gravity | Young Stoner |
| About Alex | Isaac | |
| Not Safe for Work | Thomas Miller | |
| 2015 | Just a Minute | P.A. |
| Into the Forest | Eli | |
| 2016 | The 9th Life of Louis Drax | Nurse |
| Fluffy | Mark Mason | |
| 2021 | Spiral | William Emmerson |
| 2022 | Babylon | Irving Thalberg |
| 2023 | Maximum Truth | Antonio Kelly-Zhang |
Television Series[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2013-2017 | The Mindy Project | Richie Castellano |
| 2017-2022 | The Handmaid's Tale | Jezebel |
Gallery[]
External Links[]
Max Minghella on Wikipedia
Max Minghella at the Internet Movie Database
Max Minghella on Facebook
Max Minghella on Twitter
Max Minghella on Instagram