Alfred Molina (born May 24, 1953) is an
Anglo-American actor. He
first came to public attention in the UK for his joint lead role
with
Gary Oldman in the 1987 film
Prick Up Your Ears.
In the
USA
he is more
well known for his roles in Raiders of the Lost Ark,
Spider-Man 2, Species, Not Without My Daughter,
Chocolat, Frida, Steamboy,
The Hoax, The Da Vinci Code, and
Little
Traitor.
Early life
Molina was
born Alfredo Molina in Paddington
, London
.
His father
was a Spaniard from Madrid
who worked
as a waiter and chauffeur, while his mother was an Italian housekeeper who cleaned rooms in a hotel
and worked as a cook. Molina grew up in a "working-class
neighborhood" in Notting
Hill
that was inhabited by many other immigrant
families. He decided to become an actor after seeing
Spartacus at the age of
nine, and attended the
Guildhall School of Music
and Drama.
Career
In 1978, Molina starred with
Leonard
Rossiter in the
sitcom
The Losers. Molina
made his film debut with a minor role in the 1981 movie
Raiders of the Lost
Ark as
Indiana Jones'
ill-fated guide during its iconic opening sequence. However, his
big break came with
Letter to
Brezhnev in 1985, which he followed up with a starring
role in
Prick Up Your
Ears in 1987, playing
Joe Orton's
lover
Kenneth Halliwell. He was
cast in a lead role in the
Red
Dwarf TV series, but was replaced by another actor.
Molina starred in the first two series of
El C.I.D. but left to concentrate on his film
work. Subsequent films included
Species,
Dudley Do-Right,
Chocolat,
Not Without My Daughter, and
Enchanted April. With a
flawless mid-western American accent, Molina starred alongside
Betty White in the US television series
"Ladies Man", which ran from 1999-2001.
He has worked twice with
Paul
Thomas Anderson, first in
Boogie
Nights and then
Magnolia. In 2002, Molina gained wide
recognition for his portrayal of Mexican muralist
Diego Rivera alongside
Salma Hayek in the biopic
Frida, a role which garnered him
BAFTA and
SAG award
nominations. In 2003, he played himself alongside Steve Coogan in
Coffee and
Cigarettes. In 2004, Molina gained further commercial
recognition when he was cast as the villain
Doctor Octopus in
Spider-Man 2, which went on to become one
of the highest-grossing films of that year. He later reprised his
role of Doctor Octopus in the video game adaption of
Spider-Man
2 and archive footage of Molina as Doctor Octopus is seen in
the opening of
Spider-Man 3.
In 2006, Molina portrayed
Touchstone in
Kenneth Branagh's film version of
Shakespeare's
As
You Like It and appeared in
Ron
Howard's adaptation of
The Da Vinci Code. On 26
June 2008, it was announced that Molina will provide the voice of
the villain
Ares in the upcoming
animated
Wonder Woman film.
Molina's stage work has included two major Royal National Theatre
productions,
Tennessee Williams'
The Night of the Iguana (as Shannon) and David Mamet's
Speed the Plow (as Fox).
In his Broadway
debut,
Molina performed in Yasmina Reza's Tony Award-winning play
'Art', for which he received a
Tony nomination in 1998. In 2004, Molina returned to the
stage, starring as Tevye in the Broadway production of
Fiddler on the Roof. For his
performance he once again received a Tony Award nomination, this
time for Best Actor in a Musical. In 2010 he will star in
Red, a new play by
John
Logan.
In 2007, Molina narrated a 17-part original audiobook for
Audible.com called
The Chopin
Manuscript. This serialized novel was written by a team of 15
best-selling thriller writers, including Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child,
Joseph Finder and Lisa Scottoline.
In 2010 he will star opposite
Dawn
French in the six-part
BBC sitcom
Roger
and Val Have Just Got In.
Personal life
Molina resides in Los Angeles and has taken U.S. citizenship. He is
fluent in Spanish.
He married
actress Jill Gascoine in 1986 in
Tower
Hamlets
, London. He has a daughter Rachel (born
1980) from a previous relationship, and two stepsons (Adam and
Sean), from Gascoine's first marriage. He is also a grandfather to
Alfie (born November 2003) and Layla (born May 2006).
Filmography
References
- Alfred Molina, Q&A Interview: Broadway.com
Buzz
- 'I give good foreign' | The Guardian | Guardian
Unlimited
- CNN.com - The actor you think you know - Mar. 3,
2004
- Hispanic Magazine.com - July/August 2004 - Alfred
Molina - Cover Story
- Alfred Molina Biography - Yahoo! Movies
- Comics Continuum cast list
-
http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/24136/west-to-appear-in-donmars-life-is-a-dream
- Molina stars opposite Dawn French
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8256871.stm
- CANOE - JAM! Movies - Artists - Molina, Alfred:
Alfred Molina set for big-time recognition
- Marriages England and Wales 1984-2005
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