Alfred Molina
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Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is an English-American actor, known for his roles in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Maverick, Spider-Man 2, Chocolat, The Da Vinci Code, An Education, Rango, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
He starred as DDA / Detective Ricardo Morales on the NBC police/courtroom drama Law & Order: LA and as Roger opposite Dawn French in the BBC television sitcom Roger & Val Have Just Got In.
Contents
Early life
Molina was born in Paddington, London. His mother, Giovanna (née Bonelli), was an Italian house-keeper who cleaned rooms in a hotel and worked as a cook. His father, Esteban Molina, was a Spanish immigrant from Madrid who worked as a waiter and chauffeur.[1][2][3] Molina grew up in a working class district in Notting Hill[4] that was inhabited by many other immigrant families.[5] Molina decided to become an actor after seeing Spartacus at the age of nine, and attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.[6] He also auditioned and was accepted as a member of National Youth Theatre.
Career
Molina appeared with Leonard Rossiter in the sitcom The Losers (1978).[7] Molina made his film debut with a minor role in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) as Indiana Jones' ill-fated guide, Satipo, during its iconic opening sequence. However, his big break came with Letter to Brezhnev (1985), which he followed with a starring role in Prick Up Your Ears (1987), playing Joe Orton's lover (and eventual murderer) Kenneth Halliwell. He was originally cast as Arnold Rimmer in the TV sitcom Red Dwarf, but he was replaced by Chris Barrie.
In the early 1990s, Molina was a ubiquitous presence on British television, with his highest profile role being the lead in the first two series of El C.I.D. Subsequent film roles included Species, Dudley Do-Right, Chocolat, Not Without My Daughter and Enchanted April. With a 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 (1997) and then Magnolia (1999). Molina gained wide recognition for his portrayal of Diego Rivera alongside Salma Hayek in the biopic Frida (2002), a role for which he gained BAFTA and SAG award nominations. He played himself alongside Steve Coogan in Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) and gained further commercial recognition when he portrayed the villain Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2 (2004), which became one of the highest-grossing films of that year. For the later, Molina was nominated for a Satellite award as Best Supporting Actor. He reprised his role in the video game adaption. 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. Molina provided the voice of the villain Ares in the 2009 animated film Wonder Woman.[8]
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. Molina received his third Tony Award nomination for Red in 2010, for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play.
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. The novel won the 2008 Audiobook Of The Year Award form Audio Publishers Association.[9]
On 1 April 2010, he opened at Broadway's John Golden Theatre in the role of artist Mark Rothko in John Logan's drama Red opposite Eddie Redmayne for a limited engagement through 27 June.[10] He had played the role to much critical success at the Donmar Warehouse in London in December 2009.
In 2010 he starred opposite Dawn French in the six-part BBC sitcom Roger & Val Have Just Got In,[11] with a second series in 2012.
He is one of only two actors (the other being Chris Pratt) to have three Lego Minifigures modelled after him, with them being Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2, Satipo from Raiders of the Lost Ark and Sheik Amar from Prince of Persia.[citation needed]
In July 2010, it was announced that Molina had joined the cast of Law & Order: LA as Deputy District Attorney Morales.[12] He previously guest-starred in a two-part crossover in 2005 in two other Law & Order franchise shows, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Trial by Jury.
Molina is a patron of the performing arts group Theatretrain. Molina is also a longtime member of the Los Angeles theatre company The New American Theatre, formerly known as Circus Theatricals, where he often teaches Shakespeare and Scene Study along with the company's artistic director Jack Stehlin.
Molina stated in an interview in 2013 that he owes his stage and film career to the Indiana Jones series. "I'm very, very proud of that, I have to admit I didn't think at the time, 'Oh, this is going to go down in movie history.' I'd never been in front of a camera before," Molina said about his short but memorable appearance in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Molina recalls getting the job as a "gift from God" and goes on to say "I've publicly thanked Steven many, many times. That job saved my bacon, in more ways than one." About his now famous line in the film Molina stated that "I've never had a problem with people coming up to me about it. They'll shout that line to me, 'Throw me the idol, I'll throw you the whip!' I'm delighted that people still remember it."[13]
Personal life
Molina resides in Los Angeles, California, and announced in 2004 that he had become a U.S. citizen.[14] He is fluent in English, Italian and Spanish.
He married actress Jill Gascoine in 1986 in Tower Hamlets, London.[15] He has a daughter, London based photographer Rachel Molina (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).
In addition to acting, Molina is an Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) advocate. Not only does he donate towards AIDS research, but also participates in the Los Angeles AIDS Walk and appeared as himself in a documentary produced by Joseph Kibler[16] (who has been HIV+ and paraplegic since his birth, c.1989) about Kibler's life entitled Walk On, first screened in 2013.[17][18]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square | Port Official | Uncredited | |
| 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Satipo | ||
| 1984 | Meantime | John | ||
| 1985 | Letter to Brezhnev | Sergei | ||
| 1985 | Ladyhawke | Cezar | ||
| 1987 | Prick Up Your Ears | Kenneth Halliwell | ||
| 1989 | Virtuoso | John Ogdon | ||
| 1991 | Hancock | Tony Hancock | ||
| 1991 | Not Without My Daughter | Sayed Bozorg Mahmoody | ||
| 1991 | American Friends | Oliver Syme | ||
| 1992 | Enchanted April | Mellersh Wilkins | ||
| 1993 | A Year in Provence | Tony Havers | ||
| 1993 | The Trial | Titorelli | ||
| 1993 | When Pigs Fly | Marty | ||
| 1994 | Maverick | Angel | ||
| 1994 | White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf | Reverend Leland Drury | ||
| 1994 | Cabin Boy | Nathaniel's History Teacher | Uncredited | |
| 1995 | Species | Dr. Stephen Arden | ||
| 1995 | The Steal | Cliff | ||
| 1995 | The Perez Family | Juan Raúl Perez | ||
| 1995 | Dead Man | Trading Post Missionary | ||
| 1995 | Hideaway | Dr. Jonas Nyebern | ||
| 1995 | Nervous Energy | Ira Moss | ||
| 1996 | Mojave Moon | Sal | ||
| 1996 | Before and After | Panos Demeris | ||
| 1997 | Anna Karenina | Levin | ||
| 1997 | Boogie Nights | Rahad Jackson | ||
| 1997 | The Man Who Knew Too Little | Boris 'The Butcher' Blavasky | ||
| 1998 | The Impostors | Sir Jeremy Burtom | ||
| 1998 | Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Couples | |||
| 1999 | Dudley Do-Right | Snidely K. 'Whip' Whiplash | ||
| 1999 | Magnolia | Solomon Solomon | ||
| 2000 | Chocolat | Comte De Reynaud | ||
| 2001 | Murder on the Orient Express | Hercule Poirot | ||
| 2001 | Texas Rangers | King Fisher | ||
| 2002 | Frida | Diego Rivera | ||
| 2003 | My Life Without Me | Ann's Father | ||
| 2003 | Identity | Dr. Malick | ||
| 2003 | Coffee and Cigarettes | Himself | ||
| 2003 | Luther | Johann Tetzel | ||
| 2004 | Crónicas | Victor Hugo Puente | ||
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | Dr. Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus | ||
| 2004 | Steamboy | James Edward Steam | English dub | |
| 2004 | Undertaking Betty | Boris Plots | ||
| 2006 | The Da Vinci Code | Bishop Manuel Aringarosa | ||
| 2006 | As You Like It | Touchstone | ||
| 2006 | Orchids | Short film | ||
| 2007 | The Hoax | Dick Suskind | ||
| 2007 | Silk | Baldabiou | ||
| 2007 | The Ten Commandments | Ramesses, the Pharaoh | Voice | |
| 2007 | The Moon and the Stars | Davide Rieti | ||
| 2007 | The Little Traitor | Sergeant Dunlop | ||
| 2007 | Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! | Professor Jeffries | Voice | |
| 2008 | Nothing Like the Holidays | Edy Rodriguez | ||
| 2009 | An Education | Jack Mellor | ||
| 2009 | The Pink Panther 2 | Chief Inspector Randall Pepperidge | ||
| 2009 | The Lodger | Chandler Manning | ||
| 2009 | Wonder Woman | Ares | Voice | |
| 2010 | The Tempest | Stefano | ||
| 2010 | Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time | Sheik Amar | ||
| 2010 | The Sorcerer's Apprentice | Maxim Horvath | ||
| 2011 | Abduction | Frank Burton | ||
| 2011 | Vivaldi | Tartini | ||
| 2011 | Rango | Roadkill | Voice | |
| 2012 | Roger & Val Have Just Got In: 2nd Series | Roger | ||
| 2012 | Loving Miss Hatto | William Barrington-Coupe | ||
| 2013 | Bless Me, Ultima | Antonio | Voice | |
| 2013 | Emanuel and the Truth about Fishes | Dennis | ||
| 2013 | Monsters University | Professor Knight | Voice | |
| 2013 | Justin and the Knights of Valour | Reginald | Voice | |
| 2014 | Love Is Strange | George | ||
| 2014 | Return to Zero | Robert Royal | ||
| 2014 | Heavenly Sword | King Bohan | Voice | |
| 2014 | We'll Never Have Paris | Terry | ||
| 2015 | Strange Magic | Fairy King | Voice | |
| 2015 | Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet | Sergeant | Voice | |
| 2015 | The Secret in Their Eyes | Martin Morales | ||
| 2016 | Whiskey Tango Foxtrot | Post-production | ||
| 2016 | Henchmen | Baron Blackout | Filming; voice | |
| 2016 | The Headhunter's Calling | Filming | ||
| 2016 | Sister Cities | Mort | Filming |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | The Losers | Nigel | 6 episodes |
| 1981 | Bognor | Waiter | 2 episodes |
| 1982 | Anyone for Denis? | Eric | Television film |
| 1989 | The Accountant | Lionel Ellerman | Television film |
| 1994 | Requiem Apache | Hamish – Getaway Driver | Television film |
| 1996 | Tracey Takes On... | Mr. Dragotti | Episode: "Royalty" |
| 1998 | The Wild Thornberrys | Elcio (voice) | Episode: "Only Child" |
| 1999–2001 | Ladies Man | Jimmy Stiles | 30 episodes |
| 2001 | Murder on the Orient Express | Hercule Poirot | Television film |
| 2002 | Bram and Alice | Bram | 9 episodes |
| 2003 | Justice League | King Gustav (voice) | Episode: "Maid of Honor" |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Gabriel Duvall | Episode: "Day" |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Trial by Jury | Gabriel Duvall | Episode: "Night" |
| 2007 | Monk | Peter Magneri | Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Naked Man" |
| 2007 | The Company | Harvey 'The Sorcerer' Torriti | 6 episodes |
| 2009 | Yes, Virginia | Francis Church (voice) | Television film |
| 2010–2012 | Roger & Val Have Just Got In | Roger Stephenson | 12 episodes |
| 2010–2012 | The Life & Times of Tim | Chairman (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2010–2011 | Law & Order: LA | Detective Ricardo Morales | 16 episodes |
| 2011 | Harry's Law | Eric Sanders | 3 episodes |
| 2011 | Innocent | Alejando "Sandy" Stern | Television film |
| 2012 | Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness | Ke-Pa (voice) | Episode: "Enter the Dragon" |
| 2012 2015–2016 |
Gravity Falls | Multi Bear (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2012–2015 | Robot Chicken | Lex Luthor / Various voices | 3 episodes |
| 2012 | Loving Miss Hatto | Barrie | Television film |
| 2013 | Monday Mornings | Dr. Harding Hooten | 10 episodes |
| 2013 | Drunk History | Arthur Conan Doyle | Episode: "Detroit" |
| 2014 | Rick and Morty | The Devil (voice) | Episode: "Something Ricked This Way Comes" |
| 2014 | The Normal Heart | Ben Weeks | Television film |
| 2014 | Matador | Andrés Galan | 13 episodes |
| 2014–present | Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero | Rippen (voice) | |
| 2015 | Show Me a Hero | Henry J. Spallone | 6 episodes |
| 2015 | Axe Cop | Vampire Man Baby Kid's Dad / Brilliant Evil Scientist (voices) | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures | Norbert (voice) | 5 episodes |
| 2015 | Long Live the Royals | Rupert / Neil (voices) | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | DreamWorks Dragons | Viggo Grimborn (voice) | |
| 2016 | Angie Tribeca | Dr. Edelweiss | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2016 | Close to the Enemy | Harold Lindsay-Jones |
Video game
| Year | Title | Voice role |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | The Elder Scrolls Online | Abnur Tharn |
Awards and nominations
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alfred Molina. |
- Alfred Molina at the Internet Movie Database
- Alfred Molina at the Internet Broadway DatabaseLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Alfred Molina at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Alfred Molina interviewed on Downstage Center XM Radio at American Theatre Wing, November 2004
- Working in the Theatre: Performance video seminar at American Theatre Wing, April 1998
- Q&A: Alfred Molina
- Alfred Molina — Interview with ABILITY Magazine
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- ↑ Hispanic Magazine.com – July/August 2004 – Alfred Molina – Cover Story Archived 30 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
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- ↑ Molina stars opposite Dawn French http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8256871.stm
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- Pages with reference errors
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- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- 1953 births
- Living people
- Male actors from London
- Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
- Audio book narrators
- British expatriate male actors in the United States
- British people of Spanish descent
- English male film actors
- English male musical theatre actors
- English people of Italian descent
- English people of Spanish descent
- English male stage actors
- English male voice actors
- English male television actors
- People from Paddington
- Royal National Theatre Company members
- Royal Shakespeare Company members
- British male Shakespearean actors
- Drama Desk Award winners
- 20th-century English male actors
- 21st-century English male actors
- People from Notting Hill
- English emigrants to the United States
- HIV/AIDS activists
- National Youth Theatre members
- Male actors of Italian descent
