Paul Giamatti is an American actor, comedian, producer and director. Best known for supporting roles in major Hollywood projects, The Truman Show, Knockdown, Illusionist, and Shoot 'Em Up, as well as his main roles in the films On the Sidelines and Fred Klaus. Actively working on television, currently plays the main role in the series "Billions."
Childhood and youth
Paul Giamatti was born on June 6, 1967 in New Haven, Connecticut. Full name is Paul Edward Valentine Jamatti. Mother is a former actress. Father - a teacher of Renaissance literature at Yale University, after becoming the youngest president in the history of the institution.
After graduating from high school, Paul Giamatti entered Yale, where he studied English, while at the same time actively participating in the student theater, where at the same time future Hollywood stars, Ron Livingston and Edward Norton, played.
After receiving a bachelor's degree in English, Jamatti entered the drama school in Yale, which he graduated four years later.
Carier start
Even while studying at the drama school, Paul Jamatti began playing in theatrical productions of Broadway theaters. From the beginning of the nineties he began to work actively on television, appearing in small roles in several projects every year.
In 1995, the young actor appeared in episodic roles in Woody Allen’s comedy The Great Aphrodite and Sidney Pollack’s film Sabrina. In the following years, he was able to get more significant roles in another film by Allen, “Parsing Harry,” the crime drama “Donnie Brasco” and the romantic comedy “The Wedding of My Best Friend”.
Big breakthrough
The first breakthrough in the filmography of Paul Giamatti was a fantastic film by Peter Weir "The Truman Show." The actor played the assistant director performed by Ed Harris. The picture became a real hit of hire and was nominated for several Academy Awards.
In the same year, Paul appeared in a minor role in Steven Spielberg's military drama "Saving Private Ryan." He also played a small role in the action movie Negotiator, and a year later appeared in one of the main roles in the biographical drama by Milos Forman about the cult comedian Andy Kaufman, where he again worked with Jim Carrey after the success of The Truman Show.
Career heyday
In 2000, Paul Giamatti played one of the main roles in the comedy "The House of the Big Mommy", which became a hit rental. A year later, the actor appeared in the ambitious production of the cult director Tim Burton “Planet of the Apes”, playing the orangutan Limbo. The film performed well at the box office, but was coolly received by critics.
The following year, the actor played a major role in the teen comedy Big Fat Liar, which was also able to show itself well at the box office. In 2003, John Wu’s director’s action movie, “Payback Hour,” with Jamatti in one of the roles, was released, but the film was more likely to fail, received negative reviews from critics, and was unable to return the funds spent on production based on the results of the rental.
Over the past five years, Paul has been able to establish himself as an excellent character actor and comedian, but he is still rarely considered for leading roles in relatively serious films. The next two films with Paul Giamatti made him a major figure in Hollywood.
The biographical tragicomedy "American Magnificence" received the main prize at the Sundance Film Festival and was included in many lists of the best films at the end of the year. Critics especially noted the amazing reincarnation of Jamatti. And the black comedy by Alexander Payne "On the Sidelines" has become a real phenomenon in the world of independent cinema and received five nominations for the Academy Award.
In 2005, Paul Giamatti played in the sports drama Ron Howard's "Knockdown". For this work, he has received so far his only Oscar nomination. In subsequent years, the actor continued to skillfully balance between commercial genre projects, such as the parody action movie "Shoot 'Em Up" and the Christmas comedy "Fred Klaus", and more serious projects, including the drama "Illusionist", the tragicomedy "The Nanny's Diary" and sports the drama "Win."
In 2008, the John Adams mini-series was released on HBO, where Paul Giamatti played the second president of the United States. For this role, he received the prestigious Emmy and Golden Globe Awards. In 2013, he appeared in a small role in the historical drama "12 Years of Slavery", which at the end of the year received an Oscar in the category "Best Film".
In 2014, Paul played the small role of Rhino supervillain in the movie New Spider-Man 2. Even before the release of the picture of Paul Giamatti’s photo from the set, several fans were surprised who saw the actor in a very unusual way. The character was supposed to become a member of the legendary Sinister Six team in the sequel, but the sequel was canceled.
Recent work
In 2015, three major projects were released at once with Jamatti in one of the roles. He played in the musical dramas Love and Mercy and The Voice of the Streets, as well as in the blockbuster San Andreas. The actor continues to work actively in independent cinema, and the blockbuster "Cruise in the Jungle" with his participation is also planned for 2019.
Since 2016, Paul Giamatti has been co-starring in the TV series Billions, which has recently been extended for the fourth season. For this work, the actor was nominated for an award by the United States Film Critics Council.
Personal life
The actor has been married to Elizabeth Cohen since 1997. The couple has one child, the son of Samuel Paul Jamatti, who is simply called Sam.
Paul is an atheist. He is a fan of the Boston Red Sox baseball team. Several years ago, he publicly launched a campaign to introduce his wax figure into Madame Tussauds, and signatures in support of this idea were even collected on the Internet.