Does being the son of a celebrated film director help get you started in the acting business?
Yes and no. It may get your foot in the door, but it still certainly adds to your cache value if you have talent and an alluring on-screen persona.
Apparently, being born to an Oscar®-winning director, you guessed it, the son of Anthony Minghella, writer | director of such critically praised films as: COLD MOUNTAIN, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, did play a role in jump starting dark-haired, 20-year-old Max Minghella's career as an actor – yet it was the chemistry between he and his fellow cast members and his inherent credibility as an actor that landed him his first significant onscreen role in this season's recently released BEE SEASON
When BEE SEASON's co-directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel, along with casting directors, Robin Gurland and Mindy Marin, were looking to fill the role of Aaron Naumann, son to Richard Gere's controlling father figure and Juliet Binoche's nurturing mother character, they wanted someone who would be a natural fit within the cinematic family dynamic. Having cast relatively unknown Flora Cross (bears a striking resemble to Juliet Binoche) in the lead role as the daughter excelling in spelling bees, they needed someone equally as fitting to play the overlooked son.
When considering Minghella for the part, they knew he had a legendary father, but were also aware he had never appeared in a featured role (he formerly only played extra parts in his father's films). As such, they were somewhat suspect as to how he would fare onscreen and in unison with the other actors. As it turns out, all were highly impressed with Minghella, Jr.'s innate acting skills and the connectedness that existed among Gere, Binoche, Cross and Kate Bosworth, who plays the girl who befriends him.
Continuing to build upon his list of credits, Minghella can also soon be seen in eagerly anticipated SYRIANA. Again playing a slighted son, however, this time the leading man | father figure is George Clooney. While the part is small, it offers Minghella an opportunity to appear in a film that has received favorable critical praise on account of both its topical political message and its high voltage power which, in addition to Clooney, also includes: Matt Damon, Chris Cooper, Jeffrey Wright and Amanda Peet.
Presently, a student at Columbia University in New York City, Minghella is studying theater and sociology. He first got the acting buzz while watching young upstart actors-Matt Damon, Jake Gyllenhaal and Hayden Christiansen-perform in a London revival production of "This is Our Youth."
Growing up in, Hampstead, a posh section of North London, Minghella is quoted in USA TODAY as saying on account of the fact his dad was frequently away on movie sets, he was alone more than most kids. Interestingly, it was during high school that he decided he wanted to act and spent time training with London's National Youth Theater.
While, at the time, it may have seemed like a genealogical decision, Minghella says, ''My interest in acting had nothing, really, to do with my dad. It was something I got interested in independently of him. It's a very big medium with different opportunities for everyone."
With famed buddies the likes of: Jake Gyllenhaal, Matt Damon and Natalie Portman, Minghella seems to be mixing and mingling within the film world just fine.
And, with a third film presently in production, that of ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL, directed by Terry Zwigoff (BAD SANTA, GHOST WORLD, CRUMB), Minghella may just be coming into his own. This time out, Minghella plays the central character, Jerome, an art school student who finds fame for all the wrong reasons. As all of Zwigoff's films are quite colorful, this one which also stars John Malkovich and Anjelica Huston, does not appear to disappoint.
Though having grown-up around films, in most respects, Minghella still qualifies as a neophyte lead actor. Yet, off to a most impressive beginning, he has already worked with a stable of seasoned actors and seems to have the winning combination to continue mixing and mingling with the best of them....
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A capsulized profile on an emerging talent, i.e., actor/director in the film world and a snippet as to why he or she is destined to soon become a household name.
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| Nancy Simon |
A Chicago-based freelance writer and film enthusiast, Nancy has an insatiable curiousity and knack for picking out talented, promising individuals.
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