Payne was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to Peggy and George Payne, restaurant owners.[3][1] He is the youngest of three sons[4] and grew up in the Dundee neighborhood.[5] He is of Greek ancestry.[6][7] Payne's paternal grandfather, Nicholas "Nick" Payne, anglicized the last name from "Papadopoulos".[8] His family comes from three areas in Greece: the island of Syros, Livadia, and Aegio.[9] Payne's family was part of the fabric of Omaha, which he refers to as part of his upbringing.[10][11] His grandfather was a founder of The Virginia Cafe, with Payne's father taking over the restaurant. Payne went there regularly as a child. The restaurant was destroyed in a fire in 1969; the W. Dale Clark Library was later built on the site.[10] Payne's paternal grandmother, Clara Payne (née Hoffman), was from a German Nebraska family from Lincoln, Nebraska.[11]
In Omaha, Payne attended Brownell-Talbot School, Dundee Elementary School, and Lewis and Clark Junior High.[1] He graduated from Creighton Prep for high school in 1979.[12] At Prep, Payne wrote a humor column for his high school newspaper and was the editor of the high school yearbook.[13] Payne then attended Stanford University, where he majored in Spanish and History.[8] As a part of his Spanish degree, he studied at Spain's University of Salamanca. He later lived a few months in Medellin, Colombia, where he published an article about social changes between 1900 and 1930.[14] Payne received his MFA in 1990 from the UCLA Film School.
In the 1960s, Payne's father received a Super 8mm projector from Kraft Foods as a loyalty reward,[1][15] and eventually passed it on to his son when Alexander was about 14 years old.[13][16][17]
Career
1985–1996: Short films and film debut
A short time after getting his MFA from UCLA Film School—and after his successful thesis film The Passion of Martin had attracted industry attention—Payne got a writing/directing deal with Universal Pictures. The ensuing screenplay, which was turned down, ultimately became About Schmidt.[8] He says that he cleared about $60,000, which was enough to fund his simple lifestyle at the time for about five years.[7] Payne has said he sees his talent as being one of learned economy, referring to the essay written by Tennessee Williams on The Catastrophe of Success.[17] During this time Payne worked in various capacities on films and television including directing several films for the Playboy channel.
Payne co-wrote and directed his first full-length film, Citizen Ruth, which was released in 1996. The film is a satirical black comedy revolving around the issue of abortion rights. The film stars Laura Dern as a dim witted woman with substance abuse issues who happens to get pregnant. She unexpectedly becomes a pawn of figures from both sides of the abortion debate. The film co-stars Kelly Preston, Burt Reynolds, and Tippi Hedren. The film premiered at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival where it received favorable reviews. In Janet Maslin of The New York Times review she wrote, "There's no easy way out of this predicament, though Mr. Payne does beg the question with skill. And Citizen Ruth can easily be forgiven for not finding a fully satisfying ending. It delivers more than enough lively, gutsy satire along the way."[18]
His second film, Election, starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon, which takes aim at politics and education in America, attracted attention when New Yorkerfilm criticDavid Denby named it the best film of 1999. Payne received his first Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay nomination for Election. Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of four, praising Witherspoon and Payne, and saying, "...here is a movie that is not simply about an obnoxious student, but also about an imperfect teacher, a lockstep administration, and a student body that is mostly just marking time until it can go out into the world and occupy valuable space".[19] The film became a cult classic, ranking at #61 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies" and #9 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the "50 Best High School Movies", while Witherspoon's performance was ranked at #45 on the list of the "100 Greatest Film Performances of All Time" by Premiere. According to Payne, it is also President Barack Obama's favorite political film.[20]
In 2000, Payne completed an uncredited polish-up of the screenplay for the comedy film Meet the Parents. In 2001, Payne wrote a draft of Jurassic Park III. In 2002, Payne's film About Schmidt, about a recently retired widower who embarks on a journey to his estranged daughter's wedding, was released. The film starred Jack Nicholson as the title character, Warren Schmidt, and its script was based on the novel of the same name by Louis Begley. The film also co-starred Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, June Squibb, and Kathy Bates. The film premiered at the 55th Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews, with critics highlighting Nicholson's performance. Payne received a Golden Globe for the screenplay, which was also nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. To the surprise of many who kept track of Hollywood news, Payne and Jim Taylor were not nominated for an Oscar for the About Schmidt screenplay.[21][22]
In 2007 Payne served as an executive producer on the films King of California and The Savages. He also collaborated once again with writing partner Jim Taylor to write a draft of the screenplay for the film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007), a comedy directed by Dennis Dugan, and starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James. Payne disliked the final product, stating that Adam Sandler rewrote so much of the story that almost all of what Payne and Taylor wrote was gone.
Payne at the Munich Film Festival (2015)
Payne returned to directing in 2011 after a seven-year hiatus with the film The Descendants, a film about a man dealing with the aftermath of a boating accident involving his wife, leaving her in a coma. The film starred George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, and Robert Forster. The film premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival where it received near universal praise ending up on many critics top 10 list of the year. Critics also hailed George Clooney's performance with many citing it as his best. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian praised Payne as a director writing, "Payne knows the difference between lightness and frivolity, between seriousness and solemnity, between different kinds of cloud...Within a single scene the film can tap into deep feelings of pain, switch into comic modes as various as farce and satire, and confront and evade moral challenges."[24] Payne also co-wrote the screenplay along with Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash who all won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Payne executive produced the short film Run Fast. Anna Musso, his long-time assistant and protégé, wrote and directed the film, which shot in March 2014. The project was partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign.[25] Payne was also executive producer of the acclaimed 2014 film Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter directed by David Zellner. Payne's Nebraska starred veteran character actor Bruce Dern (who received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor) and Saturday Night Live alumnus Will Forte.[26] It was released on November 15, 2013.[27] The film received critical acclaim with David Edlestein of NPR describing it as a "superb balancing act" and adding, "it's a special kind of triumph".[28] The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture with Payne receiving a Best Director nomination, ultimately losing to Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity.
2017–2022: Career slump
Payne has said that during his seven-year hiatus between Sideways (2004) and The Descendants (2011), he, along with working partner Jim Taylor, were developing the satire Downsizing, which Payne has described as "a large canvas, science-fiction social satire" and "an epic masterpiece." The film, about an impoverished married couple who decide the way ahead lies in shrinking themselves, was to star Paul Giamatti and Reese Witherspoon, but was superseded by The Descendants and Nebraska.[29][30] In March 2016, Witherspoon was replaced by Kristen Wiig and Giamatti by Matt Damon.[31]Hong Chau, Christoph Waltz, Udo Kier, Neil Patrick Harris, and Jason Sudeikis also starred.[32]Paramount Pictures released the film on December 22, 2017.[33][34] It has received mixed reviews, with many critics describing it as the weakest film of Payne's career.[35]
2023–present: Resurgence
In June 2021, it was announced that Payne will direct Paul Giamatti in the David Hemingson-scripted film The Holdovers for Miramax.[36][37][38] The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival to widespread critical acclaim. Peter Debruge of Variety compared it to the films of Hal Ashby describing it as feeling as though it was a "lost 70s classic".[39] Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter hailed it as "an engaging and often touching comic drama that builds power as it moves toward its immensely satisfying conclusion."[40]
While promoting the film, Payne announced that he was collaborating with Hemingson yet again on a long-time dream to make a Western film. "I finally found a creative partner who shares the same zeal that I have for Westerns", Payne said.[41][42] The film is said to be set in 1886 Custer County, Nebraska, and will feature Giamatti in a currently undisclosed role.[43][44]
In 2000, it was reported that Payne was to co-write and direct an untitled film inspired by Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. However, nothing more was heard of this project.[46]
At one point, Payne was in talks to direct the remake of the 1966 heist comedy Gambit, after the Coen brothers did a rewrite of the film in 2003. He planned to reunite with Reese Witherspoon for the project, but he ultimately decided against it, reluctant to direct a script he didn't write.[47]
In November 2010, it was reported that Payne would possibly direct the film adaptation of Daniel Clowes's graphic novel Wilson.[48][49][50][51] Then in November 2011, Payne confirmed that he was to direct Wilson next after Nebraska (2013).[52][53][54] However, Payne officially confirmed in a 2014 interview with Parade that he was no longer attached to the Wilson project.[55]
It was reported in 2011 that Payne was to direct a film titled Fork in the Road.[56] That project was to have been an adaptation of a novel by Denis Hamill.[57]
In 2012, it was reported that Payne and Jim Taylor wrote a script titled The Lost Cause, which was said to be an expansion of Taylor's 2004 short film of the same name.[58]
In November 2013, Payne was in talks to direct a film titled The Judge's Will for Fox Searchlight Pictures.[59][60][61] The project was to have been based on a New Yorker article written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala about an elderly judge from Delhi who wants to make sure his much younger wife will be taken care of after his death.[62][63][64] In May 2018, it was reported that James Ivory would write the screenplay of the project for Payne.[65][66][67] In June 2018, it was reported that Payne will possibly shoot The Judge's Will in Chicago.[68]
In November 2014, it was announced that Payne would direct a film titled La Vida Norteña.[69] The project was to have been about a Latin music promoter who befriends a Nebraskan mayor.[70]
In April 2015, it was reported that Payne was interested in directing Septillion to One, a contemporary romantic comedy inspired by the true story of Joan Ginther, who won the Texas State Lottery four times.[71][72][73][74] Adam R. Perlman and Graham Sack's spec script was purchased by OddLot Entertainment, who intended to produce and finance the film. Payne was not officially committed to directing at the time, due to his preoccupation with the production of Downsizing (2017). In September 2016, Mark Romanek signed on to direct the film.[75][76][77]
In February 2016, it was announced that Payne was to direct a film titled My Saga, which is based on a pair of articles written by Karl Ove Knausgård and published by The New York Times Magazine.[78][79][80][81] The articles cover Knausgård tracing the Vikings' voyages in North America.[82][83][84] The film was to have been distributed by Netflix and star Mads Mikkelsen.[85][86][87] In October 2019, the production was cancelled a week before filming was to begin due to Knausgard objecting to his life story being turned into a feature film.[88]
It was reported in February 2019 that Payne was attached to direct the comedy horror film The Menu for Gary Sanchez Productions.[95] The plot concerns a young couple that attends an exclusive restaurant in a tropical island only to experience some "shocking surprises."[96][97][98][99] By April 2019, Emma Stone and Ralph Fiennes were set to star in the film.[100][101] By May 2020, Mark Mylod replaced Payne on The Menu.[102][103]
On December 2, 2019, it was announced that Payne was attached to direct an American remake of the 1987 Oscar-winning Danish film Babette's Feast.[104][105][106][107] Payne's version is said to be set in Minnesota.[108][109]
On December 20, 2019, it was announced that Payne was going to direct the HBO miniseries Landscapers.[110] However, in October 2020, it was announced that Payne dropped out of the project due to a schedule conflict and was replaced by Will Sharpe.[111]
In 2021, Payne said that one of his upcoming projects, which he planned to follow The Holdovers, would be a comedy set in Paris based on the true story of rival antique chair dealers, and that he was using the pandemic downtime to craft the screenplay.[112] In 2023, Payne told IndieWire that he was working with Jim Taylor and a French screenwriting team, and that their script is "maybe 65 percent there".[42]
On a 2023 episode of Happy Sad Confused, Payne revealed that one of his favorite scripts which had not been produced was a rewrite with Jim Taylor on a film called Tucker Ames as Himself, which he described as "sort of a parody of a Bill Gates guy who gets his comeuppance in some way."[114]
Style
Payne has set many of his films in Omaha, his hometown. His films sometimes include scenes of historical landmarks, black and white photographs, and museums, and he often uses amateur actors for minor roles.[8][115]
Payne is on the short list of directors who have final cut rights for their films.[116]
Payne married Canadian actress Sandra Oh on January 1, 2003, after dating her for three years, and collaborating with her in Sideways. On March 12, 2005, a publicist announced their separation. The divorce was officially finalized on December 22, 2006,[117] although the former couple took more than two years to settle their finances.[118][119][120] In 2015, Payne married Maria Kontos, whom he met while visiting the Aigio region of Greece where some of his ancestors originated.[121][122] They welcomed a daughter in 2017, and divorced in 2022.[123] In 2022 he received Greek citizenship.[124]
Philanthropy and business ventures
Payne is on the Board of Directors of an Omaha non-profit film theater, Film Streams.[8] He maintains a passion for preservation. In recent years, he helped preserve a historic film theater in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.[125]
Payne was co-owner (along with friend Ann Beeder) of King Fong (now permanently closed), a Chinese restaurant in Omaha.[126]
In a 2018 interview with Ronan Farrow, actress Rose McGowan accused a "prominent” man in Hollywood of statutory rape but she did not name the person in question.[129] In August 2020, McGowan said it was Payne and that he committed the act sometime in 1988 or 1989, when McGowan was 15 years old and Payne was about 28 years old.[130]
Payne responded to McGowan's allegation by writing a guest column in Deadline Hollywood in which he admitted to a consensual relationship with her, but denied any impropriety, alleging that they had met in 1991 when she was over the age of consent, which is 18 in California. Payne ended his statement writing, "While I cannot allow false statements about events 29 years ago to go uncorrected, I will continue to wish only the best for Rose".[131]
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. His accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globes, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Award.
Election is a 1999 American black comedy film directed by Alexander Payne from a screenplay by Payne and Jim Taylor, based on Tom Perrotta's 1998 novel of the same name.
Sideways is a 2004 American comedy-drama road film directed by Alexander Payne and written by Jim Taylor and Payne. A film adaptation of Rex Pickett's 2004 novel of the same name, Sideways follows two men in their forties, Miles Raymond, a depressed teacher and unsuccessful writer, and Jack Cole, a past-his-prime actor, who take a week-long road trip to Santa Barbara County wine country to celebrate Jack's upcoming wedding. Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen also star as women they encounter during their trip. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2004, and was released in the United States on October 22, 2004. Sideways received widespread acclaim from critics and is regarded as one of the greatest films of the 2000s. It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress (Madsen), winning Best Adapted Screenplay at the 77th Academy Awards.
The 3rd San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in film for 2004, were given on December 13, 2004.
Sideways is a 2004 novel by Rex Pickett. The novel is the first in the Sideways Trilogy.
Film Streams is a nonprofit arts organization in Omaha, Nebraska which oversees two cinemas: the Ruth Sokolof Theater, in North Downtown Omaha, and the historic Dundee Theater, Omaha's longest surviving neighborhood cinema. It receives funding from corporate and individual donors, members, and the government.
Mark Johnson is an American film and television producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing the 1988 film Rain Man.
Jon Spaihts is an American screenwriter and author. He is best known for co-writing Denis Villeneuve's Dune (2021) and its sequel Dune: Part Two (2024), both films based on the novel of the same name by Frank Herbert. He also wrote the screenplays for the films Prometheus (2012), Passengers (2016) and Doctor Strange (2016). For his work on Dune, Spaihts was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Gambit is a 2012 heist comedy film directed by Michael Hoffman from a screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen, starring Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, Alan Rickman, Tom Courtenay and Stanley Tucci. It is a remake of the 1966 film of the same name starring Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine.
Kevin Tent is an American film editor and director. Tent has been elected to membership in the American Cinema Editors (ACE) and serves as President of the board. He is best known for his longstanding collaboration with Alexander Payne, having edited every feature film Payne has directed as of 2023. For his work on Payne's films, Tent has been nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Editing for his works in The Descendants and The Holdovers. Tent also won an ACE Eddie award for first film and received three other ACE Eddie Award nominations for Election, Sideways and About Schmidt. In addition to his career in editing, Tent also co-directed two films, Ultra Warrior (1990) and Blackbelt II (1993), and directed the 2017 film Crash Pad.
Nebraska is a 2013 American comedy-drama road film directed by Alexander Payne, written by Bob Nelson, and starring Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Stacy Keach, and Bob Odenkirk. Shot in black-and-white, the story follows an elderly Montana resident and his son as they try to claim a million-dollar sweepstakes prize on a long trip to Nebraska.
Richard Ford, formerly known as Rick Ford, is a music editor and music producer for feature film soundtracks and scores. He has worked with a number of critically acclaimed film makers, including Ben Affleck, Alexander Payne, Ted Demme and Kathryn Bigelow. He started his musical career as a bass player in his home town of London and later in New York City, working with, amongst others, guitarist Bill Nelson and singer/songwriter Joe Jackson. Ford moved to Los Angeles in the 1990s, where he started his music editing career. He is best known for his work on films such as Argo, The Descendants, Sideways, Election, Training Day and American History X.
Downsizing is a 2017 American science fiction comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne, written by Payne and Jim Taylor, and starring Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, and Kristen Wiig. It tells the story of Paul Safranek, who decides to undergo a recently invented procedure to shrink his body so he can start a new life in an experimental community, which he ends up doing alone when his wife backs out at the last minute; his journey takes an unexpected turn after he befriends an impoverished activist. Principal photography for the film began in Ontario, Canada, on April 1, 2016.
The Burial is a 2023 American legal drama film directed by Maggie Betts and written by Betts and Doug Wright. It is loosely based on the true story of lawyer Willie E. Gary and his client Jeremiah Joseph O'Keefe's lawsuit against the Loewen funeral company, as documented in the 1999 New Yorker article of the same name by Jonathan Harr. It stars Jamie Foxx as Gary, Tommy Lee Jones as O'Keefe, Jurnee Smollett, Mamoudou Athie, and Bill Camp.
The Holdovers is a 2023 American Christmas comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne and written by David Hemingson. Set in late 1970 and early 1971, the film stars Paul Giamatti as a strict classics teacher at a New England boarding school who is forced to chaperone a handful of students with nowhere to go on the Christmas break. Da'Vine Joy Randolph portrays the school cafeteria manager, and Dominic Sessa portrays one of the students who stays on campus.
Michael Starrbury is an American screenwriter and producer known for his work on the film The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete, and the television series Legends of Chamberlain Heights, When They See Us, and Colin in Black & White.
The Holdovers (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2023 film of the same name directed by Alexander Payne. Featuring musical score composed by Mark Orton, the soundtrack featured 24 tracks—seven of them being from Orton's score and the remainder being songs from prominent artists Damien Jurado, Labi Siffre, Andy Williams and bands and vocal groups such as The Chambers Brothers, Shocking Blue, The Allman Brothers Band, Artie Shaw and His Orchestra, The Swingles, The Temptations, Tony Orlando and Dawn amongst several others. The soundtrack was released digitally by Back Lot Music on November 10, 2023, coinciding with the film's nationwide release, and physically the following week.
David Hemingson is an American writer and producer for film and television. He is best known for writing the critically acclaimed film The Holdovers, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
References
1 2 3 4 "Court of Honor: Constantine Alexander Payne". Metro Magazine. Omaha, Nebraska. 2010. p.13. Archived from the original on November 7, 2013. Retrieved November 13, 2013. Constantine Alexander Payne, a Greek American, was born on February 10, 1961 to George and Peggy Payne in Omaha, Nebraska. ... Alexander attended Brownell Talbot and Dundee for elementary school, Lewis and Clark Junior High and Creighton Prep High School. ...[H]e went on to attend Stanford, and ... graduated with an MFA in film from UCLA. ... [H[is father, owner of The Virginia Restaurant in downtown Omaha...
↑ "Entertainment: Sideways director keeps it real". BBC News. UK. January 25, 2005. Retrieved September 17, 2010. ...his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, where his family ran a Greek restaurant — they changed the family name from Papadopoulos.
↑ Mikulan, Steven (April 21, 1999). "High Plains Joker: Alexander Payne's Wild, Wild Midwest". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on October 5, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2010. ...the youngest of three sons in a Greek-American family of businessmen and restaurateurs. (His grandfather had changed the family name from Papadopulis.) In 1975, a tornado blew down Alexander's junior high school ... [and he transferred] to Creighton Prep...
↑ Hodgman, John (December 8, 2002). "The Bard of Omaha". The New York Times. p.88. Retrieved August 17, 2020. ...Dundee, the tidy grove of modest two-story homes where he grew up and where his parents still live.
1 2 "Payne (Papadopoulos) - Hoffman"(PDF). St. John's 100 Year Anniversary. St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church. June 13–15, 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
↑ Constantine Alexander Payne, Crecimiento y cambio social en Medellín: 1900–1930, Estudios sociales. Vol. I, N° 1. Medellín, septiembre 1986, pp. 111 – 194.
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