Alfred Molina
At the San Diego Comic-Con in 2003
Born	Alfredo Molina May 24, 1953 (1953-05-24) (age 56) Paddington, London, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1978–present
Spouse(s)	Jill Gascoine (1986-present)

Alfred Molina (born May 24, 1953) is an English 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 Spider-Man 2, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Species, Not Without My Daughter, Chocolat, Frida, Steamboy, The Hoax and The Da Vinci Code.

Biography

Early life

Molina was born Alfredo Molina in London. His father was a Spaniard from Madrid who worked as a waiter and chauffeur, while his mother was an Italian housekeeper who also cleaned rooms in a hotel and worked as a cook.¹² Molina grew up in a "working-class neighborhood" in Notting Hill³ that was inhabited by many other immigrant families.⁴ He decided to become an actor after seeing Spartacus at the age of nine, and attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.⁵

Career

In 1978, Molina starred with Leonard Rossiter in the sitcom The Losers.⁶ 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, he starred in a US television series, "Ladies Man", playing Jimmy Stiles (30 episodes, 1999-2001) a high-end custom furniture maker, trying to raise Wendy, his smart, yet manipulative, 10-year-old daughter he has with Donna, and his darkness-obsessed teen daughter Bonnie, whom he had with his first wife, a tart-tongued cocktail waitress, Claire. Constantly trying to prove to all these women that he does indeed love them - despite his penchant for stupid, hormonally-inspired remarks - things only become more complicated when Bonnie says she wants to live with him and Donna. Jimmy finally gets a break with the birth of his newest baby, a boy. Jimmy's joy over having an ally in the house is euphoric, even if father and son are still physically outnumbered - and more importantly, psychologically outwittedwork at home, and with no help from his live-in mother, Betty White. 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 played a role in Ron Howard's adaptation of The Da Vinci Code which was also a commercial success that year. On 26 June 2008, it was announced that Molina will play the villain Ares in the upcoming animated Wonder Woman film.⁷

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 Logan⁸.

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.

Personal life

Molina resides in Los Angeles and has taken U.S. citizenship.⁹ He is fluent in Italian and Spanish.

He married actress Jill Gascoine in 1986 in Tower Hamlets, London.¹⁰ 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

External links

• Alfred Molina at the Internet Movie Database
• Alfred Molina at the Internet 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