Paul Giamatti

Actors

Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (born June 6, 1967) is an American actor. He began his career as a character actor before establishing himself in leading roles in film and television. He has received numerous accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globes, as well as a nomination for 2 Academy Awards. He made his film debut in Past Midnight (1991), with Rutger Hauer, Natasha Richardson, Tom Wright, and Clancy Brown. Other early films include bit roles in Cameron Crowe’s Singles (1992), with Bridget Fonda, Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgwick, Sheila Kelley, Jim True, Bill Pullman, and Matt Dillon; Mighty Aphrodite (1995), with F. Murray Abraham, Woody Allen (who also directed), Claire Bloom
Helena Bonham Carter, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Rapaport, Mira Sorvino, David Ogden Stiers, Jack Warden, and Peter Weller; Sydney Pollack’s Sabrina (1995), with Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, Greg Kinnear, Nancy Marchand, John Wood, Richard Crenna, and Dana Ivey; and an uncredited role in Barbet Schroeder’s Before and After (1996), with Meryl Streep, Liam Neeson, Edward Furlong, Alfred Molina, Daniel von Bargen, John Heard, and Ann Magnuson.

More bit parts and supporting roles include Arresting Gena (1997), with Aesha Waks, Summer Phoenix, J. Smith-Cameron, and Sam Rockwell; Mike Newell’s Donnie Brasco (1997), with Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby, James Russo, and Anne Heche; P.J. Hogan’s My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), with Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Rupert Everett, and Philip Bosco; Deconstructing Harry (1997), with Caroline Aaron, Allen, (who also directed), Kirstie Alley, Bob Balaban, Richard Benjamin, Eric Bogosian, Billy Crystal, Judy Davis, Hazelle Goodman, Mariel Hemingway, Amy Irving, Julie Kavner, Eric Lloyd, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tobey Maguire, Demi Moore, Elisabeth Shue, Stanley Tucci, and Robin Williams; A Further Gesture (1997), with Stephen Rea, Molina, Rosana Pastor, and Brendan Gleeson; Peter Weir’s The Truman Show (1998), with Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Natascha McElhone, Holland Taylor, and Ed Harris; an uncredited part in Dr. Dolittle (1998), with Eddie Murphy, Ossie Davis, Oliver Platt, Peter Boyle, and the voices of Norm McDonald, Albert Brooks, and Chris Rock; and Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan (1998), with Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Davies, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, and Matt Damon.

He had a major breakout supporting role in the biopic comedy Private Parts (1997), with Howard Stern, Robin Quivers, Fred Norris, Gary Dell’Abate, Jackie Martling, Mary McCormack, Allison Janney, and Michael Murphy. Other major roles include F. Gary Gray’s The Negotiator (1998), with Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, David Morse, Ron Rifkin, John Spencer, and J.T. Walsh; John Hamburg’s Safe Men (1998), with Rockwell, Steve Zahn, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Pais, Harvey Fierstein, Michael Lerner, & Peter Dinklage; Tim Robbins’s Cradle Will Rock (1999), with Hank Azaria, Rubén Blades, Joan Cusack, John Cusack, Cary Elwes, Philip Baker Hall, Cherry Jones, Angus Macfadyen, Bill Murray, Vanessa Redgrave, Susan Sarandon, John Turturro, and Emily Watson; and Miloš Forman’s Man on the Moon (1999), with Carrey, Danny DeVito, and Courtney Love.

Films in the early 2000s include Big Momma’s House (2000), with Martin Lawrence, Nia Long, Terrence Howard, and Anthony Anderson; Duets (2000), with Gwyneth Paltrow, Huey Lewis, Maria Bello, Angie Dickinson, Scott Speedman, and Andre Braugher; Todd Solondz’s Storytelling (2001), with Selma Blair, Leo Fitzpatrick, Mark Webber, Robert Wisdom, Xander Berkeley, Aleksa Palladino, Julie Hagerty, Lupe Ontiveros, Franka Potente, and John Goodman; Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes (2001), with Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Kris Kristofferson, Estella Warren, and and uncredited Charlton Heston; Shawn Levy’s Big Fat Liar (2002), with Frankie Muniz, Amanda Bynes, Amanda Detmer, Donald Faison, Lee Majors, and Russell Hornsby; Peter Hewitt’s Thunderpants (2002), with Bruce Cook, Rupert Grint, Simon Callow, Stephen Fry, Celia Imrie, and Ned Beatty; American Splendor (2003), with Hope Davis, Judah Friedlander, and James Urbaniak; John Woo’s Paycheck (2003), with Ben Affleck, Aaron Eckhart, Uma Thurman, Colm Feore, Joe Morton, and Michael C. Hall; Confidence (2003), with Burns, Rachel Weisz, Andy García, Donal Logue, Luis Guzmán, Brian Van Holt, Franky G, Robert Forster, Morris Chestnut, and Dustin Hoffman; and Alexander Payne’s Sideways (2004), with Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, and Sandra Oh.

He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man (2005), with Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Craig Bierko, Bruce McGill, and Paddy Considine. Other films in the mid to late 2000s include The Hawk Is Dying (2006), with Michelle Williams, Michael Pitt, Robert Wisdom, and Ann Wedgeworth; Neil Burger’s The Illusionist (2006), with Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell, and Eddie Marsan; M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water (2006), with Bryce Dallas Howard, Bob Balaban, Jeffrey Wright, Sarita Choudhury, Freddy Rodriguez, Bill Irwin, and Jared Harris; The Nanny Diaries (2007), with Scarlett Johansson, Linney, Chris Evans, Alicia Keys, and Donna Murphy; Michael Davis’s Shoot ‘Em Up (2007), with Clive Owen, Monica Bellucci, and Stephen McHattie; Fred Claus (2007), with Vince Vaughn, Miranda Richardson, John Michael Higgins, Elizabeth Banks, Weisz, Kathy Bates, Trevor Peacock, Ludacris, and Spacey; Pretty Bird (2008), with Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig, David Hornsby, Garret Dillahunt, and Denis O’Hare; Tony Gilroy’s Duplicity (2009), with Roberts, Owen, and Tom Wilkinson; Sophie Barthes’s Cold Souls (2009), with Dina Korzun, Emily Watson, and David Strathairn; and Michael Hoffman’s The Last Station (2009), with Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, Anne-Marie Duff, Kerry Condon, and James McAvoy.

Films in the early 2010s include Barney’s Vision (2010), with Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre, Speedman, and Hoffman; Tom McCarthy’s Win Win (2011), with Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor, Melanie Lynskey, Margo Martindale, and Burt Young; Ironclad (2011), with James Purefoy, Brian Cox, Kate Mara, Vladimir Kulich, Mackenzie Crook, Jason Flemyng, Derek Jacobi, and Charles Dance; The Hangover Part II (2011), with Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong, Tambor, and Justin Bartha; The Ides of March (2011), with Ryan Gosling ,George Clooney (who also directed, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Wright, and Evan Rachel Wood; Rock of Ages (2012), with Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Åkerman, Mary J. Blige, Bryan Cranston, and Tom Cruise; David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis (2012), with Robert Pattinson, Samantha Morton, Sarah Gadon, Mathieu Amalric, Juliette Binoche, Jay Baruchel, and Kevin Durand; and Don Coscarelli’s John Dies at the End (2012), with Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes,, Brown, Glynn Turman, Daniel Roebuck, and Doug Jones.

More films in the early 2010s include The Congress (2013), with Robin Wright, John Hamm, Danny Huston, Harvey Keitel, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Sami Gayle, Michael Stahl-David, and August Wittgenstein; Romeo & Juliet (2013), with Hailee Steinfeld, Douglas Booth, Damian Lewis, Smit-McPhee, Ed Westwick, and Stellan Skarsgård; Parkland (2013), with James Badge Dale, Zac Efron, Jackie Earle Haley, Tom Welling, Colin Hanks, David Harbour, Marcia Gay Harden, Ron Livingston, Jeremy Strong, Billy Bob Thornton, and Jacki Weaver; Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave (2013), with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Dillahunt, Scoot McNairy, Lupita Nyong’o, Adepero Oduye, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Alfre Woodard; All Is Bright (2013), with Paul Rudd, Sally Hawkins, Amy Landecker, and Colman Domingo; Saving Mr. Banks (2013), with Emma Thompson, Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, Bradley Whitford, Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson, and B.J. Novak; River of Fundament (2014), with Matthew Barney (who also directed), Dave Bald Eagle, Milford Graves, John Buffalo Mailer, Ellen Burstyn, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Madyn Greer Coakley, Shara Nova, Joan La Barbara, Elaine Stritch, Debbie Harry and Aimee Mullins; The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), with Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Scott, Embeth Davidtz, Colm Feore, and Sally Field; Madame Bovary (2014), with Mia Wasikowska, Rhys Ifans, Ezra Miller, Logan Marshall-Green, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Laura Carmichael, and Olivier Gourmet; and Love & Mercy (2014), with Cusack, Paul Dano, Banks, and Bill Camp.

Films in the mid to late 2010s include San Andreas (2915), with Dwayne Johnson, Carlton Cuse. Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Ioan Gruffudd, and Archie Panjabi; Straight Outta Compton (2015), with O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Neil Brown Jr., and Aldis Hodge; The Phemom (2016), with Johnny Simmons, Yul Vazquez, Sophie Kennedy Clark, and Ethan Hawke; Morgan (2016), with Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Boyd Holbrook, Michelle Yeoh, and Jennifer Jason Leigh; I Think We’re Alone Now (2018), with Dinklage, Elle Fanning, and Charlotte Gainsbourg; Private Life (2018), with Kathryn Hahn, Kayli Carter, Molly Shannon, John Carroll Lynch, Desmin Borges, and O’Hare; and The Catcher Was a Spy (2018), with Rudd, Mark Strong, Sienna Miller, Jeff Daniels, Wilkinson, Giancarlo Giannini, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Guy Pearce.

He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for The Holdovers (2023), with Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston, Brady Hepner, Ian Dolley, Jim Kaplan, Michael Provost, and Tate Donovan. Other films in the 2020s include Navot Papushado’s Gunpowder Milkshake (2021), with Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Gugino, Chloe Coleman, Yeoh, Angela Bassett, Ralph Ineson, and Michael Smiley; Jungle Cruise (2021), with Johnson, Emily Blunt, Édgar Ramírez, Jack Whitehall, and Jesse Plemons; A Mouthful of Air (2021), with Amanda Seyfried, Finn Wittrock, Jennifer Carpenter, Michael Gaston, and Irving.

Voice roles in animated films include Robots (2005), with Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Kinnear, Mel Brooks, Bynes, Drew Carey, and Williams; the English dub of Asterix and the Vikings (2006), with Sean Astin, Brad Garrett, Evan Rachel Wood, Greg Proops, Diedrich Bader, Dee Bradley Baker, Jeff Bennett, Corey Burton, Grey DeLisle, John DiMaggio, Daran Norris, Dwight Schultz, April Winchell, and Philip Proctor; The Ant Bully (2006), with Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Regina King, Bruce Campbell, Lily Tomlin, and Zach Tyler Eisen; The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009), with Tom Papa, Sheri Moon Zombie, Rosario Dawson, Tom Kenny, and Brian Posehn; Turbo (2013), with Ryan Reynolds, Michael Peña, Luis Guzmán, Bill Hader, and Jackson; the English dub of Ernest & Celine (2014), with Forest Whitaker, Mackenzie Foy, Lauren Bacall, William H. Macy, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, Wright, and David Boat; The Little Prince 2015), with Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, Rudd, Bud Cort, Marion Cotillard, Benicio del Toro, James Franco, Ricky Gervais, Riley Osborne, Brooks and Foy; Ratchet & Clank (2016), with James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye, Goodman, Bella Thorne, Dawson, and Sylvester Stallone; the English dub of April and the Extraordinary World (2016), with Angela Galuppo, Tony Hale, Tony Robinow, Mark Camacho, Macha Grenon, Tod Femnell, Sarandon, and J.K. Simmons; and White Fang (2018), with Offerman, Rashida Jones, Eddie Spears, Dave Boat, Daniel Hagen, and Stephen Kramer Glickman.

He won a Golden Globe (Best Actor – Miniseries or TV Movie) and Emmy (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie) for John Adams (2008), with Linney
Stephen Dillane, Morse, Wilkinson, Huston, Sewell, Justin Theroux, and Guy Henry. He also headlined the cast of the drama series Billions (2016-2023), with Damian Lewis, Maggie Siff, Malin Akerman, Toby Leonard Moore, David Costabile, Condola Rashad, Asia Kate Dillon, Jeffrey DeMunn, Kelly AuCoin, Corey Stoll, Daniel Breaker, Sakina Jaffrey, and Toney Goins.

TV movies include Richard Benjamin’s Tourist Trap (1998), with Daniel Stern, Hagerty, David Rasche, and Reynolds; Paul Mazursky’s Winchell (1998), with Tucci, Glenne Headly, Xander Berkeley, Kevin Tighe, and Plummer; If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000), with Vanessa Redgrave, Chloë Sevigny, Michelle Williams, Sharon Stone, and Ellen DeGeneres; The Pentagon Papers (2003), with James Spader, Claire Forlani, and Alan Arkin; and Curtis Hanson’s Too Big to Fail (2011), with William Hurt, Asner, Crudup, Topher Grace, Cynthia Nixon, Bill Pullman, Tony Shalhoub, and James Woods.

He and Shirley MacLaine had a guest spot in an episode of popular period Drama Downton Abbey (2010-2015), with Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Joanne Froggatt, Lily James, Robert James-Collier, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton. He reprised the part in the film Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025), with much of the previous cast, along with Dominic West, Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale, and Arty Froushan.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(*seen rereleased in theaters)

• She’ll Take Romance (1990) – directed by Piers Haggard – TV movie
• Past Midnight (1991) – directed by Jan Eliasberg
• Singles (1992) – directed by Cameron Crowe
• Mighty Aphrodite (1995) – directed by Woody Allen
• Sabrina (1995) – directed by Sydney Pollack
• Before and After (1996) – directed by Barbet Schroeder – uncredited 
• Room (1996) – directed by Jon Sherman
• Arresting Gena (1997) – directed by Hannah Weyer
• Donnie Brasco (1997) – directed by Mike Newell
• Private Parts (1997) – Betty Thomas
• My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) – directed by P.J. Hogan
• Deconstructing Harry (1997) – Woody Allen
• A Further Gesture (1997) – directed by Robert Dornhelm
• Tourist Trap (1998) – directed by Richard Benjamin – TV movie
• The Truman Show (1998) – directed by Peter Weir
• Dr. Dolittle (1998)* – directed by Betty Thomas – uncredited
• Saving Private Ryan (1998)** – directed by Steven Spielberg
• The Negotiator (1998) – directed by F. Gary Gray
• Safe Men (1998) – directed by John Hamburg
• Winchell (1998) – directed by Paul Mazursky – TV movie
• Cradle Will Rock (1999) – directed by Tim Robbins
• Man on the Moon (1999) – directed by Miloš Forman
• If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000) – directed by Jane Anderson, Martha Coolidge, & Anne Heche – anthology TV film
• Big Momma’s House (2000) – directed by Raja Gosnell
• Duets (2002) – directed by Bruce Paltrow
• Storytelling (2001) – directed by Todd Solondz
• Planet of the Apes (2001)* – directed by Tim Burton
• Big Fat Liar (2002)* – directed by Shawn Levy
• Thunderpants (2002) – directed by Peter Hewitt
• American Splendor (2003) – directed by Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini
• Confidence (2003) – directed by James Foley
• The Pentagon Papers (2003) – directed by Rod Holcomb – TV movie
• Paycheck (2003) – directed by John Woo
• Sideways (2004)* – directed by Alexander Payne
• Robots (2005) – directed by Chris Wedge & Carlos Saldanha
• The Fan and the Flower (2005) – directed by Bill Plympton – short
• Cinderella Man (2005) – directed by Ron Howard
• Asterix and the Vikings (2006) – directed by Stefan Fjeldmark & Jesper Møller – English dub
• The Hawk Is Dying (2006) – directed by Julian Goldberger
• The Illusionist (2006)* – directed by Neil Butger
• Lady in the Water (2006)* – directed by M. Night Shyamalan
• The Ant Bully (2006) – directed by John A. Davis
• The Amazing Screw-On Head (2006) – directed by Chris Prynoski – TV pilot
• The Nanny Diaries (2007) – directed by Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini
• Shoot ‘Em Up (2007)* – directed by Michael Davis
• Too Loud a Solitude (2007) – directed by Genevieve Anderson – short
• Fred Claus (2007) – directed by David Dobkin
• Pretty Bird (2008) – directed by Paul Schneider
• John Adams (2008) – directed by Tom Hooper – miniseries
• Duplicity (2009) – directed by Tony Gilroy
• Cold Souls (2009) – directed by Sophie Barthes
• The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009) – directed by Rob Zombie
• The Last Station (2009) – directed by Michael Hoffman
• Barney’s Version (2010) – directed by Richard J. Lewis
• Win Win (2011) – directed by Tom McCarthy
• Too Big to Fail (2011) – directed by Curtis Hanson – TV movie
• Ironclad (2012) – directed by Jonathan English
• The Hangover Part II (2012)* – directed by Todd Phillips
• The Ides of March (2011) – directed by George Clooney
• Rock of Ages (2012)* – directed by Adam Shankman
• Cosmopolis (2012) – directed by David Cronenberg
• John Dies at the End (2012) – directed by Don Coscarelli – also producer
• Turbo (2013) – directed by David Soren
• The Congress (2013) – directed by Ari Folman
• Romeo & Juliet (2013) – directed by Carlo Carlei
• Parkland (2013) – directed by Peter Landesman
• 12 Years a Slave (2013) – Steve McQueen
• All Is Bright (2013) – directed by Phil Morrison – also producer
• Saving Mr. Banks (2013) – directed by John Lee Hancock
• Ernest & Celestine (2014) – directed Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar & Benjamin Renner – English dub
• River of Fundament (2014) – directed by Matthew Barney
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) – directed by Marc Webb
• Madame Bovary (2014) – directed by Sophie Barthes
• Giant Sloth (2015) – directed by Paul Hornschemeier – short
• Love & Mercy (2015) – directed by Bill Pohlad
• The Little Prince (2015) – directed by Mark Osborne
• San Andreas (2015) – directed by Brad Peyton
• Straight Outta Compton (2015) – directed by F. Gary Gray
• Goldfish (2015) – directed by Michael Konyves – short
• Ratchet & Clank (2016) – directed by Kevin Munroe
• April and the Extraordinary World (2016) – directed by Christian Desmares & Franck Ekinci – English dub
• The Phenom (2016) – directed by Noah Buschel
• Morgan (2016) – directed by Luke Scott
• I Think We’re Alone Now (2018) – directed by Reed Morano
• Private Life (2018) – directed by Tamara Jenkins
• The Catcher Was a Spy (2018) – directed by Ben Lewin
• White Fang (2018) – directed by Alexandre Espigares
• Gunpowder Milkshake (2021) – directed by Navot Papushado
• Jungle Cruise (2021) – directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
• A Mouthful of Air (2021) – directed by Amy Koppelman
• The Holdovers (2023) – directed by Alexander Payne
• Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025)* – directed by Simon Curtis
• The Statement (202-) – directed by Tom McCarthy
• Untitled Jesse Eisenberg musical comedy (202-) – directed by Jesse Eisenberg