Charles Alexandre Rockwell (born August 18, 1956) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is the grandson of the Russian animator Alexandre Alexeieff, who invented the pinscreen, and of Alexandra Grinevsky, Countess de Lowendhal. His grandmother was a stage actress in Paris, as well as an artist. His father was also an actor and filmmaker. His mother, Svetlana Rockwell, was born in Paris and emigrated to the US to marry Alex’s father; she was a painter. Rockwell grew up in Cambridge, MA and moved to New York City in his early 20s.
His notable films include In the Soup (1992), with Seymour Cassel, Steve Buscemi, Beals, Will Patton, Stanley Tucci, Jim Jarmusch, and Carol Kane; Somebody to Love (1994), with Rosie Perez, Harvey Keitel, Anthony Quinn, Buscemi, Tucci, Samuel Fuller, and Quentin Tarantino; Louis & Frank (1998), with Tony Curtis, Buscemi, Perez and Sam Rockwell; 13 Moons (2002), with Beals, Elizabeth Bracco, Buscemi, Peter Dinklage, Rockwell, Peter Stormare; and Pete Smalls Is Dead (2010), with Mark Boone Junior, Dinklage, Cassel, Todd Barry, Buscemi, Perez and Tim Roth; Lump (2024), with Steven Randazzo, Joecar Hanna, Johnny Zito, and M.L. Josepher; and The Projectionist (2026), with Vondie Curtis-Hall, Karyn Parsons, Kasi Lemmons, David Proval, Kevin Corrigan, and Michael Buscemi.
From 1986 to 1996, he was married to actress Jennifer Beals. Beals introduced Sam Rockwell to Alexandre, who has subsequently cast Sam in four of his films. They are not related. Since February 8, 2003, Rockwell has been married to actress Karyn Parsons (of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fame), with whom he has two children: a daughter, Lana (born 2003), and a son, Nico (born 2007). Both children starred in his movie Sweet Thing (2020), with Will Patton, Karyn Parsons, and Josepher. He currently teaches directing at NYU’s graduate film school and resides in Los Angeles. Karyn, has her own production company, Sweet Blackberry.
Each review will be linked to the title below.
(*seen originally in theaters)
(**seen rereleased in theaters)
- Lenz (1982)
- Hero (1983)
- Sons (1989)
- In the Soup (1992)
- Somebody to Love (1994)
- Four Rooms (1995) – directed with Allison Anders, Robert Rodriguez, & Quentin Tarantino – anthology
- Louis & Frank (1998)
- 13 Moons (2002)
- Pete Smalls Is Dead (2010)
- Little Feet (2013)
- In the Same Garden (2016) – directed with Ali Asgari, Sergei Bodrov, Rolf de Heer, Chema García Ibarra, Andrej Landin, Gurvinder Singh, Adrian Sitaru, Roger Deutsch, Gábor Holtai, & Mark Playne – anthology
- Sweet Thing (2020)
- LUMP (2024)
- The Projectionist (2026)
I Review Stuff 