Childhood & Early Life
Paul Giamatti was born on June 6, 1967 in New Haven, Connecticut. His father, A. Bartlett Giamatti, was a professor at the Yale University and his mother, Toni Marilyn Giamatti was a homemaker and English teacher. Paul is the youngest of the three children in the family.
He started his education at the Foote School and completed his graduation from Choate Rosemary Hall in 1985. Paul earned his bachelor's degree in English in 1989 and then completed his Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama.
He started his acting journey with theatre and performed in numerous theatrical productions, including Broadway. From 1989 to 1992, he performed at Seattle's Annex Theater.
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Career
Paul Giamatti appeared in some small television and film roles in early 1990s. He had small roles in the films ‘Past Midnight’ (1991), ‘Singles’ (1992), ‘Mighty Aphrodite’ (1995), ‘Sabrina’ (1995) and ‘Donnie Brasco’ (1997).
He had his first major break with Howard Stern’s biopic ‘Private Parts’ in 1997. His performance in the film was highly lauded and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
He had a supporting act in numerous big budget projects such as ‘My Best Friend's Wedding’ (1997), ‘The Truman Show’ (1998), ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998) and ‘The Negotiator’ (1998). He also appeared in ‘Safe Men’ (1998) and ‘Cradle Will Rock’ (1999).
Paul Giamatti starred in Andy Kaufman’s biopic, ‘Man on the Moon’ in 1999. He received his first nomination in Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor – Comedy for his performance in ‘Big Momma's House’ in 2000.
He continued acting in mainstream films, such as ‘Duets’ (2000), ‘Storytelling’ (2001), ‘Planet of the Apes’ (2001) and ‘Big Fat Liar’ (2002). He also starred in Pete Hewitt’s ‘Thunderpants’ in 2002.
Hel received a lot of critical acclaim for his performance in ‘American Splendor’ in 2003. He also starred in ‘Paycheck’ and ‘Confidence’, the same year.
One of the most significant roles of his career came in 2004 with the movie ‘Sideways’. He received his first Golden Globe nomination along with several other awards and nominations for his performance.
He received another Golden Globe nomination and numerous awards for his performance in ‘Cinderella Man’ in 2005. He gave his voice in the films ‘Robots’ (2005) and ‘Asterix and the Vikings’ (2006).
Paul Giamatti played the lead role in the film ‘Lady in the Water’ in 2006 and also appeared in ‘The Hawk Is Dying’ and ‘The Illusionist’. He gave his voice for the animated film ‘The Ant Bully’ in 2006.
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He had a major role in the action movie ‘Shoot 'Em Up’ in 2007 and also appeared in ‘The Nanny Diaries’ and ‘Fred Claus’, the same year. He gave his voice for ‘Too Loud a Solitude’ in 2007.
He received his first Golden Globe Award for his performance in the mini-series ‘John Adams’ in 2008. He acted and produced ‘Pretty Bird’ in 2008. He also appeared in ‘Duplicity’ and ‘Cold Souls’ in 2009.
He gave his voice for ‘The Haunted World of El Superbeasto’ and acted in ‘The Last Station’ in 2009. He received his second Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in ‘Barney's Version’ in 2010.
He had a lead role in ‘Win Win’ in 2011 which was critically acclaimed. He also had small roles in the films ‘Ironclad’, ‘The Hangover Part II’ and ‘The Ides of March’ in 2011. His performance in the television movie ‘Too Big to Fail’ in 2011 was widely appreciated.
Paul Giamatti appeared in ‘Rock of Ages’, ‘Cosmopolis’, acted and produced ‘John Dies at the End’ in 2012. He gave his voice for ‘Turbo’ and starred in ‘The Congress’, ‘Romeo & Juliet’ and ‘Parkland’ in 2013.
His performance in ‘12 Years a Slave’, in 2013 was critically acclaimed. He acted and produced ‘All Is Bright’ and appeared in ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ in 2013. Paul appeared in an episode of ‘Downton Abbey’ in 2013 and received an Emmy Award nomination for the same.
He appeared in ‘River of Fundament’, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ and ‘Madame Bovary’ in 2014. He gave his voice for ‘Ernest & Celestine’ (2014), ‘Giant Sloth’ (2014) and ‘The Little Prince’ (2015). He acted in a couple of episodes of comedy series ‘Inside Any Schumer’ in 2014-2015 and received Emmy Award nomination for the same.
He acted in ‘San Andreas’ and critically acclaimed ‘Straight Outta Compton’ in 2015. He gave his voice for ‘Ratchet & Clank’ and ‘April and the Extraordinary World’, in 2016.
He appeared in ‘The Phenom’ and ‘Morgan’ in 2016. He also acted in ‘The Catcher Was a Spy’ in 2017.
Major Works
Paul Giamatti is best known for his performance in the movies ‘American Splendor’ (2003), ‘Sideways’ (2004), ‘Cinderella Man’ (2005), television series ‘John Adams’ (2008) and ‘Barney's Version’ (2010). He received several awards and nominations for these performances.
His role in mini-series ‘Too Big to Fail‘(2011), film ‘12 Years a Slave’ (2013) and television series ‘Inside Amy Schumer’ (2014-2015) is also well known. The performances earned him huge critical acclaim.
Awards & Achievements
Paul Giamatti won the National Board of Review Award for Best Breakthrough Performance for ‘American Splendor’ in 2003.
He won Boston Society of Film Critics Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and many more along with Golden Globe nominations for ‘Sideways’ (2004) and ‘Cinderella Man’ (2005). He won his first Golden Globe Award for ‘John Adams’ in 2008.
Paul Giamatti won his second Golden Globe Award for ‘Barney's Version’ in 2010.
He received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for ‘Too Big to Fall’ (2011), ‘Downton Abbey’ (2013) and ‘Inside Amy Schumer’ (2014-15).
