Description:
Director, producer and screenwriter Alexander Payne was born in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents, Peggy (Constantine) and George Payne, ran a Greek restaurant. His father is of Greek and German ancestry, and his mother is of Greek descent; the family name was originally Papadopoulos. He is the youngest of three brothers.
Alexander attended Stanford University, where he majored in Spanish and History. He then went on to study film at UCLA Film School. His university thesis film was screened at the Sundance film festival, which led to him being backed by Miramax to write and direct Citizen Ruth (1996). Payne prefers to have control over his movies, from scripts to cast.
Birthday
February 10, 1961
Born In
Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Height
178 cm
Spouse/Ex-
Maria Kontou September 2015 - ? (filed for divorce),Sandra Oh January 1, 2003 - December 21, 2006 (divorced)
Parents
Peggy Constantine
Trivia
Everytime he was nominated for the Best Director Oscar, Martin Scorsese was nominated in the same category alongside him: first in 2005 when Payne was nominated for Sideways (2004) and Scorsese for The Aviator (2004), then in 2012 when Payne was nominated for The Descendants (2011) and Scorsese for Hugo (2011) and finally in 2014 when Payne was nominated for Nebraska (2013) and Scorsese for The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).
Quotes
[on Reese Witherspoon in Election (1999)] She inhabited that role fully, but she can do all these other roles. You see a woman in her, not a girl. She's going to be interesting for a long time.
Trademarks
Often sets his films in and around Omaha, Nebraska.
