Max Minghella's Real Name: Max Minghella

Quick answer: Max Minghella is documented professionally as Max Minghella. The Guardian and Bustle both say he was born and raised in Hampstead, in north London, and identify him as the son of the Academy Award-winning director Anthony Minghella (The Guardian; Bustle; Hulu Press).

Real name and early life

A 2011 Guardian interview says he was born and raised in Hampstead and is the son of the late, Academy Award-winning director Anthony Minghella. His mother is the Hong Kong-born choreographer Carolyn Choa, a point both The Guardian and Bustle record. Bustle says he grew up in South Hill Park, overlooking Hampstead Heath, and that he has a half-sister, Hannah Minghella. He has said that every school he attended was in Hampstead and that, when he later went to New York, the change felt large. He attended Columbia University, where Bustle says he studied history for its connection, through storytelling, to film, and Hulu's press biography also notes the National Youth Theatre in London. A longer personal name sometimes seen elsewhere is not independently documented in these accounts, so this page uses the professional form Max Minghella.

Career highlights

The Guardian says his first on-screen appearance was as an uncredited extra in his father's 2003 American Civil War epic. He began taking acting more seriously during college summers, Bustle says, and before graduation he had already appeared in David Fincher's The Social Network. Hulu's biography lists that film among his acting credits, along with George Clooney's The Ides of March and Alejandro Amenábar's Agora, and says he is widely known for playing Nick Blaine in The Handmaid's Tale. His directorial debut, Teen Spirit (2019), starring Elle Fanning, is recorded by both Hulu and Bustle, the latter dating the debut to 2018 in connection with the project; this page records the 2019 theatrical premiere given in the Hulu biography. Hulu also notes later acting in Damien Chazelle's Babylon and in the Saw sequel Spiral, opposite Chris Rock, and a later feature as director, the thriller Shell, which that biography says premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Hulu adds that he wrote and produced The 9th Life of Louis Drax (2016).

Name notes for searchers

He is known professionally as Max Minghella. Searchers looking for Nick Blaine in The Handmaid's Tale, Divya Narendra in The Social Network, or the director of Teen Spirit are usually aiming at the same person. He should not be confused with his father, the director Anthony Minghella.