John Malkovich: biography and filmography of a Hollywood actor

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

John Malkovich (full name John Gavin Malkovich) is an American film actor, born December 9, 1953 in the small town of Christopher, located in southern Illinois. As a child, the boy studied music, and when he grew up he entered high school. After school, he became a student at Eastern Illinois University, where he studied at the Faculty of Environmental Preferences. John Malkovich did not part with music in his youth, in 1976 he organized a group called the Steppenwolf Theater Company. Endless rehearsals began, the musicians tried to create their own completely exclusive repertoire, but there was no composer among them, and the process progressed slowly. Although the main goal was achieved, the musicians were busy with real creativity: they wanted to record their album and organize tours, being already famous. John's studies at the university were not going well, he devoted all his time to music. Suddenly, he became interested in theater.

Theatrical debut

In the end, artistic JohnMalkovich became crowded within the walls of the university, he increasingly visited the city theater, watched all the performances in a row and tried to make acquaintances with the actors. His creative aspirations soon bore fruit, and in 1978 John received an invitation to take part in a play at the Goodman Theatre. He was given a small role in a social production called "The Curse of the Starving Class" based on the play by Sam Shepard. Malkovich's theatrical debut was successful, and he continued to work with the troupe. Over the next six years, John, as an already established actor, played in more than 50 performances. In the American theatrical world, everything is interconnected, as soon as an interesting actor appears in San Francisco, they already know about him on Broadway the next day. The theater director is immediately tempted to contact a talented performer and lure him over. But not everything is so simple: in the theatrical hierarchy there is a kind of ethics, according to which there should not be any contacts - this is considered bad form. Another thing is if the actor himself comes, and then they won’t let him go. Monetary incentives, comfortable housing conditions and, finally, contracts so tempting that it is simply impossible to refuse are used. So it happened with Malkovich. He arrived at random in New York in the hope of finding a job on Broadway. Of course, they already knew about him, his incredible ability to work and acting talent. Therefore, the very first theater he applied to accepted him with joy.

Broadway

So, in 1984, Malkovich moved to New York, and he was accepted into one of the leading theaterson Broadway. John's first performance was Death of a Salesman. The famous Dustin Hoffman also played in the play. Any Broadway theater is an excellent launching pad for starting an artistic career, and John Malkovich felt it right away. Performances with his participation followed one after another, gradually the actor became popular, he had the opportunity to choose roles to his liking, and this is the first sign of star status.

Movie debut

John Malkovich, whose filmography at that time did not contain a single picture, was spotted by an agent of the film studio Trisrar Picturies. He was invited to screen tests, which he successfully passed, being already an experienced enough actor. Thus, John was approved for the role of Mr. Will. It was Malkovich's debut film role, but the actor played in such a way that he was immediately nominated for an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category. In the same 1984, John Malkovich, whose best films were yet to come, starred in the film "The Killing Fields" directed by Roland Joffe. John played photographer Al Rockoff - his character was already closer to the main plot events, but this time the Oscar nominations and other Malkovich awards were not touched.

Second Oscar nomination

John Malkovich received his second Oscar nomination for his role as Mitch O'Leary, a mentally unstable former CIA agent in the film "In the Line of Fire", directed byWolfgang Petersen. The picture was filmed at the Columbia Picturies film studio and appeared at the box office in 1993. Prior to that, John Malkovich played the character role of Viscount Sebastian de Valmont in the film Dangerous Liaisons by British director Stephen Frears. The film was shot in the wake of the events of the late 18th century that took place at the court of the French king. The picture was released in the second half of 1988.

In 1990, John Malkovich received an invitation from director Bernardo Bertolucci to star in the film "Under the Cover of Heaven." Malkovich's character, Port Moresby, is a middle-aged man who, along with his wife Kit Moresby, embarks on a journey through North Africa. The vicissitudes of this journey keep all participants in suspense. Port Moresby dies of typhus, and his wife ends up with the Berbers.

Being John Malkovich

In 1999, Gramercy Pictures filmed the film "Being John Malkovich", in which the actor played himself. The role was more like a Cameo, although at that time it was not yet customary to invite celebrities to participate in film projects, as is done today. However, the role of John Malkovich, played by John Malkovich himself, pretty much spices up the plot. In the same 1999, the actor starred in two more films: Time Regained directed by Raoul Ruiz and starring Catherine Deneuve and The Lady's Room directed by Gabriella Cristiani. Malkovich's character in the first film is the Baron de Charles, and in the second, the rich man Roberto.

Filmography

John Malkovich, whose filmography includes about 90 films of various genres, willingly takes on interesting, meaningful new roles. But the list of roles played by him in the recent past is also impressive. Between 2000 and 2007, Malkovich participated in twenty film projects, these are:

• Year 2000 - "Les Misérables" directed by Tom Hooper, Malkovich played Javert; "Shadow of the Vampire" directed by Edmund Elias Merij, Malkovich played the main role - Friedrich Marnau.
• Year 2001 - "Strong Souls" directed by Raul Ruiz, Malkovich's character is Monsignor; "I'm going home" directed by Manuel de Oliveira, Malkovich played John Crawford; "Hotel" directed by Alan Nixon, John Malkovich - Omar Hansson, the main role; "Bouncers" directed by Brian Koppelman, Malkovich's character is Teddy Deserve.
• Year 2002 - "Ripley's Game" directed by Liliana Kovani, starring Malkovich - Tom Ripley.
• Year 2003 - "Agent Johnny English" directed by Peter Howitt, John Malkovich - the main role (in tandem with Atkinson) - Pascal Savage; "Talking Cinema" directed by Manuel de Oliveira, Malkovich as Comandante John Vales.
• Year 2005 - "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" directed by Garth Jennings, John Malkovich's character - Humma Kavula; Libertine, directed by Laurence Dunmore, Malkovich as King Charles II; "Being Stanley Kubrick" directed by Brian Cook, starring John Malkovich as Alan Conway.
• Year 2006 - "Advertisement for a Genius" directed by Terry Swigoff, Malkovich's character is Professor Sandiford; "Klimt" directed by Raul Ruiz, John Malkovich as Gustav Klimt; "Eragon" directed by Stefan Fangmeyer, Malkovich played Galbatorix; "Step by step" directed by Tom Roberts, John Malkovich as Pavlov.
• Year 2007 - "Beowulf" directed by Robert Zemeckis, Malkovich as Unferth.

Malkovich - director

As an actor, John Malkovich had already taken place by 2000. He was in demand, his fees were expressed in seven figures. However, being a truly creative person, Malkovich tried several times to realize himself as a stage director. When staging the film "I'm going home" John became an assistant director Manuel Oliveira. And when staging the 2002 film Dancing Above, John Malkovich, whose biography was ready to be replenished with new pages, completely took over the work of the director, and also acted as a co-producer on this film project. In the same year, Malkovich became the director of The Disgusting Man, for which he also wrote the screenplay. The film was a short film, lasting only 26 minutes, but the work of John and his team was recognized by critics as quite professional.

Malkovich - producer

Also, John Malkovich produced some film projects and, I must say, he did it well too. Films with participationJohn Malkovich as producer:

• Year 2000 - "Reluctant Tourist".
• Year 2001 - "Ghost World", "Single".
• Year 2002 - "Dancing Upstairs".
• Year 2004 - "The Libertine", "Found in the Street".
• Year 2006 - "Kill the Poor", "Advertising for a Genius".
• Year 2007 - "Road Home", "Juno".
• Year 2010 - "Drunk Boat".
• Year 2012 - "It's good to be quiet".

Return to the theater stage

From time to time, John Malkovich returns to the profession with which he began his career as a Hollywood superstar - a theater actor. In 2010, Malkovich played the lead role in the Mariinsky Theater's performance "Infernal Comedy. Confessions of a Serial Killer". And the following year, Malkovich played the role of Giacomo Casanova in the play "Giacomo Variations" on the stage of the Moscow theater "New Opera".

Private life

The personal life of a Hollywood superstar is like a quiet water surface, calm and serene. John married late: he was only thirty years old when he proposed to Glenn Headley, a famous American actress, two-time Emmy nominee. The couple lived together for six years, from 1982 to 1988, and divorced when John Malkovich could not resist the temptation and had an affair with actress Michelle Pfeiffer, with whom he starred in the Dangerous Liaisons film project. As we see,this connection also proved dangerous and ended in Malkovich's divorce from Glenn Headley. And I must say that Pfeiffer also suffered: because of an affair with Malkovich, she had to divorce her husband Peter Horton.

However, after only two years on the set of "Under the Cover of Heaven" John met Nicolette Peyran, assistant director, who became his second wife. In this marriage, the couple had two children, in 1990 - a daughter, who was named Amandine, and in 1992 - a son, Loewy. The family lived in France for a long time, and in 2003 the Malkovichs moved to the USA, to the city of Cambridge, where they live to this day.