Alexander Payne

Also known as Constantine Alexander Payne

American film director, producer and screenwriter (born 1961)

OverviewAI-generated

Alexander Payne is an American-Greek screenwriter, film director, film producer, and writer. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1961, he began his work period in 1985. He is educated at Stanford University, the University of California, Los Angeles, the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, and the University of Salamanca. His notable works include *I'll keep thinking*, *Downsizing*, *I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry*, *Election*, and *Sideways*.

Payne has received several awards, including the Writers Guild of America Award, the Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay, the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay, and the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He has also been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the BAFTA Award for Best Film. His works are held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. He is married to Sandra Oh and has no children.

Synthesized by Vinony from 24 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, Open Library. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born: 1961
Works: 8

Top works

I'll keep thinking
Downsizing
Downsizing
I now pronounce you Chuck & Larry
Election

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Alexander Payne (born February 10, 1961) is an Oscar-winning filmmaker whose work has helped define modern-day American cinema. He is best known for the features Election (1999), Sideways (2004), The Descendants (2011), About Schmidt (2002), Nebraska (2013) and The Holdovers (2023). His movies have garnered a total of 24 Academy Award nominations, including four times for Best Picture and three…

Known for

Dernsie: The Amazing Life of Bruce Dern2026
Frank Capra: Mr. America — Self - Director and Screenwriter2023
Christoph Waltz - The Charm of Evil — Self2021
Berlanga!! — Self - Filmmaker2021
Hal — Self2019
Program Notes: An Introduction To The Last Detail By Alexander Payne — Self2017
About a Trip: Alexander Payne on Hal Ashby's 'The Last Detail'2017
Election - "The Passion of Martin" Introduction — Himself2017
Trespassing Bergman — Self2013
Paris Je T'aime — Oscar Wilde (segment " Pere-Lachaise")2006

via TMDB

Key facts

Born: Constantine Alexander Payne , ( 1961-02-10 ) February 10, 1961 (age 65) , Omaha , Nebraska , U.S.
Citizenship: United States Greece
Education: Stanford University ( BA ), University of California, Los Angeles ( MFA )
Occupations: Film director screenwriter producer
Years active: 1985–present
Spouses: Sandra Oh ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 2003 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 2006 ) Maria Kontos ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 2015 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 2022 )
Awards: Full list

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Alexander
Gender: male
Citizenship: Greece
Place of birth: Omaha
Spouse: Sandra Oh
Occupation: director
Languages spoken: English language
Award: Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Director
Image: Alexander payne.jpg
Number of children: 0
Work location: United States

Show 6 more facts

Commons category: Alexander Payne
date of birth: 1961-02-10
nominated for: BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
start of work period: 1985-00-00
related category: Category:Films directed by Alexander Payne
has works in the collection: Museum of Modern Art

Sources (11)

via Wikidata · CC0

~24 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Constantine Alexander Payne (born February 10, 1961) is an American filmmaker. He is noted for his satirical depictions of contemporary American society. Payne has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as a nomination for a Grammy Award.

After directing several short films, Payne made his feature film debut with the black comedy Citizen Ruth (1996). His career progressed with the political satire Election (1999), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the comedy-drama About Schmidt (2002). Payne twice won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing his directorials Sideways (2004) and The Descendants (2011). He was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for these two films and for the road film Nebraska (2013). He has since directed the comedy-dramas Downsizing (2017), and The Holdovers (2023). As of January 2026, Payne is directing a Danish-language comedy-drama, Somewhere Out There.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Alexander Payne” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.