| Intro | American actor |
| A.K.A. | Alden Caleb Ehrenreich |
| Is |
Actor Film actor Television actor |
| From | United States of America |
| Type | Film, TV, Stage & Radio |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 22 November 1989, Los Angeles |
| Age: | 30 years |
Alden Caleb Ehrenreich (US pronunciation: /ˈɛrənraɪk/; born November 22, 1989) is an American actor. He made his feature film debut in Francis Ford Coppola’s independent film Tetro (2009) and appeared in Coppola’s subsequent film Twixt (2011). In 2013, he appeared in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, Park Chan-wook’s Stoker and starred in Richard LaGravenese’s Beautiful Creatures. In 2016, he starred as Hobie Doyle in the Coen brothers comedy Hail, Caesar! and as Frank Forbes in Warren Beatty’s Rules Don’t Apply. In 2018, he will star as Han Solo in an as of yet untitled Star Wars spin-off film revolving around the character’s younger years.
Personal life
Ehrenreich was born in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Sari (née Newmann), an interior designer, and Mark Ehrenreich, an accountant. He is named after the director Phil Alden Robinson. His stepfather, Harry Aronowitz, is an orthodontist. Alden is from a Jewish family (from Austria, Hungary, Russia, and Poland), and was raised in Reconstructionist Judaism.
Ehrenreich began acting at the Palisades Elementary School in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, and continued doing so at Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California. After graduating from high school, he studied acting at New York University, but never finished his degree. In 2009, he co-founded “The Collectin” with his friend Zoë Worth in New York that consists of actors, writers, producers and directors who collaborate on films and theater performances.
Career
Ehrenreich was discovered at a friend’s bat mitzvah reception by Steven Spielberg, when Spielberg watched a comedy video created by Ehrenreich and a friend, “which began in the present and eventually cut to 20 or 30 years later, with Mr. Ehrenreich, in a kimono, screaming to stop a wedding.” Ehrenreich has described the comedic performance he gave in the movie as, “I ran around as a skinny little punk, trying on girls’ clothes and eating dirt.” He was then contacted by DreamWorks, a studio which Spielberg helped found, and met with its casting director. The meeting with Spielberg led to acting roles on television shows such as Supernatural and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
In 2007, Ehrenreich auditioned and won the role of Bennie Tetrocini in Francis Ford Coppola’s Tetro. Coppola requested Ehrenreich read a passage from The Catcher in the Rye for his main audition. The film was released in limited release in 2009 and received generally positive reviews from critics; praising Ehrenreich’s performance. In 2011, he played a minor role in Coppola’s subsequent film Twixt and appeared alongside Natalie Portman in the Sofia Coppola-directed Miss Dior Cherie commercial.
In 2013, he starred as Ethan Wate in the film adaptation of the novel Beautiful Creatures, and appeared as Whip Taylor in Park Chan-wook’s thriller film Stoker. He then played the stepson of Cate Blanchett in the Woody Allen-directed drama film Blue Jasmine. In 2016, Ehrenreich became more widely known for his co-leading role as Hobie Doyle in the Coen brothers film Hail, Caesar!, alongside a cast that included Josh Brolin and George Clooney. Many critics praised Ehrenreich’s performance in particular. That same year, Ehrenreich starred in the leading role of Frank Forbes in Warren Beatty’s romantic comedy-drama Rules Don’t Apply. He then starred in The Yellow Birds with Tye Sheridan, Jack Huston, and Jennifer Aniston, which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
In March 2016, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Ehrenreich was one of a number of actors to audition for the role of Han Solo for the upcoming Star Wars anthology film, and had made the final shortlist. On April 16, 2016, Deadline.com reported that he was the frontrunner for the role following a series of secret screen tests. On May 5, 2016, Ehrenreich was cast as Han Solo, with the film following Solo’s early life before the events of the original 1977 Star Wars.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Director(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Switcheroo! | Dan | Bryan Basham | Short film |
| 2009 | Tetro | Bennie Tetrocini | Francis Ford Coppola | |
| 2009 | Greased | Ben | Roxine Helberg | Short film |
| 2010 | Somewhere | Actor at Party | Sofia Coppola | Uncredited |
| 2010 | Ten Fingers | Harry | Sam Boyd | Short film |
| 2011 | Twixt | Flamingo | Francis Ford Coppola | |
| 2011 | A Dentist | Alan Goldenberg | Joshua Margolin | Short film |
| 2013 | Beautiful Creatures | Ethan Wate | Richard LaGravenese | Nominated–Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Romance Nominated–Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Liplock (shared with Alice Englert) |
| 2013 | Stoker | Whip Taylor | Chan-wook Park | |
| 2013 | Blue Jasmine | Danny Francis | Woody Allen | Nominated–Gold Derby Award for Best Ensemble Cast |
| 2013 | Teenage | 1940s Teenager | Matt Wolf | Documentary |
| 2015 | Running Wild | Eli | Melanie Shaw | |
| 2016 | Hail, Caesar! | Hobie Doyle | Joel Coen & Ethan Coen | Nominated–Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated–San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Breakthrough Artist Nominated–San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Comedic Performance |
| 2016 | Rules Don’t Apply | Frank Forbes | Warren Beatty | |
| 2017 | The Yellow Birds | Brandon Bartle | Alexandre Moors | |
| 2018 | Untitled Han Solo film | Han Solo | Phil Lord and Christopher Miller | Filming |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Supernatural | Ben Collins | Episode: “Wendigo” |
| 2006 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Sven | Episode: “Built to Kill, Part 2” |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Romance | Beautiful Creatures | Nominated |
| Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Liplock (with Alice Englert) | Nominated | ||
| 2014 | Gold Derby Award for Best Ensemble Cast | Blue Jasmine | Nominated |
| 2016 | San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Comedic Performance | Hail, Caesar! | Nominated |
| San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Breakthrough Artist | Nominated | ||
| Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor | Nominated |