# Max Minghella
**Max Minghella** (born 1985 in [Hampstead](https://www.edgepedia.org/hampstead), London) is a British actor and filmmaker, best known for playing Nick Blaine in the Hulu series *The Handmaid's Tale* (2017–present) and for his film roles in *The Social Network*, *The Ides of March*, and *Spiral*[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/11192/max-minghella). He is also a screenwriter and director whose credits include *Teen Spirit* (2018) and *Shell*, and he joined the casts of HBO's *Industry* and *The White Lotus* in the mid-2020s[2](https://press.hulu.com/bios/max-minghella/) • [3](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/industry-season-4-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name / birth | Max Giorgio Choa Minghella; born 1985, Hampstead, London, England[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1540404/) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/max_minghella) |
| Family | Son of director Anthony Minghella (1954–2008) and dancer and choreographer Carolyn Jane Choa[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/11192/max-minghella) |
| Signature TV role | Nick Blaine in *The Handmaid's Tale* (2017–present, 46 episodes), earning a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2021[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/11192/max-minghella) |
| Directing | *Teen Spirit* (2018), his debut, starring Elle Fanning; *Shell* (2024), his second film, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival[2](https://press.hulu.com/bios/max-minghella/) |
| Screenwriting debut | *The 9th Life of Louis Drax* (2016), which he also produced[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1540404/) |
| Recent TV work | Whitney Halberstram in *Industry* season 4; cast member of *The White Lotus* season 4[3](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/industry-season-4-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know) • [6](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/tv-shows/ben-kingsley-max-minghella-pekka-the-white-lotus-season-4-cast/) |
## Family and early life
Max Minghella grew up close to the film industry as the son of [Anthony Minghella](https://www.edgepedia.org/anthony-minghella), the Academy Award-winning director of *The English Patient*, and spent his school holidays on the sets of films including *The English Patient*, *The Talented Mr. Ripley*, and *Cold Mountain*[7](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/max-minghella-spiral-saw). His father, born of Italian parents at Ryde on the [Isle of Wight](https://www.edgepedia.org/isle-of-wight) in 1954, died suddenly on March 18, 2008, aged 54, leaving his wife, Hong Kong-born choreographer Carolyn Choa, a son Max, and a daughter, Hannah[8](https://catalogue.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/files/u-dtm.pdf).
He attended Columbia University and the National Youth Theater in London, and resides in both London and Los Angeles[2](https://press.hulu.com/bios/max-minghella/). As a teenager he wanted to be a music video director[9](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/max-minghella).
## Acting career
Minghella's film roles include Syriana (2005), Art School Confidential (2006), Elvis and Anabelle (2007), [The Social Network](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-social-network) (2010), The Darkest Hour (2011), The Ides of March (2011), [The Internship](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-internship) (2013), Horns (2013), and Spiral (2021)[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/11192/max-minghella). In *The Social Network* (2010) he played [Divya Narendra](https://www.edgepedia.org/divya-narendra), and in *Spiral: From the Book of Saw* (2021) he played Detective William Schenk[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/max_minghella). He appeared in Damien Chazelle's *Babylon* (2022) as Irving Thalberg, alongside Tobey Maguire, Meryl Streep, and Margot Robbie[2](https://press.hulu.com/bios/max-minghella/).
On television, besides *The Handmaid's Tale*, he guest-starred as Richie Castellano in seven episodes of *The Mindy Project*[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/11192/max-minghella). His character Nick Blaine in *The Handmaid's Tale*, the father of [June Osborne](https://www.edgepedia.org/june-osborne)'s daughter conceived in Gilead, secretly splits his alliance between Gilead's leadership and the Handmaids' resistance movement[10](https://www.hulu.com/guides/handmaids-tale/). Discussing the character's actions in the final season, Minghella described them as panicked decisions made under duress rather than calculated choices[11](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/the-handmaids-tale-max-minghella-dishes-on-that-shocking-betrayal/).
In *Industry* season 4 (HBO, from January 11, 2026), Minghella joined the cast as Whitney Halberstram, the CFO and founder of Tender, a growing payment processing company, with Sir Henry Muck ([Kit Harington](https://www.edgepedia.org/kit-harington)) brought on as CEO[3](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/industry-season-4-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know) • [12](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/industry-season-4-secrets-hbos-sexiest-show-returns-juicier-than-ever/). In May 2026, HBO announced he would join [Ben Kingsley](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-kingsley) and Pekka Strang in the season four cast of *The White Lotus*, whose newest season is set during the Cannes Film Festival[6](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/tv-shows/ben-kingsley-max-minghella-pekka-the-white-lotus-season-4-cast/). He was also cast as John Borrelli in [DC Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/dc-studios)' *Clayface* (2026)[13](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-95399/filmographie/).
## Directing and screenwriting
Minghella's screenwriting debut came with Miramax's *The 9th Life of Louis Drax*, which he wrote and produced for director [Alexandre Aja](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexandre-aja) in 2016; the thriller stars [Jamie Dornan](https://www.edgepedia.org/jamie-dornan), Aaron Paul, Aiden Longworth, and [Sarah Gadon](https://www.edgepedia.org/sarah-gadon)[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1540404/) • [2](https://press.hulu.com/bios/max-minghella/).
His first film as director was *Teen Spirit*, which he also wrote. Starring [Elle Fanning](https://www.edgepedia.org/elle-fanning) as Violet, a shy teenager looking to break into the world of singing with an unlikely mentor, and produced by Automatik and [Interscope Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/interscope-records), it premiered in theaters in April 2019[2](https://press.hulu.com/bios/max-minghella/). The SXSW release notes describe it as a pop-fueled take on the Cinderella story[14](https://www.sxsw.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2019-SXSW-FEATURE-RELEASE-FINAL-2.pdf). He has said that directing is where his passion lies[15](https://nerdtropolis.com/max-minghella-shell-interview-2025/).
His second feature, *Shell*, a psychological thriller starring his *Handmaid's Tale* co-star Elisabeth Moss along with Kate Hudson and Kaia Gerber, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024, produced by Fred Berger of Range Media Partners[2](https://press.hulu.com/bios/max-minghella/) • [16](https://press.hulu.com/bios/elisabeth-moss/). Moss's production company, Love & Squalor Pictures, also executive produced the film[16](https://press.hulu.com/bios/elisabeth-moss/). Minghella has described how working on both sides of the camera shapes each role: directing and acting each require trust and a shorthand with collaborators, and his schedules have run tight, wrapping *Teen Spirit* in London and flying to shoot *The Handmaid's Tale* in Toronto the next morning[11](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/the-handmaids-tale-max-minghella-dishes-on-that-shocking-betrayal/).
## References
1. [Max Minghella | TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/11192/max-minghella)
2. [Max Minghella, Hulu Press biography](https://press.hulu.com/bios/max-minghella/)
3. [Industry season 4: cast, plot and everything we know, What to Watch](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/industry-season-4-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know)
4. [Max Minghella, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1540404/)
5. [Max Minghella, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/max_minghella)
6. ['The White Lotus': Ben Kingsley, Max Minghella and Pekka Strang Round Out Season 4 Cast, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/tv-shows/ben-kingsley-max-minghella-pekka-the-white-lotus-season-4-cast/)
7. [Max Minghella Looks Back on a Life in Movies, Interview Magazine](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/max-minghella-spiral-saw)
8. [Hull History Centre: Papers of Anthony Minghella](https://catalogue.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/files/u-dtm.pdf)
9. [Max Minghella, Interview Magazine (2017)](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/max-minghella)
10. ['The Handmaid's Tale' Season 6: Everything You Need to Know, Hulu](https://www.hulu.com/guides/handmaids-tale/)
11. [The Shocking Betrayal That Just Rocked 'The Handmaid's Tale', The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/the-handmaids-tale-max-minghella-dishes-on-that-shocking-betrayal/)
12. [HBO's Sexiest Show Returns Juicier Than Ever, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/industry-season-4-secrets-hbos-sexiest-show-returns-juicier-than-ever/)
13. [Max Minghella filmography, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-95399/filmographie/)
14. [Teen Spirit (United Kingdom), SXSW 2019 Feature Release](https://www.sxsw.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2019-SXSW-FEATURE-RELEASE-FINAL-2.pdf)
15. [Max Minghella Talks Shell, Reuniting with Elisabeth Moss, Nerdtropolis](https://nerdtropolis.com/max-minghella-shell-interview-2025/)
16. [Elisabeth Moss, Hulu Press biography](https://press.hulu.com/bios/elisabeth-moss/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 2000s onward › Surnames Mc to M*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license