Alexander Payne is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He has written, produced and directed several films including A Beautiful Mind (1992), A Time to Kill (1999), The Descendants (2000), The Descendants 2: Sisters (2005), A Time to Kill 2: Sisters (2005), The Descendants 3: Brothers in Blood (2007) and The Descendants 4: Brothers in Blood (2009). He is known for the 1999 comedy film A Time to Kill, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Payne was born in New York City, New York.
Payne’s father is a painter and his mother is a teacher. His brother is actor Alex Payne. Payne attended Stony Brook University as an undergraduate before moving on to Harvard University where he received his BFA in 1977. He received an honorary degree from Stony Brook University in 1983.
Payne began his career working as an actor before turning to write with the short-lived television series Step by Step, which was cancelled after one season.[5] Despite this setback, he continued working in television acting while also writing several episodes of television series such as Law & Order: Criminal Intent[6] and NCIS.[7]
In 1980 Payne gave up acting when he became a filmmaker; however, he did continue working on television screenplays. [8] In 1983 he wrote the screenplay for Step by Step starring Sean Connery which was produced by Paul Schrader and starred John Travolta. The film received mixed reviews and was a box office failure. Payne then wrote the script for the television series Step by Step which starred Sean Connery, Christopher Plummer, and John Travolta.
Alexander Payne wrote the screenplay for The Shawshank Redemption in 1995 starring Forest Whitaker. [9] He also wrote the script for The Island (2003) starring Russell Crowe and Michael Keaton.[10] In 2003 he also wrote the screenplay for The Last of US (2004),[11][12][13] playing himself as a lawyer who becomes involved with an old friend who is accused of crimes he did not commit. It was later adapted into a film by David O. Russell which starred Jennifer Lopez,[14] Leonardo DiCaprio,[15] and Josh Lucas.[16][17] In 2006 Payne released his directorial debut, Redacted, starring Michael Douglas in a lead role as an FBI agent who investigates an attempt to kidnap a woman while she is out on bail.[18][19][20] He followed this up with his next film, Bad Neighbors, which he produced and directed.[21][22][23] However, he has been criticized by critics because his films have not been well received at home or abroad[24][25].