We know actors who have become presidents of countries and governors. There are also politicians who have acted in films. Actor Oliver Platt in his family tree had many famous political and public figures, and he himself had to go into politics.
But one incident turned his whole life upside down. One day, his family came to Washington and went to a Morgan Freeman concert at the Kennedy Center. Oliver was amazed at how the actor kept the whole huge hall in suspense. He stood on stage completely alone, and this did not prevent him from controlling the audience and transmitting to them what he wanted to convey. Since then, Platt has firmly decided that he will become an actor like Freeman.
Biography
Oliver Platt was born in Windsor, Canada into an interesting family: my mother worked as a social worker in Islamabad, and my father was a diplomat and traveled to different countries. Therefore, as a child, the future actor visited Pakistan, Zambia, the Philippines and other countries. The Platts had three children, and such a large family often moved from place to place.
The Platts' pedigree is indeed very rich: there were secular lionesses, lawyers, lawyers, federal judges in his family. They were friends with politicians and presidents, and their paternal great-grandfather almost became president instead of Theodore Roosevelt. He is also a distant relative of Princess Diana, but he practically did not communicate with her.
Due to the fact that his father often had to move at work, Oliver had almost no friends in his childhood, and he speaks of himself as a "man without roots." He does not have any warm childhood memories associated with his favorite corner in the garden or with a tree house. While he was in school, his parents moved twelve times, and therefore his school memories are also chaotic.
When they moved to the United States, Platt completed his studies at an elite boarding school called the Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, Colorado. He then went to Tufts University to pursue an acting degree.
After university, Oliver tried his hand at the theater stage: he worked in Boston theater, where he had many roles and where he gained vast experience of acting and interacting with the audience from the stage. He played on Broadway, participated in Shakespeare festivals, served at the Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theater Club and other Melpomene homes.
It was thanks to the theater that Platt got into the cinema: he met Bill Murray at a party, who praised his show and recommended the actor to director Jonathan Demme, who immediately invited him to shoot in the movie "Married to the Mafia" (1988).
Film career
Platt agreed to this proposal only because it was something new - something he had not done before. The first experience was successful, and in the same year he starred in the film "Business Woman" (1998) and others. Since then, almost every year, a new role has appeared in his portfolio, and he still chose such images so as not to get stuck in one role.
The best films in Platt's filmography are considered: "Bicentennial Man" (1999), "Benny and June" (1993), "Time to Kill" (1996), "Honest Courtesan" (1998), "Simon Beach" (1998). Best TV series: "To Kill Boredom" (2009-2011), "Big R" (2012-2013), "Doctors of Chicago" (2015- …), "Fargo" (2014- …), "American Family" (2009 - …).
In 1999, Platt played a wealthy and eccentric crocodile lover in Lake Placid: The Lake of Fear. Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda became his partners on the set. The actor portrayed his hero as a strange and funny person who has a specific sense of humor and an irresistible charm, with which he sometimes blocked the rest of the heroes of the picture.
When the series hit TV screens, Oliver landed a role in Deadline, directed by Dick Wolfe. This is a series about the life of New York journalists. Platt played here the role of the Wallace Benton Pulitzer Prize winner. A strong cast, which included celebrities Bebe Neuwirth and Hope Davis, could not pull off a bad script, and the series was canceled.
After that, Platt did not want to act in television series anymore, until he read the script for the series "The West Wing." He took part in this project, and made the right decision - for his role in it he was nominated for an Emmy for his role as White House adviser Oliver Babis.
After starring in the television series Dr. Huff, he was nominated for two awards: Emmy and Golden Globe.
And since then, directors have begun to talk about Platt as a universal actor who can play a homeless person, a workaholic, a lover of women, a misogynist, or a drug addict. He was called unpredictable, multifaceted and unique. The actor became not only recognizable - he became famous.
Success and fame came to Platt precisely with his roles in films, and he gradually left the theater, although sometimes he still appeared on Broadway. He also produced Big Night (1996) and provided voice over for several films.
Personal life
In 1992, Platt's life changed dramatically: at the First Congregational Church in Kittery Point, he married Mary Camilla Bonsal Campbell. Since then, he has given more and more energy to cinema and television, and he will explain it very simply: when you have a family that you have to take care of, you think about which activities bring more profit, and push your interests aside a little. Theater is fun and inspiring, but it doesn't pay as much as we would like.
The Platt family now lives in their home in North Haven, Maine. They have three children: daughters Lily and Claire and son George.
