News Staff Reporter
Choate Alum Paul Giamatti ‘85 recently played Chief Inspect Uhl in “The Illusionist” alongside Edward Norton and Jessica Biel. He also played Cleveland Heep in “Lady in the Water” and the voice of Stan Biels in “The Ant Bully.” Paul Zaloom ‘70, the Choate graduate who recently performed Beakman Live at the PMAC after starring in the TV series Beakman’s World (1993-1998), has acted in and written the screenplay for “In Smog and Thunder” (2003) and “Dante’s Inferno” (2006), for which he was also producer and chief puppeteer. Choate alum and faculty child Tom Dey ‘83 has made his career directing, with “Failure to Launch” (2006), “Shanghai Noon” (2000), and “Showtime” (2002).
Paul Giamatti was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and graduated with an English degree from Yale (where his father A. Bartlett Giamatti was the youngest president) and later received his Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from the Yale University School of Drama. His highlight roles include Miles in “Sideways” (2004), Joe Gould in “Cinderella Man” (2005), and Marty Wolf in “Big Fat Liar” (2002). Look for him as Santa Claus in “Fred Claus” to hit theaters in 2007 (also starring Vince Vaughn).
Paul Zaloom, born in Brooklyn, New York, worked for thirty years with The Bread and Puppet Theater in Vermont before moving to Los Angeles, where he continues to work from his passion for theater and film. In his youth, Zaloom had a fascination with object manipulation and often treated inanimate objects as living beings. His performances often carry important political messages.
Tom Dey was a member of the Arts Concentration Program at Choate and attended Brown University in 1987. He went on to study film in Paris at the Centre des Etudes Critiques. In 1990, he moved to Los Angeles and attended the American Film Institute, graduating in 1993.
Although since “Sideways” Giamatti has gotten some “more interesting” roles, he prefers to be a supporting actor and doesn’t look for fame. Unlike many actors today, he doesn’t stress what others think of his appearance. According to one periodical, “You are absolutely free to describe me as a turtle or something. Seriously. When you profile someone, there has to be a narrative, and my narrative just happens to be ‘Who is he?’, ‘Oh, he’s that guy,’ and ‘He looks like a squid!’ Sideways doesn’t change that. Honestly, I never wanted to be more than a good supporting actor. Really, I enjoy it.”
Many other great actors have emerged from the Arts Department at Choate. The renowned Jamie Lee Curtis was a Choate Rosemary Hall graduate. Michael Douglas, a Choate graduate, costarred with Glenn Close, a Rosemary Hall graduate, in “Fatal Attraction” (1987). Douglas (father Kirk Douglas, wife Catherine Zeta-Jones) can also be seen in “You, Me, and Dupree” (2006). Close has won three Tony Awards for her work on Broadway and is currently filming “Evening” (2007). Close showed her compassion and concern for modern film, saying, “It’s gotten out of control. It’s taking bigger and bigger names to make smaller and smaller films. I worry that important films without a big name attached won’t get made at all.”
