I’m not sure why I have such warm and fuzzy feelings about British actor Alfred Molina, but I do! He started out on stage and then went on to add TV and film, and MANY of those productions have been historical! He’s won NUMEROUS awards, and been nominated for many more, including BAFTA, Emmy, Tony, and Golden Globe. Let’s run down his frock flicks resume!
There are two productions for which I can’t find pics:
- ? in The Song of the Shirt (1979)
- Young Christos (uncredited) in Eleni (1985)
Satipo in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Molina plays Indy’s local guide in the adventure classic.
Blumkin in Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983)
A TV miniseries about a World War I-era spy.
Cezar in Ladyhawke (1985)
He plays the wolf trapper in this allegedly-13th-century-set romance.
Avanti in Manifesto (1988)
In the 1920s, “revolutionaries to assassinate an autocratic central European monarch, and the inept police state that tries to find and stop them” per Wikipedia.
Oliver Syme in American Friends (1991)
Set in 1861 and starring Michael Palin, it’s based on a true story about one of Palin’s ancestors — an Oxford professor whose life gets more complicated after meeting an American mother and daughter.
Mellersh Wilkins in Enchanted April (1991)
Okay, one of the reasons for my Molina soft spot is his turn as the cantankerous husband of a woman who finds herself in Italy in the 1920s. He’s hilarious!
Carmona in Ashenden (1991)
A British TV miniseries based on a 1927 novel.
Rev. Leland Drury in White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf (1994)
A sequel to the Jack London story set in the late-19th-century Alaska gold rush.
Angel in Maverick (1994)
Molina plays the baddie (an “ill-tempered gambler”) in this Western comedy starring Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster.
Trading Post Missionary in Dead Man (1995)
An arty Western starring Johnny Depp.
Levin in Anna Karenina (1997)
Aw, this is my other soft-spot Molina role! He’s SO sweet as Levin, the B-story romantic who’s in love with the beautiful Kitty.
Emile Taquet (segment “Marie Taquet”) in Rescuers: Stories of Courage: “Two Couples” (1998)
“Amid the turmoil of World War II, two European couples make risky sacrifices to help Jewish refugees” per Google.
Burtom in The Impostors (1998)
In 1938, two swindler actors are forced to stow away on an ocean liner. Molina plays a “dreadful” Shakespearean actor.
Comte de Reynaud in Chocolat (2000)
A chocolatière in 1959 village France; Molina plays the town mayor.
Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express (2001)
A one-off TV adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel.
John King Fisher in Texas Rangers (2001)
A Western set in the post-Civil War era. Fisher was a real-life gunslinger and vigilante.
Diego Rivera in Frida (2002)
Molina plays the legendary Mexican artist and husband of artist Frida Kahlo.
John Tetzel in Luther (2003)
A feature film about religious reformer Martin Luther; Tetzel was a real-life friar who in the film sells papal indulgences.
Touchstone in As You Like It (2006)
The not-very-successful on several levels Kenneth Branagh Shakespeare-adaptation, set in Meiji-era Japan.
Davide Rieti in The Moon and the Stars (2007)
Set in Rome during World War II, a group of filmmakers are making a movie adaptation of Tosca (the Puccini opera).
Baldabiou in Silk (2007)
An apparently terrible film about the jilted wife of a French silkworm trader.
Jack in An Education (2009)
Molina plays a strict father of a teenage girl, who he’s randomly happy about dating a solidly older man.
Sheik Amar in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
An action fantasy film based on a video game.
Stephano in The Tempest (2010)
An artsy feature film adaptation of the Shakespeare play.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Drunk History (2013-19)
Molina plays the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories in one episode of this comedy series.
Harold Lindsay-Jones in Close to the Enemy (2016)
Set just after World War II, “A British intelligence officer has to ensure that a captured German scientist helps the British develop jet aircraft” (IMDB).
James Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night: Live (2017)
A filmed staged production of the Eugene O’Neill play.
Robert Aldrich in Feud (2017)
Molina played the director of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane in this season that focused on Joan Crawford and Bette Davis.
What’s your favorite of Alfred Molina’s historical roles?
Easy peasy! His Enchanted April role. He is fantastic in that film (one I can watch over and over for the sweet story-line, the delicious costumes and sets and the very talented cast), though I have not seen all of his performances listed. I am intrigued by The Imposters and will look for that one.
That nose! I like a good nose on a man (or a woman).
Missing from list Prick Up Your Ears. Set in London in the 60s. Biopic of playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) and his partner Kenneth Halliwell. Pretty dark
How could one possibly choose a favourite Alfred Molina role? They’re all deeply, deeply entertaining because the man has immense range and truly believes in giving the audience their money’s worth.
Also, I remain deeply amused and charmed that Ms Bryce Dallas Howard and Ms Romola Garai teamed up on AS YOU LIKE IT (with BRIAN BLESSED to boot).
Sir Kenneth Branagh really does know how to pick his casts, eh?
Mellersh for the win. I adore “Enchanted April.” He does clean up well, lol. The difference between his traitorous guide in “Raiders” and the slick film maker in “The Moon and the Stars” – night and day. Not to mention “Chocolat,” love that film overall. Molina is not exactly a chameleon, but his Diego Rivera in “Frida” could have passed for the real deal. I’m still thankful it was Salma Hayak who got the film made and not the can’t act her way out of an envelope Material Girl.
He went on the Bechdel Cast podcast and seemed really sweet and funny and kind about their fangirling over him.
He’s one of those actors who just raises the level of any role he’s given. He can do sweet, boorish, complex, or simple. One of our great character actors.
2001’s “Murder on the Orient Express” was set in the present – 2000-2001. However, I enjoyed it anyway. And I thought Molina made a great Poirot.
Prick up Your Ears is missing. He plays Joe Orton’s lover who murders him. The film is set during the 1960s.