Alexander Payne

Constantine Alexander Payne born February 10 1961 is an American film director and screenwriter His films are noted for their dark humor and satirical depictions of contemporary American society Payne has received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards a BAFTA Award and three Golden Globe Awards as well as a nomination for a Grammy Award After directing several short films Payne made his feature film debut with the black comedy Citizen Ruth 1996 His career progressed with the political satire Election 1999 for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the comedydrama About Schmidt 2002 Payne twice won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for cowriting his directorials Sideways 2004 and The Descendants 2011 He was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for these two films and for the road film Nebraska 2013 He has since directed Downsizing 2017 and the period film The Holdovers 2023 In a 2018 interview with Ronan Farrow actress Rose McGowan accused a prominent man in Hollywood of statutory rape but she did not name the person in question In August 2020 McGowan said it was Payne and that he committed the act sometime in 1988 or 1989 when McGowan was 15 years old and Payne was about 28 years old Payne responded to McGowans allegation by writing a guest column in Deadline Hollywood in which he admitted to a consensual relationship with her but denied any impropriety alleging that they had met in 1991 when she was over the age of consent which is 18 in California Payne ended his statement writing While I cannot allow false statements about events 29 years ago to go uncorrected I will continue to wish only the best for Rose