Alex Emanuel is a professional theatre, film and tv actor, producer, filmmaker, writer and director, as well as a former touring/recording rock musician and visual artist. He was born in the Little Italy area of NYC to artist parents and alternated time growing up between there and Western MA. Alex earned a degree at Skidmore College in Fine Art and trained as an actor in NY and in Chicago. He’s a member of SAG-AFTRA and AEA, and has worked regionally, on all three coasts, in the UK and in Eastern Europe.
Alex’s feature film work include roles in THE INCOHERENTS, which he also produced and scored, Inside the Rain, When Everything’s Gone, The Luring, Stealing Chanel, Orgami, Black Wake, Keep the Change, 39 and 1/2, Juvie, Uncaged, Blowtorch, Trooper, Buster, Together, 2 Wks 1 Yr, Brother 2 among other films. He’s also appeared in a plethora of acclaimed short films over the years.
His TV credits include roles on Succession, Public Morals, Bronx SIU, 50 Central, Blue Bloods, House of Cards, Rescue Me, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Hack, Sex and the City, As the World Turns, All My Children, The Other F Word and The Whitest Kids You Know among other shows.
Alex has acted in more than his share of short films as well, many of which have garnered awards at festivals, and also appeared in many music videos and commercials. You can view more of Alex’s film and tv work at imdb
He’s worked extensively in the Theatre as well, in, among other plays, the premieres of Stew (TONY award winning Passing Strange on Broadway)’s new rock musical Family Album at OSF in Oregon, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (in which he portrayed “Deckard” in the critically acclaimed stage version of the book Bladerunner was based on) in NY, Jeff Marx (Avenue Q) and Fat Mike (NOFX)’s new punk rock musical Home Street Home at ZSpace in San Francisco, Disappeared at the Steppenwolf Theatre, Fringe of Humanity by Paul Calderon and starring David Zayas, Possible Worlds, Eagle River and others in Chicago, Harakiri Kane, Pucker Up and Blow (directed by Casting Director Paul Schnee) for the NY Fringe, Open the Dark Door, To Barcelona, Shekinah, Count Down, Live Coverage, Broken Shadows and productions of Secrets of Freud and Jung, The Years, Three Days of Rain, The Killing Game and The Dreamer Examines His Pillow.
When not acting, Alex devotes a good portion of his time writing and looking for projects for his start-up production company STARNA PRODUCTIONS. Starna, along with Loaded Barrel Studios and Roanan Jean Productions produced the award-winning rock ‘n’ roll comedy feature The Incoherents, in which Alex starred in, is a producer of, and wrote original music for. The film finished principal photography in May 2017, hit the festival circuit in 2019, during which it won 4 Best Picture awards, a Best Homegrown Feature award, one for Best of Fest overall, and was nominated for Best Feature and Best Comedy at the fests it didn’t win. The Incoherents was picked up for distribution by Gravitas Ventures and released in April 2020, and is now being adapted for a TV show by Alex and his co-producer, the writer of the film, Jeff Auer. Also on the docket is a documentary Alex is working on about his father, the celebrated cartoonist/illustrator ROBERT GROSSMAN, who passed away in 2018, and a noir feature film titled The Fleshwriter, written by award winning author Michael Gruber.
Alex recently completed an album of 15 songs entitled Better Light that he’s presently shopping to labels, and his short play “Hallucy” was read recently at Naked Angels in NYC. He’s presently working on a new play, “Come and Knock Down My Door”. In the past, Alex has also worked as a published illustrator (clients include The New York Times and other publications), a record album producer and art director for “Occupy this Album”, the 4-disc, 99 song collection benefiting the Occupy Movement, acting coach, welder, freelance writer and professional musician. He’s written music for, toured, recorded, played bass, guitar and sung with numerous rock bands, including his own former bands Permission, Rollo, Transit Belle, Hygiene, Lucan, Rodan and Rang, plus OSFU, The Navigators, Edison Woods, The Swedes, Brilliantine, Pen Pal, Chavez, Sammy, The Subway Sun, Under Nation, The Gallenas and others, with a few of his songs having been licensed for TV and films. You can hear more of Alex’s music at alexemanuel.bandcamp.com
AWARDS (partial list)
Winner -Best Supporting Actor, “Just in Time”, Indie Short Film Festival, LA, 2024
Winner -Best Actor, “Someone’s on the Other Line”, NYCIFF, 2021
Winner -Best Supporting Actor, “Just in Time”, Global Film Festival Awards, LA, 2020
Winner -Best Supporting Actor, “Just in Time”, The Actors Awards, LA, 2019
Winner -Best Feature Film, “The Incoherents”, The Studio City Film Festival, 2019
Winner -Best Feature Film, “The Incoherents”, Coney Island Film Festival, 2019
Winner -Best Feature Film, “The Incoherents”, The Mystic Film Festival, 2019
Winner -Best Feature Film, “The Incoherents”, Coney Island Film Festival, 2019
Winner -Best Acting Ensemble, “Just in Time”, Independent Short Awards, 2019
Winner -Best Acting Ensemble, “Just in Time”, Los Angeles Film Awards, 2019
Winner -Best Acting Ensemble, “Just in Time”, Oniros Film Awards, 2019
Winner -Best Feature Film, “The Incoherents”, Jukebox International Film Festival, 2019
Nominee -Best Showcase Feature Film, “The Incoherents”, SOHO International Film Festival, 2019
Winner -Best Home Grown Feature Film, “The Incoherents”, The Garden State Film Festival, 2019
Nominee -Best Comedy Feature Film, “The Incoherents”, The Queens World Festival, 2019
Nominee -Best Acting Ensemble, “Harvey Wallbanger”, The Actors Awards, LA, 2019
Nominee -Best Actor, “Rooster and the Queen”, Festival of Cinema, NYC, 2018
Nominee -Best Actor, “Hungry”, The Idyllwild International Film Festival, 2017
Winner -Craft Award for Excellence in Acting, “Shall we Dance”, The NYU Film Festival, 1992
Winner -The Eugene O’Neill Award for Acting, Northampton H.S, 1984
REVIEWS
“the excellent Alex Emanuel”– Chicago Tribune
“the charismatic Alex Emanuel”– blogcritics.org
“Alex Emanuel’s unassuming good looks recall the gruff soulfulness of Harrison Ford”– Backstage
“(Alex) Emanuel strikes a perfect balance between caution, and the yearning to be human – in an inhuman time” -take2indiereview
“TV veteran Alex Emanuel brings some class and gravitas to his role” -screencritix.com
“As Lenny, Alex Emanuel steals the show, his delivery getting many well-earned laughs. Even when Lenny reads the Times review of his performance, it’s pitch-perfect funny”– theasy.com
“As played by Alex Emanuel, Harry is in the grand tradition of poetic palookas from Wallace Beery onward, and his stubbled, square-jawed countenance and scuffed, haggard grandeur make him a Haspiel cartoon come to life, in a brutally sensitive performance that’s staggering in more than one sense”–hilobrow.com
“Alex Emanuel as Ryan was charming as the forlorn actor in the position of continuously losing his role. His panic attack styled earnestness was really endearing. He formed a fabulous double act with “Steve” as they provided some of the comedic moments” -nytheatreguide.com
“the wonderful Alex Emanuel”– Chicago Sun Times
“Alex Emanuel plays Deckard with a cold, hard soul that slowly warms and melts”– nytheatre.com
“Alex Emanuel performs with conviction, believability, gusto”– Theatreonline
“Alex Emanuel as the protagonist, is perfect”– theasy.com
“Alex Emanuel is a Sam Rockwell type”–Mikie Heilbrun, Casting Director
“Alex Emanuel’s hard boiled performance suits the play”– NY Times
“Alex Emanuel navigate(s) the lovers’ confusion with charming ingenuousness”– Chicago Reader
“intensely played by Alex Emanuel”– NY Theatrewire
“Alex Emanuel is hilarious”– nytheatre.com
“nicely rendered by Alex Emanuel”– oobr.com
“Better Light is, at its heart, a shot of defiance in the face of all the crazy we have found ourselves confronting over the past few years. (Alex) Emanuel has put together a sonic stew, the heart of which is driven by a reverb drenched ’65 Guild Polara laying down fuzzed out lyrical riffs that bring to mind bands like Teenage Fanclub, Luna, and Sebadoh. (He is) clearly a guy who attended Rock and Roll High School, and he learned his lessons well”– Boog City
“Alex Emanuel brought fire to “Dark Sex,” a song that features the great lyric “I’ll have some very dark sex with you and never see you again”– theatermania.com
“Rock! Right off the bat. Sounds like an old school British punk rock band with a contemporary mix to it, but that’s in a great way that I mean it. Heres a bold reminder that there is hope in the myriad of mundane music that’s out there. Alex Emanuel’s vocals are cool in the style of Bob Pollard, Jeremy Enick, and that dude from the Libertines”– Storylinerecords.com
“Alex Emanuel’s delivery adds to the charm; an almost Buck Cherry, Cobain vocal style. Angsty energy drive the (material) along without any whine”– gildthelilly
“Alex Emanuel hits it right on the head. This here is some volatile punk-infused rock… Hopefully the whole world will get turned on to (his band) just before they explode into Rock ‘N F’ N’ Roll oblivion of amphetamines and Tidy Bowl”– hybrid news
“Alex (Emanuel)’s voice has the distinctive rasp of cuddle-boy pipes being pushed past the max; totally fierce”– LES Music News
“Alex Emanuel’s vocals (are) equal parts gutter beg and glamour scoff. Ex Recess, is perhaps the most compelling moment of the night, a song filled with big, hopeful chords and refrains, but with lyrics that highlight some of Emanuel’s more caustic insights into human relationships”– 10×10 Magazine, Chicago
“Alex Emanuel isn’t going to bother with ostentatious rock lyric posturing, and actually say what he means. He even goes a little Tom Verlaine-esque at times”– motherwest.com/the deli
“Alex Emanuel fronts a four piece from NYC that sound nothing like the garage-rock, cookie cutter, strokes-esque, thing that’s going on in the city right now. The female backup and alternating vocals make it sound like cindy lauper singing behind mick jagger or joe strummer. Two thumbs up for originality”– HV Scene
“Rollo’s fist-in-the-eye brand of rock… raw, garage, punk rock, heavy on the 70’s style but with a modern slant. Alex Emanuel’s unique, raspy snarl perfectly fits the mood”– splendidezine
“with Alex (Emanuel)’s rockin’ vocals, his four piece Rollo sound fun as hell… like a good party band for one sex and drug fueled night out on the town. Beers/shots all around my friends!”– crashinin.com
“Satisfying… (Alex Emanuel) deserves it. Very r’n’r in a Jon Spencer BE kind of way”– the deli
“(Alex Emanuel) is great! One of the better cds I’ve heard in a while”– fata booking
“the new wave blues explosions of Alex Emanuel and Rollo”– ny press
“you can hear the influences, however subtle, of old glam rock, garage rock, even a tinge of the grunge thing, but this band is first and foremost about writing good songs, plugging in, and playing them loud. And as such, there’s a rawness that pervades, that in-your-gut attack one gets from a power trio. (Alex Emanuel’s) vocals are of the emotional type, as if (he) actually believes the lyrics (he’s) singing… how often does that happen nowadays?”– ny rock street beat
“(Alex Emanuel and Transit Belle’s) melody-and-guitar mix recalls Dinosaur Jr., Squirrel Bait and Soul Asylum…they sound extremely serious in their intentions”– village voice choices
“Cette musique est SEXUELLE & ELECTRIQUE. Alex Emanuel et Permission c’est l’ulcère. Ils attaquent langoureusement le bide à la perceuse. Cest si doux! Normal, tout le monde est bourré. La liqueur fait son effet. On danse sur les tables, et on recommande une tournée. Permission: le meilleur groupe de Rock & Roll de 2005”– DJ NIC (a.k.a Nicolas RICHARD), Chronique parue dans Le Son de Paris
“Actors Alex Emanuel and Jeff Auer—both accomplished musicians in their own right—wrote and perform the band’s songs. A great song—or songs—can sell a film… and THE INCOHERENTS brings the tunes to the turntable”– bandsaboutmovies.com
“an enjoyable ride powered by the band’s grunge rock sound. All their songs were written by Jeff Auer and Alex Emanuel”– thesavvyscreener.com
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