Charles Randolph

Screenwriter Charles Randolph was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He worked for years as a professor of philosophy and cultural studies for years before transitioning to a career in entertainment. At the age of 33, Randolph was visiting Los Angeles for a weekend of lectures he was giving at the University of Southern California. By happenstance, Randolph made the acquaintance of an employee of The Farrelly brothers, who encouraged Randolph to attempt screenwriting. Randolph's first project was an untitled television project in 2001. In 2003 he wrote "The Life of David Gale," starring Kevin Spacey as David Gale, an anti-capital punishment activist sentenced to death for killing a fellow activist. Randolph wrote "The Interpreter" (2005), starring Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn and Catherine Keener. Randolph followed up this effort with "Tenderness" in 2009, and "Love and Other Drugs" in 2010. The latter movie starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. In 2013 Randolph acted as writer and executive producer for the television movie "The Missionary" (2013), starring Benjamin Walker. Randolph was one of the co-writers for "The Big Short" (2015), the Adam McKay-directed feature about the subprime mortgage crisis based on the bestseller by Michael Lewis. For his work on the film Randolph was nominated for the Golden Globe for Award for Best Screenplay, and won both the BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.