Alessandro Nivola's relationship with his son Sam Nivola has improved since he dropped out of college
The 53-year-old actor has explained how his bond has grown stronger with Sam, 21, who he has with his wife Emily Mortimer, since he left education behind to focus on his own acting career
17 September 2025
Alessandro told Us Weekly: "He's been a very loyal supporter of mine. I love it.
"It's only just recently that he's sort of an adult and not living at home. Our whole relationship has changed as a result of him being out of school and having his career start.
"We can talk about work and other things like that, sort of man-to-man."
Sam found fame as Lochlan Ratliff on the third season of hit TV series The White Lotus earlier this year and Alessandro explained how the pair have been "best friends" since he dropped out of Columbia University after a single semester.
The Brutalist star said: "I much prefer this than trying to get him to go to bed on time or whatever. F*** that.
"It was really the day that I just stopped trying to convince him not to drop out of Columbia that we really started to get along - and now we're really best friends."
Meanwhile, Sam revealed last month that he was pleased not to have relied on his parents to help him find acting work.
Asked about being a "nepo baby", he told Variety: "Other than my genes, I don't think I can attribute much of my success to my parents. I feel proud that I've done it for myself, and sometimes in spite of them.
"[With my first role] I didn't get my dad's agent to call up so-and-so. I did it by myself. I didn't want to give anyone an excuse to be able to say that anything I've achieved has been because of anyone other than me. And I'm proud of that."
Although he grew up with his parents in the spotlight, Sam confessed that he was taken aback by the level of fame that The White Lotus has given him.
He said: "When The White Lotus was at its peak, I literally couldn't walk down the street in Brooklyn - my hometown - without being swarmed."
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