Biography
Nicholas David Rowland Cassavetes (born May 21, 1959) is an American actor, director, and writer. He has directed such films as She's So Lovely (1997), John Q. (2002), The Notebook (2004), Alpha Dog (2006), and My Sister's Keeper (2009). His acting credits include an uncredited role in Husbands (1970)—which was directed by his father, John Cassavetes—as well as roles in the films The Wraith (1986), Face/Off (1997), and Blow (2001).
Known For
Complete Filmography

Bad Hombres
2025
as Dr. Dean 'Growler' Graulich
Bad Hombres tells the story of two undocumented immigrants who take a job digging a hole and then learn their employers are criminals.

Marked Men: Rule + Shaw
2025
Director
Shaw Landon has loved Rule Archer from the moment she laid eyes on him. Rule, a fiery-tempered rebel tattoo artist, doesn’t have time for a good girl ...

God Is a Bullet
2023
Director, Screenplay
Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits ...

Impulse
2023
as Zane
A young journalist is pulled into the orbit of a string of murders that connects media moguls, politicians, and Hollywood elites - setting off on the ...

Impulse
2023
Executive Producer
A young journalist is pulled into the orbit of a string of murders that connects media moguls, politicians, and Hollywood elites - setting off on the ...

The Difficulties Of Being Drunk Alone
2022
Producer
A young man finds himself alone in his hotel room with a full bottle of vodka when his repressed memories begin to resurface and take control.

Prisoners of the Ghostland
2021
as Psycho
In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber is sprung from jail by wealthy warlord The Governor, whose adopted granddaugh...

Queenpins
2021
as Captain Pain
Bored and frustrated suburban homemaker Connie and her best pal JoJo, a vlogger with dreams, turn a hobby into a multi-million-dollar counterfeit coup...

Red Handed
2020
Producer, Executive Producer
When their father is murdered, three brothers descend upon an Oregon mountain river to spread his ashes. After they arrive, one of their children goes...

The Other Woman
2014
Director
After discovering her boyfriend is married, Carly soon meets the wife he's been cheating on. And when yet another affair is discovered, all three wome...

Yellow
2012
Screenplay, Director
A young substitute teacher escapes from her drudging everyday life by fantasizing about bizarre parallel realities.

The Hangover Part II
2011
as Tattoo Joe
The Hangover crew heads to Thailand for Stu's wedding. After the disaster of a bachelor party in Las Vegas last year, Stu is playing it safe with a me...

My Sister's Keeper
2009
Screenplay, Director
Sara and Brian live an idyllic life with their young son and daughter. But their family is rocked by sudden, heartbreaking news that forces them to ma...

Alpha Dog
2006
Screenplay, Director
Johnny Truelove likes to see himself as tough. He's the son of an underworld figure and a drug dealer. Johnny also likes to get tough when things don'...

The Notebook
2004
Director
An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer's. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life ...

Whatever We Do
2003
Writer
Twenty margaritas and 10 shots of tequila, with a few ounces of debauchery, bring four friends closer to the truth than they have been for years.

John Q
2002
Director
John Quincy Archibald is a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and then finds out he cannot receive a transplant because ...

Blow
2001
as Man in Derek's Salon (uncredited)
A boy named George Jung grows up in a struggling family in the 1950's. His mother nags at her husband as he is trying to make a living for the family....

Blow
2001
Screenplay
A boy named George Jung grows up in a struggling family in the 1950's. His mother nags at her husband as he is trying to make a living for the family....

The Independent
2000
as Nick Cassavetes
A notorious B-movie director tries for a comeback by seeking out the film rights to the life story of a serial killer who wants his biography film to ...

The Astronaut's Wife
1999
as Captain Alex Streck
When astronaut Spencer Armacost returns to Earth after a mission that nearly cost him his life, he decides to take a desk job in order to see his beau...

Life
1999
as Sergeant Dillard
Two men in 1930s Mississippi become friends after being sentenced to life in prison together for a crime they did not commit.

Conversations in Limbo
1998
A series of conversations in an alley behind a bar and a church.

She's So Lovely
1997
Director
After being released from a psychiatric institution, a man tries to redeem himself in the eyes of his now-ex wife from the events that led up to his i...

Face/Off
1997
as Dietrich Hassler
In order to foil a terrorist plot, an FBI agent undergoes facial transplant surgery and assumes the identity of a criminal mastermind. The plan turns ...

Farticus
1997
as Adonis Papadapadopounopoulopoulos
The story of an old man who gets the walking farts every time a beautiful woman enters the room.

Unhook the Stars
1996
Writer, Director
Widowed mother Mildred must suddenly redefine herself and find an outlet for her nurturing side when her adult daughter moves out of the family home. ...

Black Rose of Harlem
1996
as Johnny
A tragic love story set against the turbulent backdrop of the 1920's Chicago jazz clubs. Georgia, a beautiful black singer catches the eye of mobster ...

Just Like Dad
1995
as Joe
Embarrassed because he perceives his father as dull, a creative boy invents himself a new, more exciting one and finds the popularity he craves.

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
1994
as Robert Sherwood
Dorothy Parker remembers the heyday of the Algonquin Round Table, a circle of friends whose barbed wit, like hers, was fueled by alcohol and flirted w...

Class of 1999 II: The Substitute
1994
as Emmett Grazer
In the original movie, the cyborg-teachers were all destroyed. Well that's what we thought, but there's one more rogue military robot out there determ...

Sins of the Night
1993
as Jack Neitsche
Jack Nietsche is a hardened ex-con who now works for an P.I. firm, run by Ted Quincy. Quincy's ex-lover is Roxie, now wife to godfather Tony Falcone. ...

Body of Influence
1993
as Jonathan Brooks
A successful psychiatrist has his world turned upside-down by the appearance of a mystery woman who cannot recall her own past...

Sins of Desire
1993
as Barry Mitchum
When a young girl dies mysteriously after being treated at a sex therapy clinic, her sister Kay goes undercover to find out who is responsible.

Broken Trust
1993
as Alan Brogan
A young woman who inherits her late father's estate and business finds others are conspiring against her.

Twogether
1992
as Wolfgang Amadeus 'John' Madler
An artist and an environmentalist go through an up and down relationship over the years. They get married in an early fling, she gets pregnant as they...

Delta Force 3: The Killing Game
1991
as Charlie
A terrorist places an atom bomb somewhere in an American metropolis. The president of the U.S. has no other choice; he has to call Delta Force.
Healing Hurts
1991

Backstreet Dreams
1990
as Mikey
Caught in the web of inner city violence, extortion and drugs, Dean Costello is a small-time gangster with big-time dreams for himself and his autisti...

Blind Fury
1989
as Lyle Pike
A blind Vietnam vet, trained as a swordfighter, comes to America and helps to rescue the son of a fellow soldier.

Desperation Rising
1989
as Tony Sarchuzi
Angelo, a drug-pushing gang leader, has a hidden basement room called The Red Room where he keeps women for prostitution. A motivational speaker named...

Shooter
1988
as Tex
"Shooter," aka Matt Thompson aka Gruwald is a photographer in 1967 Saigon, Vietnam. Working out of a news agency for a major magazine, Thompson gets i...

Assault of the Killer Bimbos
1988
as Wayne-O
Two go-go dancers, Lulu and Peaches, are framed for the murder of their employer by the real killer, sleazy gangster Vinnie. Picking up waitress Darle...

Under the Gun
1988
as Tony Braxton
A St. Louis cop, Mike Braxton (Sam Jones), receives an urgent call for help from his brother Tony (Nick Cassavetes), a small time thief in Los Angeles...

Quiet Cool
1986
as Valence
Joe Dylanne, a tough New York City police officer, is summoned to Northern California at the behest of Katy Greer, an old flame. Katy desperately need...

The Wraith
1986
as Packard Walsh
Packard Walsh and his motorized gang control and terrorize an Arizona desert town where they force drivers to drag-race so they can 'win' their vehicl...

Black Moon Rising
1986
as Luis
An FBI free-lancer stashes a stolen Las Vegas-crime tape in a high-tech car stolen by someone else.

Mask
1985
as T.J.
A boy with a massive facial skull deformity and his biker gang mother attempt to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.

Reunion
1980
as Steve Cowan
A married man, returning to his small town for a high school reunion, finds himself torn between his long-ago high school girlfriend and her 17-year-o...

Object of Desire
N/A
A beautiful young soap opera star is stalked and terrorized by an obsessive admirer.
Exhale
N/A
as Phillip
A Native American actress with respiratory issues psychologically unravels as an airborne virus sieges the world.

Now I See You
N/A
Director
Nicole Kear, who in her a senior year at Yale received a life-changing diagnosis - she had only a few years before entirely losing her vision. Kear se...
Have You Seen Her?
N/A
Writer, Director
An international romance in the vein of The Notebook. No other plot details have been announced.
Bruno Penguin and the Staten Island Princess
N/A
Director
When a group of researchers get trapped in a facility in Antarctica during a six month period of total darkness, they begin to turn on each other.

I Slept with Joey Ramone
N/A
Director, Screenplay
Young Jeffrey Hyman from Forest Hills, Queens becomes a rock force to be reckoned with after leaving a group called Sniper in 1974 and then joining th...
Cus & Mike
N/A
Director
The story of Mike Tyson’s legendary trainer Cus D’Amato and how he moulded the fighter into becoming the youngest heavyweight title winner ever and on...