Giovanna Mezzogiorno

Giovanna Mezzogiorno was born in Rome to two actors, Vittorio Mezzogiorno and Cecilia Stacchi. After her studies in actor practice, she worked for two years in Paris in Peter Brook’s theater laboratory. Her career began in 1995, in Brook’s Qui est là, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as Ofelia.

In 1997 she made her debut in the cinema world, in the Sergio Rubini’s film Il viaggio della sposa, winning the Premio Flaiano as best female interpreter. After Michele Placido’s Del perduto amor, in 2000 and 2001 she worked for international productions alongside with John Malkovich and Gerard Depardieu, but her fame increased greatly after her part in the lucky L’ultimo bacio by Gabriele Muccino. In the latter she acted alongside Stefano Accorsi, who was to be her companion for a long period.

In 2002, in the movie Il più crudele dei giorni, she portrayed the Italian journalist Ilaria Alpi, who had been killed in Somalia in mysterious circumstances. Her role gained her a Silver Ribbon. Other numerous awards were given to her for Ferzan Ozpetek’s La finestra di fronte and Cristina Comencini’s The Beast in the Heart (2005).