Incredibly talented, charming and charismatic, the newest generation of Italian actors are conquering the cinema arts world. This new crop of Italian actors are not just film actors like those of the “dolce vita” era, but also taking the steaming screens by storm. Meet some of these rising stars, beloved by Italian audiences and beyond.
Pietro Castellitto
“I’m an author more than an actor: acting for me is a holiday!” says Pietro Castellitto. Pietro grew up loving the movies of Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg. He is the winner of the 2020 Venice Film Festival Horizons Prize for best original screenplay for the film I Predatori. With a degree in philosophy at the Sapienza University of Rome, Pietro is the unconventional son born into a family of artists. His beautiful fiancée is the talented Matilda De Angelis featured in the HBO miniseries The Undoing. At 32 years old, Pietro is already an acclaimed actor and writer. Don’t miss him acting on the SKY Italia TV series Speravo de morì prima.
Saul Nanni
Born in Bologna to doctor parents, Saul began his acting career at age fifteen in Italian Disney Channel’s “Alex & Co.” sitcom. He spent time in the United States with the goal to study acting and improve his English. While some may call him a young Leo Di Caprio, he earned that reputation after starring alongside Kim Rossi Stewart in the Italian film Brado (2022). To prepare himself for this film he learned to ride horses and acquired a license to climb buildings, playing the role of a construction worker. In addition to his tenacity, his good looks have made him the face of companies like Giorgio Armani that chose him as the leading man for the Acqua di Giò perfume campaign.
Lorenzo Zurzolo
Lorenzo Zurzolo has been acting since he was seven years old. At age nine he earned fame from a Vodafone advertisement next to soccer legend, Francesco Totti. His breakout role has been in the Netflix Italy cult series Baby, based on a true story, where Lorenzo plays the protagonist’s brother. Describing the impact of that series, he has declared to Vanity Fair Italia, “I realized my success on Instagram: starting from almost 10,000 followers, I reached 200,000 during the week the series came out in Italy!” He was also the winner of the 2021 Nastri d'Argento Persol Award for Character of the Year for his role in the film Morrison.
Mattia Carrano
There is nothing like an Italian mother advocating for her child. Mattia’s career in entertainment was catapulted and changed once his mother sent his picture to a friend who was also a film agent. Mattia Carrano is also fond of athletics and a sportsman. When he was 11 won two gold medals in Korean martial arts but was forced to quit after an injury. He decided to set his sights on acting. Mattia is the leading actor of Prisma, Ludovico Bessegato’s cult series on Italian Prime Video, where he plays the role of teen twins dealing with gender-fluid identity in a small suburban town.
Massimiliano Caiazzo
Born in Vico Equense outside of Naples, Massimiliano Caiazzo is already a social media sensation with 1.4 million followers on Instagram. He currently stars as the lead character in a RAI TV series called Mare Fuori. Massimiliano’s rapidly growing career landed him as one of the 10 Italian Young Talents by Officine Lab at the Venice Film Festival.
Barbara Benzoni
Barbara Benzoni was born in Milan and lives between Rome and Tuscany. She is devoted to USA, the land of courage and innovation. She’s Peter's super-lucky mum and Ale's wife. Cinema, art, good food and only beautiful things are the themes of her existence. With a degree in Italian literature and a Masters in Sports Management she can both enjoys books and basketball matches. In 25 years she has been organizing sport events all over the world and she’s been lucky enough to meet the greatest champs ever. Curiosity in everyday life and people are her drivers. Her personal icon is Mohammed Ali : "It's not bragging if you can back it up".