Sergio Castellitto was born in Rome in 1953. After graduating from the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Art in 1978, he began his theatrical career in Italian public theater with "Shakespeare's Measure for Measure" at the Teatro di Roma and with roles in other plays such as "La Madre by Brecht", "Merchant of Venice", and "Candelaio" by Giordano Bruno. At the Teatro di Genova he starred in the roles of Tuzenbach in "Chekhov's Three Sisters" and "Jean in Strindberg's Miss Julie", both under the direction of Otomar Krejka. In the coming years, he also starred in such theatrical productions as "L'infelicità senza desideri" and "Piccoli equivoci" at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto. He also appeared in "Barefoot in the Park" by Neil Simon. During his years in the theatre, he worked alongside many famous actors, including Luigi Squarzina, Aldo Trionfo, and Enzo Muzii. Castellitto began his film career in 1983 beside Marcello Mastroianni and Michel Piccoli in "The General of the Dead Army" by Luciano Tovoli. He interpreted many films like "Sembra morto...ma è solo svenuto" directed by Felice Farina, "Piccoli equivoci" by Ricky Tognazzi and "Stasera a casa di Alice" by Carlo Verdone. He became more famous with the films "The Great Pumpkin" by Francesca Archibugi and "The Star Maker" by Giuseppe Tornatore. In the late 1980s, Castellitto appeared in several Italian television miniseries, including "Un siciliano in Sicilia" , where it was not well received by much of the English speaking press. Most recently, Castellitto appeared in the television series "In Treatment" in the role of Giovanni. Castellitto is married to Margaret Mazzantini with four children.
He and his wife have 4 children: Pietro , Maria , Anna and Cesare (b. summer 2006).
Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian was the first film in which he played a villain.
(April 2008) On location in Dubai, Los Angeles and St. Petersburg, Russia, filming the upcoming project "Italians," a comedy written and directed by Giovanni Veronesi in which he will co-star with Riccardo Scamarcio.
Objectively speaking, the crisis is only too real. We are all tragic,optimists. Europe is not united by its economy but rather by its,culture, its diversity and culture. But times have changed and we are,having problems relaunching cinema as a popular art. However we have,seen a number of positive signs and personally, I welcomed the success,of a film like that by Marco Bellocchio as an exceptional event. -,Speaking about the problems of European Cinema at European Film Awards,2002.
Well, actually I started directing in theatre a few years ago, and I,always appreciated my job as an actor, as a craftsman, it seemed to me,quite natural to "build" a film altogether. - On what led you to make,the giant leap from actor to director?.
