Giovanna Mezzogiorno

Giovanna Mezzogiorno (; born 9 November 1974) is an Italian theatre and film actress. Early life Mezzogiorno was born in Rome, 9 November 1974, a daughter of actors Vittorio Mezzogiorno and Cecilia Sacchi. She grew up watching her parents on set. At first, she wanted to become a ballerina, and she studied dancing for 13 years. After her father's death when she was 19, Mezzogiorno moved to Paris, where she attended the stages by Arianne Mnouchkine and worked for two years at the Peter Brook Workshop. She made her stage debut with the role of Ofelia in Qui est là, based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The play toured various European cities. She received the Premio Coppola-Prati 1996, the jury was presided over by theatre critic Franco Quadri. One year later, she made her film debut in Il viaggio della sposa (The Bride's Journey), written by and starring Sergio Rubini. Mezzogiorno was awarded the Targa d'Argento as the New Talent in Italian Cinema, she was also given the Grolla d'oro, and the Globo d'Oro by the Foreign Press Association and the Premio Flaiano as Best Actress of the 1997 - 1998 season. Career In 1998, Mezzogiorno starred in the film Del perduto amore directed by Michele Placido, with Fabrizio Bentivoglio and Sergio Rubini (she was awarded the Nastro d'Argento, the Ciak d'Oro and Premio Pasinetti as best actress in a starring role) and, for the Italian National Television Network RaiDue, in a film made-for-TV Più leggero non basta ("A lighter burden to bear") in the role of a young girl with muscular dystrophy, directed by Elisabetta Lodoli with Stefano Accorsi.