Monica Guerritore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Actress
- director
Roberto Zaccaria (since 2001)
Monica Guerritore | |
|---|---|
 Guerritore in 2013 | |
| Born | 5 January 1958 Rome, Italy |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Partner(s) | Gabriele Lavia (1981–2001) Roberto Zaccaria (since 2001) |
| Website | monicaguerritore |
Monica Guerritore (born 5 January 1958) is an Italian film, theatre, and television actress.
Guerritore was born in Rome to a Neapolitan father and a Calabrian mother.[1] She had her first small part in Vittorio De Sica's Una breve vacanza, at the early age of 13.[2] After her official debut at just sixteen years of age under the direction of Giorgio Strehler in The Cherry Orchard,[2] she tied herself romantically and artistically to film and theatre director Gabriele Lavia,[3] acting in his theatrical performances mostly strong female characters like Jocasta, Lady Macbeth and Ophelia.[4] Miss Julie in Strindberg's drama. The couple separated in 2001, during the rehearsals of Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage in which she played Marianne. Guerritore continued her work with other directors, like Giancarlo Sepe, in Madame Bovary,[5] Carmen,[6] and The Lady of the Camellias.[4][7]
Beside the stage career, Guerritore works on television and film, starting in 1976 along Marcello Mastroianni in Signore e signori, buonanotte.[8] In 1977, she plays the title role in first RAI colour TV play Manon Lescaut;[9][10] significant performances were in Salvatore Samperi's The Dark Side of Love (1985) and in Mauro Bolognini's The Venetian Woman (1986).[11][12] She stayed far away from television for 17 years and came back on screen RAI in 1997 with the title role in Costanza,[13] and in 1999 in Mario Caiano's L'amore oltre la vita.[14] In 2004, she played Ambra Leonardi in Amanti e segreti, and in 2006 she played Ada Sereni in Gianluigi Calderone's Exodus.[15]
Lavia directed her in many movies, often erotically toned, including Scandalous Gilda (1985), Evil Senses (1986) and a Sicilian film by Giovanni Verga, La lupa (1996). In theatre, she also wrote and directed Giovanna d'Arco[16] (2004–2006), and Dall'Inferno all'Infinito (2008).[citation needed] In 2007, she played a part in Ferzan Özpetek's A Perfect Day (Un giorno perfetto), and in 2008 she took part to Ivano De Matteo's La bella gente.[17] She has performed Saint Monica in Christian Duguay's Sant'Agostino.[18]
Guerritore portrayed Anna Di Gastoni in the 2018 film My Big Gay Italian Wedding.[19][20] In 2024, she starred as Gabriella de Rosa in the Netflix Italian series Deceitful Love.[21][22] Guerritore's first feature film as a director, Anna, about Anna Magnani premiered at the Rome Film Festival on 9 October 2025, and was released in Italy on 6 November 2025.[23][24]
