--- name: "Giancarlo Giannini" canonical: "https://film.one/person/giancarlo-giannini" fi1m_id: "giancarlo-giannini" imdb_id: "nm0316284" tmdb_id: 3753 wikidata_id: "Q315258" roles: ["Actor"] born: "1 August 1942" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 66 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-10-05T02:14:51.693015+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Giancarlo Giannini ## Identity Giancarlo Giannini - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/giancarlo-giannini - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** giancarlo-giannini - **IMDb ID:** nm0316284 - **TMDB ID:** 3753 - **Wikidata ID:** Q315258 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giancarlo_Giannini, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q315258, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0316284/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3753 Actor. Born 1 August 1942 in La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 1 August 1942, La Spezia, Liguria, Italy - **Active:** 2001–2008 - **Also known as:** John Charlie Johns, جانکارلو جانینی - **Frequently works with:** [Barbara Broccoli](https://film.one/person/barbara-broccoli.md), [Daniel Craig](https://film.one/person/daniel-craig.md), [Judi Dench](https://film.one/person/judi-dench.md), [Michael G. Wilson](https://film.one/person/michael-g-wilson.md), [Neal Purvis](https://film.one/person/neal-purvis.md), [Paul Haggis](https://film.one/person/paul-haggis.md), [Robert Wade](https://film.one/person/robert-wade.md) - **Cannes Film Festival:** 1 Cannes prize (1 won) - **Average Fi1m score:** 66, as actor, over 3 titles - **Fi1m against the critics:** 66 to 61 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 2 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Thriller 3, Action 2, Adventure 2, Crime 1, Drama 1 - **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $1,540m across 3 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giancarlo_Giannini, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q315258, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0316284/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3753 ## Streaming the US now - **Apple TV:** [*Quantum of Solace*](https://film.one/film/quantum-of-solace.md) (58) - **Disney+:** [*Hannibal*](https://film.one/film/hannibal.md) (54) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Giancarlo Giannini > Giannini's eyes did the talking in Lina Wertmüller's 1970s films, where he was funny and desperate in the same scene; the English-language supporting parts since, including Bond's friend Mathis, use a fraction of him, and he gives that fraction generously. Giancarlo Giannini acts with his eyes first. Most of what his face does begins there, a widening or a flicker of calculation, and the rest follows a beat later, so that in close-up you watch a man deciding before you watch him act. It was Lina Wertmüller who saw what that could do, and she filmed him from close enough to catch it for the best part of a decade. The career before her was ordinary enough: stage work in the early 1960s including productions for Zeffirelli, David Copperfield on television in 1965, a film debut the same year in *Libido*. Then Wertmüller in 1966, and nine films together. The run that matters is the 1970s: *The Seduction of Mimi* (1972), *Love and Anarchy* (1973), *Swept Away* (1974) opposite Mariangela Melato, *Seven Beauties* (1975). In these he is her flawed everyman, a man who is funny and pathetic in the same scene and sometimes in the same sentence. He has said "Lina Wertmüller è stata la mia vera maestra", that she was his true teacher, and it is not the sort of thing an actor says about a director who merely photographed him well. He also had, and has, the ear. He moves between Italian dialects and between languages, and that is what made the second career possible: supporting parts in English-language films, where a European actor with real command of the language is rarer than it should be, and he has stayed working into the 2020s. For most British viewers that second career means Mathis. In *Casino Royale* (2006) we did not think to single him out, which tells you the size of the part rather than the quality of the man; the film belonged to Craig and Eva Green and Martin Campbell's action, and Mathis is at the edge of the frame. *Quantum of Solace* (2008) is where he counts. We were bored by that film and then irritated by it, and the few scenes between Craig and Giannini were the only ones we wanted to go on longer. Craig's Bond has stopped moving his face; Giannini's Mathis keeps moving his, and talks to him as a friend rather than an asset, and it is the nearest the film comes to warmth. That is the shape of it. The Wertmüller films are where the eyes and the dialects and the comedy are all in use at once; the English-language parts use a fraction of him. Critics have been kind almost without exception, and the only reservation on record is that some of the 1970s films were received with less enthusiasm at home than abroad, *Swept Away* among them. If you know him only from the Bond films, you have met him at half volume. Go back to the seventies and turn him up. ## Biography Giancarlo Giannini is an Italian actor. Born on 1 August 1942 in La Spezia, he trained at the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico in Rome and began his career on stage in productions directed by Franco Zeffirelli. He rose to prominence through a series of collaborations with director Lina Wertmüller, including *The Seduction of Mimi* (1972), *Love and Anarchy* (1973), *Swept Away* (1974) and *Seven Beauties* (1975). The last of these earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor; he had previously won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for *Love and Anarchy*. He is a multiple recipient of the David di Donatello Award for Best Actor. Giannini has appeared in international productions such as *New York Stories* (1989), *A Walk in the Clouds* (1995), *Hannibal* (2001), *Man on Fire* (2004), *Casino Royale* (2006) and *Quantum of Solace* (2008). He is also a noted voice artist, providing the Italian dub for Al Pacino in numerous films. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *Quantum of Solace* (2008), Fi1m 58, as Mathis — [page](https://film.one/film/quantum-of-solace.md) - *Casino Royale* (2006), Fi1m 86, as Mathis — [page](https://film.one/film/casino-royale.md) - *Hannibal* (2001), Fi1m 54, as Insp. Renaldo Pazzi — [page](https://film.one/film/hannibal.md) ## Complete filmography (187) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Tradita* (2026), as Nicandro - *Tonight in Turin* (2025), as Fred Buscaglione - *Baracoa* (2025), Actor - *Un viaggio per incontrare Mimì* (2025), Actor - *Judas' Gospel* (2025), as narrator (voice) - *Albatross* (2025), as Vito - *Mauro Corona - La mia vita finché capita* (2025), as Sé stesso - *Rise of the Raven* (2025), series, as Pope Eugene IV. - *Tonight in Rome* (2024), as Ospite - *Cabrini* (2024), as Pope Leo XIII - *Tonight in Paris* (2023), as commissario Maigret - *Senza malizia* (2023), Actor - *Book Club: The Next Chapter* (2023), as Police Chief - *Tonight in Milan* (2022), as Alessandro Manzoni - *The Great Game* (2022), series, as Dino De Gregorio - *Duetto* (2022), as Gino - *Buon Lavoro* (2022), Actor - *Stanotte a Napoli* (2021), as Carlo (VII) di Napoli - *I fratelli De Filippo* (2021), as Eduardo Scarpetta - *Gianni Schicchi* (2021), as Buoso Donati - *Vitti d'arte, Vitti d'amore* (2021), as Sé stesso - *Pupi Avati, la tavola racconta* (2021), Actor - *Hugo in Argentina* (2021), as Narrator (voice) - *Leonardo* (2021), series, as Verrocchio - *Starman* (2020), as Se stesso - *Sand and Fire* (2019), as Talleyrand - *Catch-22* (2019), series, as Marcello - *Magical Nights* (2018), as Leandro Saponaro - *Diminuta* (2018), as Marco Aurelio - *Stanotte a Pompei* (2018), as Plinio Il Giovane - *The Catcher Was a Spy* (2018), as Professor Eduardo Amaldi - *Prigioniero della mia libertà* (2018), as Ispettore Spaccini - *A Family Tale* (2018), series, as Gian Pietro Liegi - *Pipi, Pupu & Rosemary: The Mystery of the Stolen Notes* (2017), as Narratore (voice) - *Tulipani: Love, Honour and a Bicycle* (2017), as Catarella - *The Neighborhood* (2017), as Gianluca Moretti - *Stanotte a Venezia* (2017), as Carlo Goldoni - *Nobili bugie* (2017), as Franco - *Love Pret-a-porte* (2017), as Giorgio's father - *The Good Italian III - The Magic of Naples* (2017), as Principe - *Stanotte a San Pietro* (2016), as Gian Lorenzo Bernini - *Stanotte a Firenze* (2016), as Giorgio Vasari - *The Boy from Giudecca* (2016), as Giudice Mangrella - *On Air: Storia di Un Successo* (2016), as Presidente - *Astrosamantha* (2016), Actor - *Caruso presents: The Good Italian II - The Prince goes to Milan* (2016), as Principe - *Caruso presents: The Good Italian I - The Farmhouse of Wonders* (2015), as Principe - *The Day of the Two Holy Popes* (2015), Actor - *The First Line* (2014), as Petros - *27 aprile Racconto di un evento* (2014), as Voice - *The Gambler Who Wouldn't Die* (2013), as Nikita · Director - *Eurotrapped* (2013), as Don Ferracane - *Un angelo all'inferno* (2013), as Pietro Bardelli - *Omamamia* (2012), as Lorenzo - *Michelangelo: The Heart and the Stone* (2012), Actor - *Pipì, Pupù e Rosmarina* (2012), series, as Narratore (voice) - *First Happiness* (2011), as Ettore - *I Will Return* (2009), as Borghi - *La bella società* (2009), as Dott. Guarrasi - *Quantum of Solace* (2008), as Mathis — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/quantum-of-solace.md) - *Il sangue e la rosa* (2008), as Cardinal Rospigliosi - *Il sangue e la rosa* (2008), series, as Cardinale Eugenio Rospigliosi - *Il Maresciallo Rocca e l'amico d'infanzia* (2008), series, as Benedetto Diveri - *Io non dimentico* (2008), as Salvatore Conticello - *Io non dimentico* (2008), series, as Salvatore Conticello - *Bastardi* (2008), as Il gatto, Carlo Iuvara - *Milan – Palermo: The Return* (2007), as Turi Leofonte - *Il generale Dalla Chiesa* (2007), as Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa - *Il generale Dalla Chiesa* (2007), series, as Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa - *Casino Royale* (2006), as Mathis — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/casino-royale.md) - *Salvatore. Questa è la vita* (2006), as Timpaliscia - *L'onore e il rispetto* (2006), series, as Don Giuseppe Bastianelli - *The Maidens' Conspiracy* (2006), as The Emperor - *Shadows in the Sun* (2005), as Father Moretti - *Raul - Right to Kill* (2005), as Giudice Porfirio - *Le cinque giornate di Milano* (2004), series, as Carlo Cattaneo - *13 at a Table* (2004), as Giulio - *Man on Fire* (2004), as Miguel Manzano - *Forever* (2003), as Giovanni - *3 Women* (2003), as David - *My House in Umbria* (2003), as Inspector Girotti - *Five Moons Plaza* (2003), as Branco - *Incantato* (2003), as Cesare Balocchi - *Francesca and Nunziata* (2003), as Giordano Montorsi - *Darkness* (2002), as Albert Rua - *Dracula's Kiss* (2002), series, as Dr. Enrico Valenzi - *Dracula* (2002), as Dr. Enrico Valenzi - *Joshua* (2002), as The Pope - *Amnèsia* (2002), as Xavier (voice) - *The Bankers of God: The Calvi Affair* (2002), as Flavio Carboni - *Ti voglio bene Eugenio* (2002), as Eugenio - *Il consiglio d'Egitto* (2002), as Narrator (voice) - *Ciao America* (2002), as Zi' Felice - *Momo* (2001), as Presidente (voice) - *CQ* (2001), as Enzo - *A Long Long Long Night of Love* (2001), as Marcello - *The Whole Shebang* (2001), as Pop Bazinni - *Hannibal* (2001), as Insp. Renaldo Pazzi — Fi1m 54, [page](https://film.one/film/hannibal.md) - *Frank Herbert's Dune* (2000), series, as Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV - *A Night with Sabrina Love* (2000), as Leonardo - *Viper* (2000), as Guastamacchia - *The Wasteland* (1999), as Macrì - *Milonga* (1999), as Commissario - *Sweet Idleness* (1999), as Count Nencini - *No Deposit, No Return* (1999), as Cesena - *La stanza dello Scirocco* (1998), as Marchese di Acquafurata - *The Dinner* (1998), as Professore - *Vacation in Hell* (1997), as Ortega - *Mimic* (1997), as Manny - *Ultimo bersaglio* (1997), as Leo Steiner - *Heaven Before I Die* (1997), as Thief - *Más allá del jardín* (1996), as Bernardo - *New York Crossing* (1996), as Enzo - *La lupa* (1996), as Padre Angiolino - *Fried Crumbed Brains* (1996), Actor - *La frontiera* (1996), as Von Zirkenitz - *Elective Affinities* (1996), as Narrator (voice) - *Palermo – Milan One Way* (1996), as Turi Leofonte - *Celluloide* (1996), as Sergio Amidei - *The Marshal Rocca* (1996), series, as Benedetto - *A Walk in the Clouds* (1995), as Alberto Aragón - *Like Two Crocodiles* (1995), as Pietro Fraschini - *Jacob* (1994), as Laban - *Black as the Heart* (1994), as Valentino Bruio - *Giovanni Falcone* (1993), as Paolo Borsellino - *Colpo di coda* (1993), series, as Professeur - *Toys* (1992), Prop Designer - *Once Upon a Crime* (1992), as Inspector Bonnard - *Life with the Kids* (1991), series, as Adriano Setti - *The Amusements of Private Life* (1990), as Charles Renard - *In The Rose Garden* (1990), as Tramontano - *Dark Illness* (1990), as Giuseppe Marchi - *Life with the Kids* (1990), as Adriano Setti - *The Sleazy Uncle* (1989), as Riccardo - *Time to Kill* (1989), as Il Maggiore - *Brown Bread Sandwiches* (1989), as Alberto - *Blood Red* (1989), as Sebastian Collogero - *New York Stories* (1989), as Claudio - *'o Re* (1989), as Francis II of the Two Sicilies - *Snack Bar Budapest* (1988), as Avvocato - *I picari* (1987), as Guzmán de Alfarache - *Ternosecco* (1987), as Domenico · Director - *Saving Grace* (1986), as Abalardi - *Sins* (1986), series, as Marcello D'itri - *Fever Pitch* (1985), as Charley - *American Dreamer* (1984), as Victor Marchand - *Where's Picone?* (1984), as Salvatore Cannavacciuolo - *My Darling, My Dearest* (1982), as Gennarino Laganà · Writer - *Lili Marleen* (1981), as Robert - *Life Is Beautiful* (1979), as Antonio Murillo - *Good News* (1979), as L'Innominato · Producer - *Lovers and Liars* (1979), as Guido Massacesi - *Blood Feud* (1978), as Nicola Sanmichele detto 'Nick' - *A Night Full of Rain* (1978), as Paolo - *The Innocent* (1976), as Tullio Hermil - *Seven Beauties* (1975), as Pasqualino Frafuso aka Settebellezze · Producer - *Midnight Pleasures* (1975), as Gino Benacio - *Swept Away* (1974), as Gennarino Carunchio - *The Murri Affair* (1974), as Tullio Murri - *The Beast* (1974), as Nino Patrovita - *How Funny Can Sex Be?* (1973), as Domenico ('Signora sono le 8') / Cesaretto ('Due cuori e una baracca') / Enrico ('Non è mai troppo tardi') / Lello ('Viaggio di nozze') / Giansiro ('Torna piccina mia') / The Donor ('Lavoratore italiano all'estero') / Michele Maccò ('La vendetta') / Saturnino ('Un amore difficile') / Dottor Bianchi - *The Sensual Man* (1973), as Paolo Castorini - *It Was I* (1973), as Biagio Solise - *Love and Anarchy* (1973), as Antonio Soffiantini 'Tunin' - *Indian Summer* (1972), as Giorgio Mosca aka 'Spider' - *Don Camillo and the Contestants* (1972), as fratello di "Veleno" - *The Seduction of Mimi* (1972), as Carmelo Mardocheo / Mimí - *Hector the Mighty* (1972), as Ulisse, il drittone - *The Black Belly of the Tarantula* (1971), as Inspector Tellini - *One Way Ticket* (1971), as Weber - *My Father Monsignor* (1971), as Oreste - *Mazzabubù... quante corna stanno quaggiù?* (1971), as Il neoammogliato - *A Prostitute Serving the Public and in Compliance with the Laws of the State* (1971), as Walter Merighi - *La promessa* (1970), as Leonidik - *Una macchia rosa* (1970), as Giancarlo - *A Drama of Jealousy (and other things)* (1970), as Nello - *The Secret of Santa Vittoria* (1970), as Fabio - *The Sisters* (1969), as Dario - *The Betrayal* (1969), as Hans Ruppert - *Anzio* (1968), as Pvt. Cellini - *Arabella* (1967), as Saverio - *Tonight I'll Throw Me* (1967), as Carlo Timidoni - *Don't Sting the Mosquito* (1967), as Paolo Randi - *The Criminals of the Metropolis* (1967), as Gerard Lemaire - *Rita the Mosquito* (1966), as Paolo Randi - *David Copperfield* (1965), series, as David Copperfield - *Libido* (1965), as Christian ## Gallery - ![Giancarlo Giannini](https://film.one/media/person/99214/gallery-e347d5fdacef.jpg) Giancarlo Giannini — Vincenzo Iaconianni, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Giancarlo_Giannini.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Gian Paolo Mai, Giancarlo Giannini (2015)](https://film.one/media/person/99214/gallery-dec1740060c0.jpg) Gian Paolo Mai, Giancarlo Giannini (2015) — Gianpaolo1968, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Gian_Paolo_Mai_Giancarlo_Giannini_Vercelli_2015.jpg/1280px-Gian_Paolo_Mai_Giancarlo_Giannini_Vercelli_2015.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![nel 1992 alla Mostra del cinema di Venezia](https://film.one/media/person/99214/gallery-786e65a589af.jpg) nel 1992 alla Mostra del cinema di Venezia — Gorup de Besanez, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Giancarlo_Giannini_1.jpg/1280px-Giancarlo_Giannini_1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Kennedy center awards 2000 Wash. D.C.](https://film.one/media/person/99214/gallery-a7ff0fcf1979.jpg) Kennedy center awards 2000 Wash. D.C. — John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Giancarlo_Giannini_2000.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Giancarlo Giannini](https://film.one/media/person/99214/gallery-4240cbb36165.jpg) Giancarlo Giannini — Image via TMDB - ![Giancarlo Giannini](https://film.one/media/person/99214/gallery-8490c0e572a4.jpg) Giancarlo Giannini — Image via TMDB - ![Giancarlo Giannini](https://film.one/media/person/99214/gallery-29c288463051.jpg) Giancarlo Giannini — Image via TMDB - ![Giancarlo Giannini and Luchino Visconti (2017)](https://film.one/media/person/99214/gallery-50ecdea33952.jpg) Giancarlo Giannini and Luchino Visconti (2017) — Luchino Visconti, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Giannini-visconti_opt.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![nel 1992 alla Mostra del cinema di Venezia](https://film.one/media/person/99214/gallery-e9702a86a78b.jpg) nel 1992 alla Mostra del cinema di Venezia — Gorup de Besanez, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Giannini.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated - 1977: Best Actor (nominated), for *Seven Beauties* ### Cannes Film Festival — 1 won - 1973: Best Actor (won) ### Other awards — 1 won - Silver Shell for Best Actor 1973: Silver Shell for Best Actor (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/giancarlo-giannini