The Best Italian Actresses

Italy is all about beauty and style. Italian women are considered to be exotic, sensual and extremely artistic. It’s not a surprise that some of the most distinguished names in the movie industry are Italian actresses of the likes of Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinale and Gina Lolobridgita.

The Italian movie industry used to be one of the top ones in the world before giving the first place to Hollywood. Various movie directors give credit to the Italian artistic worlds and adopt Italian music, Italian art elements and of course Italian actors into their film products.

As we already mentioned, Italian movies feature some of the most sensual actresses of all times and we start our presentation with….

1 . Monica Belluci

Image by Pinterest

Once decided to pursue a legal career, Monica Belluci had no idea that one day she will become one of the most notable Italian actresses of all times.

She worked as a model to supplement her college income I the past while she attended the University of Perugia.

This 1988, she moved to Milan, Europe’s fashion capital, where her fashion career began and flourished soon after she joined Elite Model Management.

Her movie debut began in Bram Stoker’s Drakula movie, aired in 1992.

Her debut was not as starry as her role in the Apartment in 1996, when she became a world-known acting name.

2. Franscesca Neri

Image by Pinterest

This famous Italian star was born in Trento, Italy in 1964.

She is well known for her hit roles in the movies Hannibal (2001), Live Fresh (1997), and Collateral Damage (2002).

Besides her success in the movie industry, Neri is also a mom and a wife – she has one child with husbabd Claudio Amendola whom she married in December 2010.

3.  Alexandra Daddario

A New York born actress with a penchant for stylish earth-shattering performances, Daddario started her career early. She was born in 1986, in the family of actors. Her brother and sisters have acting background, and they have a mix of Hungarian and Italian origins.

She had a desire to become an actress since sh was very young and she was finally able to score her first acting gig in the role of Laurie Lewis in All my Children in 1970.

She also starred in numerous Percy Jackson movies such as Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013) successfully based on Rick Rioardan’s best-selling youth-targeting books.  The actress she also took part in in the films Hall Palls (2011) and Baywatch (2013). Daddario also starred on the first season of the HBO series, True Detective in 2014.

3. Sophia Loren

Image by Pinterest

Born in Rome in 1934, Sophia Loren remains one of the most iconic faces of the Italian movie world, having starred in multiple famous films.

She won a beauty contest at the age of 14, and since then, she has become a well-known name in the Italian show business world.

This is when her life changed for the better as she immediately caught the attention of movie producer Carlo Ponti who decided to help her launch her movie career.

Despite being 22 years older than Sophia, he was able to win her heart and marry her, soon after his divorce from his first wife in 1966.

Under his protection, Sophia landed roles for an extra in ten films starting in 1950, and then she became known as Sophia Lazzaro, for the fact that her beauty could awake ‘’the dead Lazzarus from the dead.’’

Eventually, she became a mainstream actress well known around the world, especially with her role in Two Women in 1960, when she featured a mother who was raped while trying to protect her younger daughter during the war-torn Italy at that time.

Sophia gradually turned into an internationally-acclaimed film star, starring in movies that were shot on both sides of the Atlantic, working together with the likes of Gregory Peck and Paul Newman.

The movies which she shot in the United States include The Fall of the Roman Empire, (1964), Arabesque (1966),  Man of La Mancha (1972), and The Cassandra Crossing (1976).  Her Italian movies include A Special Day and Marriage Italian Star. This is when she became nominated to win an Oscar and also won five Golden Globe Awards.

4. Claudia Cardinale

Image by Pinterest

Just like numerous Italian actresses, Claudia Cardinale made her acting debut through a beauty contest at the age of 17.

She was young and still a student  at the Centro Sperimentale in Rome. After wining the contest,  she gained numerous movie roles, thanks to her unique looks and sensual image, the typical Italian woman representation.  Besides having dark, seductive eyes,  Claudia exhibited amazing artistic talent that made her one of the most popular Italian actresses of all times.

Her major participation in Careless in 1962 made her become a famous Italian star, along with her role in Federico Fellini’s 8½ (1963) with famed actor Marcello Mastroianni.

She is also featured in Sergio Leone’s masterpiece project Once Upon a Time in the West Movie from 1968.

Because of her passionate defense of human rights, Cardinale has been selected to be a UNESCO ambassador for the Defense of Women’s Rights since March 2000.

Also,Los Angeles Times named Claudia Cardinale one of the 50 most beautiful women in the history of the movie world.