Lunetta Savino

Lunetta Savino (born 2 November 1957) is an Italian theatre and movie actress, particularly famous for starring in popular TV series. She is best known in her home country for playing Cettina, one of the leading characters on Rai Uno's primetime TV series Un medico in famiglia. In 2010, she starred in Ferzan Özpetek's movie Loose Cannons, which received international acclaim.

Career
After graduating at Teatro "Alessandra Galante Garrone" in Bologna, Lunetta Savino made her stage debut in 1981 with Macbeth. Savino has enjoyed a successful stage career, performing in several plays including an Italian-language version of The Merchant of Venice (1984), Sorelle Materassi (from a novel by Aldo Palazzeschi, 1988), and Medea (1994). In 1995, she made her stage debut at Teatro dell'Orologio in Rome with Prova orale per membri esterni, a play by Claudio Grimaldi in which she starred as an oral sex instructor. The play proved to be extremely successful, being replicated for six seasons in many Italian cities.

In 1982, Savino made her screen debut, playing a small part in Grog, directed by Francesco Laudadio.

From 1998 to 2010, Savino played her breakthrough role. She starred as flamboyant au-pair girl from Southern Italy Cettina Gargiulo, a leading character in Un medico in famiglia, one of the most famous Italian TV-series of all times.

Savino has taken part in many TV series in her country, such as Il bello delle donne, Raccontami and Il figlio della luna.

In 2010, she starred as Stefania Cantone, a mother struggling with her grown-up son's sexual orientation, in Ferzan Özpetek's internationally acclaimed movie Loose Cannons

She briefly starred alongside Luciana Littizzetto in the TV series Fuoriclasse, playing the leading character's dishonest sister.

In 2015, Savino starred in Rai Uno's primetime TV series È arrivata la felicità, once again playing the role of a mother struggling with her child's homosexuality.

Personal life
Savino has a son, Antonio, born in 1988.

She supports the Italian centre-left party, and she once took part in a rally against former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

While playing a homophobic mother twice on screen, Savino is a supporter of gay rights in Italy. She defines herself as a Catholic.

Selected filmography

 * 1981 - Grog, directed by Francesco Laudadio
 * 1983 - Juke Box
 * 1983 - Where's Picone?, directed by Nanni Loy
 * 1985 - Chi mi aiuta?
 * 1997 - Terra di mezzo, directed by Matteo Garrone
 * 1998 - Marriages, directed by Cristina Comencini
 * 1998 - Cucciolo, directed by Neri Parenti
 * 1999 - Maschi e femmine
 * 2000 - Free the Fish (Liberate i pesci), directed by Cristina Comencini
 * 2001 - Se fossi in te, directed by Giulio Manfredonia
 * 2002 - W la scimmia, directed by Marco Colli
 * 2002 - Amore con la S maiuscola, directed by Paolo Costella
 * 2002 - Sono stato negro pure io, directed by Giulio Manfredonia
 * 2005 - Never Again as Before, directed by Giacomo Campiotti
 * 2007 - Saturn in Opposition, directed by Ferzan Özpetek
 * 2009 - Oggi sposi, directed by Luca Lucini
 * 2010 - Loose Cannons, directed by Ferzan Özpetek
 * 2011 - Bar Sport, directed by Massimo Martelli
 * 2012 - Tutto tutto niente niente, directed by Giulio Manfredonia
 * 2013 - Fiabeschi torna a casa, directed by Max Mazzotta
 * 2014 - Do You See Me?, directed by Riccardo Milani
 * 2015 - Io, Arlecchino, directed by Giorgio Pasotti
 * 2018 - Amici come prima, directed by Christian De Sica
 * 2019 - An Almost Ordinary Summer, directed by Simone Godano