Riccardo Scamarcio

Riccardo Dario Scamarcio (born 13 November 1979) is an Italian actor and film producer.

Early life
Scamarcio was born in Trani, Apulia, the son of Irene Petrafesa, a painter, and Emilio Scamarcio.

He went to train as an actor at the Scuola Nazionale di Cinema in Rome, where he now lives.

Career
His debut acting role was in a TV series in 2000, while his first ever lead role in a feature film was in Three Steps Over Heaven (2004), directed by Luca Lucini. Through this he immediately became well known to the Italian speaking public, especially a young audience. His success brought him prominence as a sex symbol and boosted requests for his acting skills, leading to his role in Texas (2005), directed by Fausto Paravidino and soon to him joining the cast of Romanzo Criminale, playing a monosyllabic, enigmatic thug character in a powerful portrait of a mafiosi community directed by Michele Placido.

In 2006 he acted in The Black Arrow, a TV series broadcast by Canale 5, adapted from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, and took on four new film roles: My Brother Is an Only Child (2007), directed by Daniele Luchetti, based on the novel Il fasciocomunista by Antonio Pennacchi. Scamarcio won a David di Donatello nomination for Best Supporting Actor for this work. He also played in Manual of Love 2 (2007), directed by Giovanni Veronesi, Ho voglia di te (2007), directed by Luis Prieto, and Go Go Tales (2007), directed by Abel Ferrara.

In 2007 he began work on At a Glance (2008) directed by Sergio Rubini, Italians (2009), a comedy directed by Giovanni Veronesi, and The Big Dream (2009), set in Italy in 1968, directed by Michele Placido. Eden à l'Ouest, directed by Costa-Gavras, saw Scamarcio playing an illegal immigrant-cum-innocent abroad. The Cézanne Affair (2009), directed by Sergio Rubini, co-starred Scamarcio's then partner, Italian-Greek actress, Valeria Golino, who played his sister.

The lead in Golino's 2018 movie Euforia is considered to be one of Scamarcio's best performances.

He starred in John Wick: Chapter 2, playing the Italian Mob boss, Santino D'Antonio, the antagonist in the film.

In 2024 he starred as the lead character in the Netflix film Vanished into the Night, directed by Renato De Maria and co-starring Annabelle Wallis.This film landed in Netflix's top 10 in July of that year.

Personal life
From 2005 to 2016 Scamarcio dated actress and director Valeria Golino. They continued working together even after the break-up and preserved a good relationship. Scamarcio has a daughter (b. 2020) from Angharad Wood. As of 2024, he dates Italian actress Benedetta Porcaroli.

Television

 * Ama il tuo nemico 2 (2000)
 * Io ti salverò (2001)
 * Compagni di scuola (2001)
 * La freccia nera (2006)
 * Il segreto dell'acqua (Palermo Connection) (2011)
 * London Spy (2015)
 * Master of None (2017)
 * The Woman in White (2018)
 * Maradona: Blessed Dream (2021; episode 6)

Music video

 * Ti scatterò una foto (Tiziano Ferro) (2007)
 * Drammaturgia (Le Vibrazioni) (2008)
 * Insolita (Le Vibrazioni) (2008)
 * Meraviglioso (Negramaro) (2009)
 * Dove cadono i fulmini (Erica Mou) (2011)

Theatre

 * Non essere - Mise en espace di Leonardo Petrillo (2003)
 * I tre moschettieri (2004)
 * L'intelligenza, il cuore, le dita (2009)
 * Romeo and Juliet (2011)