Filippo Timi (born 27 February 1974) is an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
actor, director and writer.
Biography
Acting Career
Filippo Timi was born in
Perugia
Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...
, he studied acting in
Bologna
Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
.
Filippo Timi as a cinema actor was discovered by a prominent Italian underground director
Tonino De Bernardi. Timi debuted in De Bernardi's 1999 movie ''Appassionata'' which was selected for
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
. After ''Appassionata'', he played in De Bernardi's ''Rosatigre'' (2000) and ''Farelavita'' (2001), both of which have become classics of Italian underground cinema.
Despite his stuttering
and partial blindness he became a star of the big screen including a wide range of activities as author and entrepreneur for TV, cinema, theatre, magazines and musical shows. Timi won the ‘Best Actor under 30’ prize at the 2004 UBU Awards, the most valuable accolade for
Italian theatre
The theatre of Italy originates from the Middle Ages, with its background dating back to the times of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek colonies of Magna Graecia, in southern Italy, the theatre of the Italic peoples and the theatre of ancient R ...
, onstage he has been Orpheus, Danton, Perceval, Cupid, Hamlet and Satan, playing three different roles in
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...
's ''
A Doll's House
''A Doll's House'' (Danish language, Danish and ; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act Play (theatre), play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 De ...
'' by Andrée Ruth Shammah in 2016.
His debut as a theatre director, 2009 Shakespeare adaptation ''Amleto²'', written, directed by and starring him as Hamlet, was sold out for two years and cemented his name as one of the most acclaimed and talented authors of
Italian theatre
The theatre of Italy originates from the Middle Ages, with its background dating back to the times of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek colonies of Magna Graecia, in southern Italy, the theatre of the Italic peoples and the theatre of ancient R ...
. In 2025, the play returned on stage of the Teatro Nazionale di Genova.
His film career continued with roles in
Ferzan Ozpetek's multiple award winning ''
Saturn in Opposition'' and Saverio Costanzo's ''
In Memory of Me'', for which he was nominated for a best supporting actor award by the Italian Syndicate of Film Journalists. After taking the lead roles in
Wilma Labate
Wilma Labate (born 4 December 1949) is an Italian film director and screenwriter.
Born in Rome, Labate started her career as a television director, then in the 1980s she worked in the field of documentary filmmaking industry.Giorgio Dell’Arti, ...
's ''
Miss F'' and
Giuliano Montaldo
Giuliano Montaldo (22 February 1930 – 6 September 2023) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He was known internationally for his biographical docudrama Sacco & Vanzetti (1971 film), ''Sacco & Vanzetti'' (1971), which was n ...
's ''
The Demons of St. Petersberg'' with
Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini (; born 18 June 1952) is an Italian actress and model. The daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, she is noted for her successful tenure as a Lancôme ...
. At the
Moscow International Film Festival
The Moscow International Film Festival (, Transliteration, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to ...
2009, Timi won a Best Actor award for his leading role in
Gabriele Salvatores
Gabriele Salvatores (born 30 July 1950) is an Italian Academy Award-winning film director and screenwriter.
Biography
Born in Naples, Salvatores debuted as a theatre director in 1972, founding in Milan the Teatro dell'Elfo, for which he directe ...
's ''
As God Commands''.
Since 2009 Timi's films were in competition in major festivals: at Cannes with ''
Vincere'' by
Marco Bellocchio
Marco Bellocchio (; born 9 November 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor.
Life and career
Born in Bobbio, near Piacenza, Marco Bellocchio had a strict Catholic upbringing – his father was a lawyer, his mother a schooltea ...
, where he played the young
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
, and at the
Venice International Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
with the debut of Giuseppe Capotondi, ''
The Double Hour'', winner of the Coppa Volpi. He played dramatic roles in ''
Vallanzasca, Angel of Evil'' (2011), the period drama ''Rust'' (2011) alongside comedies like ''
Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia'' (2012).
Timi had his English-language debut acting alongside
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and philanthropist. Known for his leading man roles on screen in both blockbuster and independent films, Clooney has received numerous accolades, including two Ac ...
in
Anton Corbijn
Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director, and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner" ...
's action film ''
The American''.
He has also dubbed
Tom Hardy's voice in the Italian release of ''
The Dark Knight Rises
''The Dark Knight Rises'' is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the final instal ...
'', and voiced
Manny in the Italian dub of the last two films of the ''
Ice Age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
'' franchise, replacing
Leo Gullotta
Salvatore Leopoldo "Leo" Gullotta (born 9 January 1946) is an Italian actor, voice actor, comedian and writer. He became known for his role in '' Café Express'' (1980), and has won several David di Donatello awards, the first one being for hi ...
.
Since 2013, he has been playing the lead role in the Italian TV series .
[
Staged in 2011, his surreal black comedy ''Favola'' immediately became a cult play. After many successful seasons, in 2018 it was turned into a film by Sebastiano Mauri. ''Favola's'' sequel, ''Mrs. Fairytale - Non si torna indietro dalla felicità'', premiered in 2021.
]
Writing Career
In 2006, Timi published his debut novel ''Tuttalpiù muoio'', co-written with Edoardo Albinati. A partially autobiographical coming-of-age story, it became a huge success both critically and commercially. It was followed by ''E lasciamole cadere queste stelle'', a short story collection dedicated to female characters. His third book, ''Peggio che diventare famoso'', was published in 2008. The book follows the filming of As God Commands, a 2008 drama directed by Gabriele Salvatores
Gabriele Salvatores (born 30 July 1950) is an Italian Academy Award-winning film director and screenwriter.
Biography
Born in Naples, Salvatores debuted as a theatre director in 1972, founding in Milan the Teatro dell'Elfo, for which he directe ...
. In the trilogy, Timi recalls his humble origins and through a vividly ironic and phantasmagoric lens shows how he had managed to transform youth troubles into a powerful and intense love for life.
In 2023, he published “Marilyn”, a novel, dedicated to one of the most famous Hollywood blondes. In Timi's book, she survived a suicide attempt and escaped to Rome.
Personal life
Timi is openly gay. In 2016, he married his longtime boyfriend, the artist and writer Sebastiano Mauri, in a civil ceremony in New York City.Avete visto il marito di Filippo Timi? Il motivo per cui la coppia ha deciso di sposarsi a New York lascia l’amaro in bocca
(in Italian) By 2022, they were already divorced.
Filmography
Films
Television
Selected plays
• Fuoco centrale, by
Cesare Ronconi (1995)
• G.A. story, by
Robert Wilson (1996)
• La rabbia, study by
Pippo Delbono (1996)
• Medea, by Filippo Timi e Federica Santoro; produced by
Giorgio Barberio Corsetti (1999)
• F. di O., by Filippo Timi, produced by
Giorgio Barberio Corsetti (1999)
• La tempesta, by
Giorgio Barberio Corsetti (1999)
• Il Graal, by
Giorgio Barberio Corsetti (2000)
• Woyzeck, by
Giorgio Barberio Corsetti (2001)
• Il gabbiano, by
Anton Milenin (2001)
• La morte di Danton, by
Aleksandr Popowski (2004)
• La vita bestia, by
Giorgio Barberio Corsetti (2006)
• Il colore bianco, by
Giorgio Barberio Corsetti (2006)
• Il popolo non ha il pane? Diamogli le brioche, by Filippo Timi (2009)
• Favola. C'era una volta una bambina, e dico c'era perché ora non c'è più, by Filippo Timi (2011)
• Giuliett'e Romeo. M'engolfi 'l core, amore, by Filippo Timi (2011)
• Il Don Giovanni: vivere è un abuso, mai un diritto, by Filippo Timi (2013)
• Skianto, by Filippo Timi (2014)
• Una casa di bambola, by Andrée Ruth Shammah, (2015–16)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timi, Filippo
1974 births
Living people
People from Perugia
Male actors from Umbria
Italian male film actors
Italian male television actors
Italian male stage actors
Italian gay actors
20th-century Italian male actors
21st-century Italian male actors
Italian film directors
Italian theatre directors
Italian LGBTQ film directors
LGBTQ theatre directors
Italian male screenwriters
Italian LGBTQ screenwriters
Gay screenwriters
Italian gay writers
21st-century Italian male writers
21st-century Italian screenwriters
Italian male dramatists and playwrights
Italian LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights
Gay dramatists and playwrights
21st-century Italian dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Italian LGBTQ people
21st-century Italian LGBTQ people