Silvia Colloca (born 23 July 1977) is an Italian-Australian actress, opera singer, cookbook author, and TV cookery show personality. She has published six cookbooks.

Life and career

Colloca was born in Milan to Loredana and Mario Colloca. Her only major film role was in '' Van Helsing'', in which she played Verona, one of

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

's brides. On 25 September 2004, at the medieval castle of Montalto in Tuscany, Italy, she married the Australian actor Richard Roxburgh who played Dracula in that film. They have two sons and a daughter. The family currently resides in Sydney. Colloca is an opera-trained

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

and worked as a musical theatre performer in Italy before becoming a film actress. She appeared in 2015 as Orfeo in Gluck's ''

Orfeo ed Euridice ' (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on Orpheus, the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the ''azione teatrale'', mea ...

'' in Sydney, and as The Queen in Lindy Hume's production of ''Snow White'' for Opera Queensland and La Boite theatre in 2016. Her debut album, ''Sing Like an Italian'', was released by Decca in October 2022. She performs four numbers alongside arias and art songs by international stars singers. The album made its debut at No. 1 on the ARIA Core Classical and Classical/Crossover charts.

Television

''Made in Italy with Silvia Colloca'', an Australian 10-part TV series, premiered on SBS TV in November 2014, coinciding with the publication of the book of the same name. Colloca took a film crew home to meet her Italian family, showcasing three picturesque regions of Italy,

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

where her family is from,

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

, and Molise, using her mother's kitchen to present ''cucina povera'' (peasant cuisine). ''Silvia's Italian Table'', an eight part reality and cooking series debuted on ABC on 6 October 2016. In each episode, Colloca invites a group of celebrities to cook and eat with her and engage in entertaining and intelligent conversation. Guests featured are Kathy Lette, Lisa McCune,

Tom Gleeson Thomas Francis Gleeson (born 2 June 1974) is an Australian stand-up comedian, writer, television and radio presenter. Gleeson formerly co-hosted '' The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'' alongside Judith Lucy and currently hosts '' Hard Quiz'', b ...

, Magda Szubanski,

Matt Moran Matthew Moran (born 15 May 1969) is an Australian chef and restaurateur also known for being a guest on various TV cooking shows. Early life Moran was raised on a dairy farm at Badgerys Creek, west of Sydney, before moving to the outer-west ...

, Ken Done,

Sarah Ferguson Sarah, Duchess of York (born Sarah Margaret Ferguson; 15 October 1959), also known by the nickname Fergie, is a member of the British royal family. She is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the younger brother of King Charles III ...

, Merrick Watts,

Claire Hooper Claire Hooper (born 5 September 1976) is an Australian stand-up comedian, television and radio presenter and writer. Hooper is co-hosting ''The Great Australian Bake Off'' alongside Mel Buttle. She appeared as a team captain on the 2008 revi ...

, Amanda Vanstone,

Pia Miranda Pia Miranda (born 15 June 1973) is an Australian actress whose career was launched with her role in the 2000 feature film '' Looking for Alibrandi'', an Australian film based on the novel of the same name by Melina Marchetta. She is also known ...

and Ian Thorpe. ''Cook Like an Italian'', an Australian 10-part TV series, premiered on SBS Food in November 2020. A second season premiered in April 2021 and third season in May 2022.

Filmography

* ''

Casomai ''Casomai'' (also known as ''If by Chance'') is a 2002 Italian romantic comedy film written and directed by Alessandro D'Alatri. Cast *Fabio Volo: Tommaso * Stefania Rocca: Stefania *Gennaro Nunziante Gennaro Nunziante is an Italian film di ...

'' (2002) as Cannes award hostess * '' Van Helsing'' (2004) as Verona * ''

The Detonator ''The Detonator'' is a 2006 American action film directed by Po-Chih Leong. The film stars Wesley Snipes, Silvia Colloca, Tim Dutton and William Hope. The film was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on April 25, 2006. Plot Undercove ...

'' (2006) as Nadia Cominski * '' Virgin Territory'' (2007) as Sister Lisabetta * '' Lesbian Vampire Killers'' (2009) as

Carmilla ''Carmilla'' is an 1872 Gothic fiction, Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'' (1897) by 26 years. First published as a Serial (literature), serial in ' ...

* '' Out of the Night'' (2010) as Roberta * ''Triple Happiness'' (2010) * ''L'Apocalisse delle scimmie'' (2012) as Tossica * ''

Nerve A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons) in the peripheral nervous system. A nerve transmits electrical impulses. It is the basic unit of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the e ...

'' (2013) as Elena * ''

Dante's Inferno Animated ''Dante's Hell Animated'' is a 2013 American animated short film produced and directed by Boris Acosta. The story is based on the first part of Dante Alighieri's ''Divine Comedy'' – ''Inferno''. Plot This film has two versions, narrated in Eng ...

'' (2013, Short) as Beatrice (voice: Italian version) * ''Little Tornadoes'' (2022) as Maria

Published works

* ''Silvia's Cucina'', Penguin 2013. * ''Made in Italy'', Penguin 2014. * ''La Dolce Vita'', Penguin 2016. * ''Love Laugh Bake'', Pan Macmillan 2018.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colloca, Silvia 1977 births Italian film actresses Italian mezzo-sopranos Chefs of Italian cuisine Living people Actresses from Milan Australian television chefs Women chefs 21st-century Italian singers 21st-century Italian women singers