Simona Tabasco (born 5 April 1994) is an Italian actress. Tabasco is best known for her role as Lucia Greco on season two of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

comedy-drama series ''

The White Lotus ''The White Lotus'' is an American black comedy-drama anthology television series created by Mike White for HBO. It follows the guests and employees of the fictional White Lotus resort chain, whose stay is affected by their various psycho ...

'' (2021), which earned her a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

nomination. She also gained recognition for her supporting role in the Italian

neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating s ...

film ''

Perez. ''Perez.'' is a 2014 Italian neo-noir film written and directed by Edoardo De Angelis. It was screened in the Horizons section at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. Plot Demetrio Perez is a famous criminal lawyer from Naples who year ...

'' (2014) and as Elisa Russo in the

Rai 1 Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's flagship television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream and ge ...

medical drama '' Doc – Nelle tue mani'' (2020–present).

Early life

Simona Tabasco was born in Naples on 5 April 1994. Tabasco is the daughter of an advertising graphic designer and an office worker. She has a twin brother named Marco.

Career

In 2013, after shooting two short films at the

Giffoni Film Festival The Giffoni International Film Festival is an Italian children's film festival which takes place annually in Giffoni Valle Piana, Campania. It began in 1971. The Giffoni International Film Festival typically has around 100,000 guests and has had ...

, Tabasco was cast in the second season of the Italian

teen drama In film and television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (tele ...

series ''

Fuoriclasse ''Fuoriclasse'' ("A League of Their Own", also being a pun on words with "Out of Class") is an Italian TV series set in a high school, directed by Riccardo Donna and starring Luciana Littizzetto. It is loosely based on the books by Domenico Star ...

''. Broadcast on

in March 2014, Tabasco portrayed Aida Merlissi, a Muslim girl. Filming for ''Fuoriclasse'' interrupted her studies at the

Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia The Centro sperimentale di cinematografia (Experimental Film Centre or Italian National film school) was established in 1935 in Italy and aims to promote the art and technique of cinematography and film. The centre is the oldest film school in ...

in Rome, ultimately leading to her expulsion due to repeated absences. In 2014, she made her film debut in

Edoardo De Angelis Edoardo De Angelis (born 31 August 1978) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. Biography In 2006 he graduated in directing at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. In 2011, he made his debut feature film ''Mozzarella Stories''. Ser ...

's ''

'', which received critical acclaim. For her role as Tea, daughter of the protagonist Demetrio (portrayed by

Luca Zingaretti Luca Zingaretti (; born 11 November 1961) is an Italian actor and film director, known for playing Salvo Montalbano in the '' Inspector Montalbano'' mystery series based on the character and novels created by Andrea Camilleri. Zingaretti is a na ...

), Tabasco was awarded the Premio Guglielmo Biraghi at the 2015

Nastro d'Argento The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italian ...

awards. Since 2020, Tabasco has starred in the Italian medical drama '' Doc – Nelle tue mani'', playing Elisa Russo, a resident in internal medicine. In 2022, Tabasco made her international debut in the second season of the

anthology series ''

''. Her performance as Lucia, a sex worker in Sicily, received praise. CNN's Brian Lowry wrote that it "feels like a breakout role". ''

Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pet ...

'' magazine deemed her the "lifeblood" of the show, writing, "Lucia's energy is so infectious, thanks to the frenzied, effortless performance from Tabasco". Tabasco won the

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast (or Ensemble) in a Drama Series is an award given by the Screen Actors Guild to honor the finest ensemble acting achievements in drama series. Winners and nominees 1990s 20 ...

along with the cast of ''The White Lotus''. She also received an Emmy nomination in 2023 for

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre-, or even gender-, specific. Begin ...

for her portrayal. In February 2023, Tabasco was cast opposite

Sydney Sweeney Sydney Bernice Sweeney (born September 12, 1997) is an American actress. She first gained attention for appearing in the television series ''Everything Sucks!'' (2018), ''The Handmaid's Tale'' (2018), and '' Sharp Objects'' (2018). In 2019, she ...

in the psychological horror film ''

Immaculate The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

''. In March 2023, Tabasco was included in ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' magazine's annual

30 Under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists of people under 30 years old issued annually by ''Forbes'' magazine and some of its regional editions. The American lists recognize 600 business and industry figures, with 30 selected in twenty industries ...

list, which recognises the 30 most influential people in Europe under the age of 30.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tabasco, Simona 1994 births Living people 21st-century Italian actresses Actresses from Naples Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia alumni Italian film actresses Italian television actresses Italian twins Nastro d'Argento winners