Diego Abatantuono

Diego Abatantuono (born 20 May 1955 in Milan) is an Italian cinema and theatre actor, comedian and screenwriter, and a three-time winner of the Nastro d'Argento. He was born in Milan to a father of Apulian origin and a mother from Como. His mother worked as a wardrober in a Milanese jazz and cabaret club, Derby, whose owner was Abatantuono's uncle, and he began working there first in lighting, then as artistic director, and later as an actor.

His first successful recurrent role was that of "Terrunciello," a poorly cultivated immigrant from southern Italy in Milan. He earned his first real starring role at the insistence of actress Monica Vitti in Il tango della gelosia, and went on to write and star in Eccezzziunale... veramente, in which he played three roles as fans of Italy's main football teams, a performance that became iconic and the film a cult classic. He reprised the roles in a 2006 sequel. Pupi Avati led him toward dramatic work in Christmas Present (1986), for which he won a Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actor.

After founding his own production company, Colorado Film, Abatantuono reaffirmed himself as one of the most interesting actors of the new Italian cinema, particularly through Gabriele Salvatores' film cycle, which included the Oscar-winning Mediterraneo (1991), as well as I'm Not Scared (2003). His honors include a David di Donatello Award for Lifetime Achievement and multiple Ciak d'oro and Nastro d'Argento awards. In 2025, his film Life Goes This Way was set to open the 20th Rome Film Festival.