Paola Cortellesi

Paola Cortellesi (born 24 November 1973) is an Italian actress, comedian, film director, screenwriter and producer. She has starred in about 20 movies as well as a number of theatrical, television and radio shows. In 2023, she made her directorial debut with the black-and-white feminist comedy-drama There's Still Tomorrow, which received critical acclaim and became one of the highest-grossing films of all time in Italy.

Paola Cortellesi
Cortellesi in 2009
Born	(1973-11-24) 24 November 1973 (age 51) Rome, Italy
Occupations	Actress comedian filmmaker singer
Years active	1999–present
Spouse	Riccardo Milani ​ (m. 2011)​
Children	1

Biography

Cortellesi debuted in the show business at the age of 13, as a singer for Cacao meravigliao, the jingle of the popular RAI TV show Indietro tutta! by Renzo Arbore. At 19 she began studying as an actress at the "Teatro Blu" in Rome (the same theatre school that Kim Rossi Stuart, Gianmarco Tognazzi, Claudia Gerini, Stefania Rocca, and Claudio Santamaria, among others, have attended).

She began her career in television with the show Macao,^[1] presented by Alba Parietti, but eventually reached nationwide popularity as a comic actress in the TV show Mai dire Gol by the Gialappa's Band (2000), which, in particular, showcased her skills at parodying famous people, a genre where she collected some of her most appreciated performances (the latest one being her parody of Milan's mayor Letizia Moratti in the 2010–2011 edition of the popular TV show Zelig).^[2]

After Mai dire Gol, Cortellesi has collaborated in several other TV Show of the Mai dire... franchise by Gialappa's Band. Other major performances of Cortellesi on television include the 2004 edition of the Sanremo Music Festival and the leading role in the TV movie Maria Montessori: Una vita per i bambini, a biography of Maria Montessori, for which Cortellesi received the "Maximo Award" at the Roma Fiction Fest.^[3]

Her career in cinema includes several appreciated performances in comedies and comic movies, including a leading role in Tu la conosci Claudia?, a very popular production starring the comic trio Aldo, Giovanni & Giacomo. In 2008, she was nominated for the David di Donatello award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the movie Piano, solo by Riccardo Milani. In 2011 she won the David di Donatello for Best Actress for her leading role in Escort in Love.^[4]

One of her most appreciated theatrical performances was Gli ultimi saranno gli ultimi ("Last will be last") by Massimiliano Bruno, which has been staged 189 times from 2005 to 2007 in over 50 theatres, and for which Cortellesi has collected a number of awards.^[5]

As a singer, Cortellesi has been described by Mina as "one of the best Italian voices"^[6] and has cooperated with several notable Italian musicians, including Elio e le Storie Tese, Renato Zero, Claudio Baglioni, Frankie Hi-NRG MC, and Neri per Caso. In 2019 she was filmed in the title role of Petra for the four-part Italian TV crime drama, broadcast from September 2020.^[7]

In 2023 her directorial debut There's Still Tomorrow (C'è ancora domani) was a major hit. It was the most successful film at the Italian box office in 2023,^{[8][9][10][11]} and the 9th highest-grossing film in the country's history.^[12] It was the opening film at the Rome Film Festival,^[13] at the 69th David di Donatello it brought Cortellesi 6 awards, including the Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay.^[14]

Personal life

Cortellesi married director Riccardo Milani on 1 October 2011, after being engaged for nine years.^[15] The couple have a daughter, Laura, born in 2013.^[16]

Filmography

Paola Cortellesi

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	The King and I	Anna Leonowens (voice)	Italian voice-over
2000	Ask Me If I'm Happy	Dalia	Feature film debut
2001	Un altr'anno e poi cresco	Alessia
2001	Se fossi in te	Caterina
2002	A cavallo della tigre	Antonella
2002	Bell'amico	Damiana	Cameo appearance
2002	Stuart Little 2	Margalo the Bird (voice)	Italian voice-over
2003	Past Perfect	Claudia
2003	The Soul's Place	Nina
2004	Do You Know Claudia?	Claudia
2006	Don't Make Any Plans for Tonight	Cinzia
2007	Piano, solo	Baba
2007	Persepolis	Marjane Satrapi (voice)	Italian voice-over
2009	Turtle: The Incredible Journey	Narrator (voice)	Italian voice-over
2009	The Ladies Get Their Say	Sofia
2009	La fisica dell'acqua	Giulia	Direct-to-video film
2010	Men vs. Women	Chiara
2011	Women vs. Men	Chiara
2011	Cars 2	Holley Shiftwell (voice)	Italian voice-over
2011	Escort in Love	Alice Bottini
2011	Some Say No	Irma Camuzzo
2014	A Boss in the Living Room	Cristina D'Avola/ Carmela Cimmaruta
2014	Sotto una buona stella	Luisa Tombolini
2014	Do You See Me?	Serena Bruno
2015	Wondrous Boccaccio	Usimbalda
2015	The Little Prince	Mother (voice)	Italian voice-over
2015	The Last Will Be the Last	Luciana Colacci
2016	Qualcosa di nuovo	Lucia
2017	Mom or Dad?	Valeria Mozzati
2017	Like a Cat on a Highway	Monica
2018	The Legend of the Christmas Witch	The Witch
2018	Early Man	Goona (voice)	Italian voice-over
2019	Detective per caso	Inspector Bellamore
2019	Don't Stop Me Now	Giovanna Salvatori
2020	Figli	Sara
2020	Soul	22	Italian voice-over
2021	Like a Cat on a Highway 2	Monica
2022	Marcel!	Jewels seller	Cameo appearance
2023	There's Still Tomorrow	Delia	Also director and co-writer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Maria Montessori: Una vita per i bambini	Maria Montessori	Miniseries
2010	Le cose che restano	Nora	4 episodes
2020–present	Petra	Petra Delicato	Lead role
2023	Call My Agent - Italia	Herself	Season 1, episode 1[17]

Writings

• Gianluca Maria Tavarelli; Paola Cortellesi; Massimo Poggio; Gianmarco Tognazzi, Alberto Cracco (2006). Maria Montessori: [una] vita per i bambini. Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar: Taodue. OCLC 819807992. (both a book and a film)

References

1. "Il talk-show sperimentale Macao". RAI. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
2. "Paola Cortellesi compie 50 anni. Da Macao a C'è ancora domani, la sua carriera". Sky TG24. 2023-11-24. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
3. "Paola Cortellesi a Domenica In: il marito Riccardo, la vita privata e la carriera, dal debutto in radio alla sua prima volta". Il Messagero. 2023-10-29. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
4. Cortellesi, escort (imbranata) per caso
5. "Premio Anima". Archived from the original on 2007-05-14. Retrieved 2011-05-04.
6. Mina: La migliore a Sanremo è Paola Cortellesi
7. Vivarelli, Nick (March 7, 2019). "Italy's Cattleya Producing Female Detective Series Petra for Sky". Variety. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
8. Vivarelli, Nick (2023-11-02). "Paola Cortellesi's Feminist Dramedy 'There's Still Tomorrow' Beats 'Saw X' at Italy's Box Office". Variety. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
9. Povoledo, Elisabetta (2023-12-08). "A Beloved Comedian's Film on Domestic Abuse Draws Italians, in Droves". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
10. Niola2023-12-22T14:22:00+00:00, Gabriele. "Paola Cortellesi's 'There's Still Tomorrow' overtakes 'Barbie' admissions at Italian box office". Screen. Retrieved 2024-02-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
11. Roxborough, Scott (2023-12-18). "'There's Still Tomorrow': The Italian Box Office Success Sparking Discussion About Domestic Violence". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
12. "Anno Corrente 01/01/2024 Al 29/02/2024". cinetel.it (in Italian). 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
13. Goodfellow, Melanie (2023-10-18). "Paola Cortellesi Talks 1940s Italy Women's Rights Drama 'There's Still Tomorrow' + First Clip – Rome Film Festival". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
14. D'Angelo, Francesca (2024-05-04). "David di Donatello 2024: Io capitano Miglior film, ma a sbancare è Paola Cortellesi". Elle. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
15. "Paola Cortellesi sposa superstar". Il Messaggero.it. 2 October 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
16. Rogledi, Cristina (20 March 2013). "Paola è il mio film più bello" (PDF). Oggi. p. 86-. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
17. Manca, Mario (20 January 2023). "Call My Agent Italia è il remake italiano migliore di sempre" [Call My Agent Italia Is the Best Italian Remake of All Time]. Vanity Fair Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 19 March 2024.

External links

• Official website
• Paola Cortellesi at IMDb