>Giuseppe Battiston – The Best Actor America’s Never Heard Of

I don’t think they can make a movie in Italy without Giuseppe Battiston – he’s in everything. I’m exaggerating (a little), but he does seem to get a lot of work – he’s been in over 3 dozen movies in the last 20 years. For those who have seen Pane e Tulipani (Bread and Tulips ), he played the “detective” hired by Rosalba’s husband to drag her back home. He’s never the romantic lead but he’s got it in him; in Pane e Tulipani there a scene in which he declares his love for a woman with skillful and sensitive acting that Brad Pitt wishes he was capable of.

42 and from Udine, he’s been called the “anti-divo” and he seems like a genuinely nice guy. He’s been friends with director Silvio Soldini for years and has acted in many of his movies; Pane e Tulipani, Giorni e Nuvole, Agata e La Tempesta, and Cosavogliodipiù (What More Do I want). He’s worked with Nanni Moretti, Roberto Benigni, and Valeria Golino, and he has earned many awards including two David di Donetello (the Italian Academy Awards) – best supporting actor in Pane e Tulipani and Non Pensarci. He seems dead set against being typecast, and he prides himself on taking roles that vary. I loved him in L’uomo Perfetto in which he played a recently divorced man who was having a hard time letting go of his ex-wife.

The best place to get to know Giuseppe Battiston is Pane e Tulipani, and then check out his other Silvio Soldini collaborations – I’ve included the Amazon links to the ones above and all are available with subtitle in the US.