There are children without film experience whose appearance in memorable films is impossible to forget. Giorgio Cantarini (Orvieto, Italy, 1992) made his debut at just five years old in the role of Giosué in Life is Beautiful and immediately captivated the viewer with his tender face and mischievous smile in this beautiful and emotional film set at the beginning of World War II. World Cup that catapulted Roberto Benigni to the top as Guido Orefice, a man who does the impossible to make his son believe that the terrible situation they live in a Nazi concentration camp is just a game. The story was inspired by the experience of the Italian Jew Rubino Romeo Salmonì, who died in 2011, in Auschwitz.
Three Oscars won the Italian tragicomedy in the 1999 edition: best foreign language film, actor for Benigni and soundtrack for Nicola Piovani. What a thrill to remember Sophia Loren’s immense joy at announcing the name of the film as the best in foreign language and Benigni’s overflowing reaction when collecting the statuette!
The Italian actor was looking for a special boy for the role of Giosué and placed an ad describing the physical characteristics that the child should have. Giorgio’s uncles saw the ad and called the minor’s parents – he a psychiatrist, she a midwife – who attended an audition in which there were thousands of applicants. As soon as he crossed the door, little Cantarini ended up imposing himself by conquering Benigni, also the director of the film, who saw in him the perfect Giosué.
But how to tell a five-year-old boy who dreamed of being a footballer the dramatic story they planned to film? “They told me like a story,” the actor said years later, remembering the didactic story between good guys and bad guys that Benigni explained to him, with whom he has a beautiful friendship, to understand what the shooting was about.
The chemistry with his fictional family was excellent – the mother was Nicoletta Braschi, Benigni’s real-life wife – and he won the Jackie Coogan award for his performance, becoming the youngest to do so, as well as being the only Italian. Ridley Scott later signed him to play Russell Crowe’s son in the also Oscar-winning Gladiator, although on that occasion his character was practically a cameo. Like a kind of talisman, Cantarini once again played the offspring of an epic character who had won the golden statuette for best actor.
Appearing in these two important feature films seemed to predestine the young actor with expressive dark eyes to a fruitful career in the film industry. But it was not like that.
In 2001 he took part in the telefilm Of Love and War (John Kent Harrison, 2001), an adaptation of the novel ‘War in the Pennines’, by Eric Newby. The next six years he focused on his studies – only in 2005 was he seen in the children’s edition of the Ballando con le stelle contest – and in 2007 he was directed by Paolo Bianchini in the historical drama Il giorno la notte por l’ Sunrise. In the comedy Il mattino ha l’oro in bocca, his role was short-lived.
Then came appearances in the long-running series Distretto di polizia or in AUS: Adotta uno student, RAI’s first web series, and in several short films, although nothing relevant. In 2012 she entered the prestigious National Film School in Rome and graduated two years later. As he has commented in some interviews, he never had a clear vocation to be an actor: “I never felt a great impulse to act, although without a doubt it is an art that intrigues me. But I am much more interested in the job of a screenwriter”, he assured La Stampa. “I would like to study scientific criminology. It may seem banal, but I got into it watching ‘CSI'”, added this young man who has just turned 30.
Cantarini has been living in recent years between Rome, Paris and New York, where he studied at the New York Film Academy. In the French capital he spent time looking for new professional challenges and in 2015 he returned to Italy, where he directed, produced and performed in Harold Pinter’s play, The Dumbwaiter, together with his friend Miguel Gobbo Díaz. For next year he returns to the big screen in the biopic about Ferruccio Lamborghini, the founder of the legendary sports car factory.
Directed and scripted by Robert Moresco- known for producing films like Crash and Million Dollar Baby-, the actor plays Giorgio Lamborghini. Initially, the film was going to star Antonio Banderas as Ferruccio and Alec Baldwin as Enzo Ferrari, but scheduling problems for the Spaniard have separated him from the project, which will eventually feature Frank Grillo and Gabriel Byrne.
During the pandemic, Giorgio joined the coronavirus contact tracing work in Viterbo, a task to which his brother Lorenzo, a singer and guitarist, signed up. “Part of my family is already involved in health care […] It’s just a temporary job. But in this period we all have to roll up our sleeves,” he explained to Il Messaggero.
He is passionate about writing scripts and dreams of directing. Until now, she has gone behind the camera to shoot some short films. He says that he tries to avoid the mainstream and only shows up for quality jobs. On a sentimental level, he is linked to the Italian actress and dancer Marial Bajma-Riva.
He loves playing sports: football, fencing, volleyball… he admires Fellini and Rossellini and is very active on his Instagram profile, where he posts photos of his travels, with animals and in the middle of nature.
