1. Introduction. Working Stars -- 2. Introduction to Section I -- 3. Antonio Albanese. Drama, Comedy, and Everything in Between -- 4. Luca Argentero. The Charm of Understatement -- 5. Marco Giallini. “I Had a Hundred Jobs!” What His Story Tells Us About Career Development in the Cultural Industries -- 6. Luca Marinelli. “You Have to Learn to Trust Your Own Face” -- 7. Benedetta Porcaroli. Don’t Call Me Baby -- 8. Alba Rohrwacher. An Unconventional Actress with an Academic Training -- 9. Toni Servillo. An Actor “Fallen” into Cinema -- 10. Mirella Bordoni. Teaching Acting with the “Costa Method” -- 11. Tatiana Lepore. From Creative Mediation to Functionality. The Role of the Acting Coach in Italy -- 12. Introduction to Section II -- 13. Giuseppe Battiston. Enough with the Latin Lover -- 14. Silvia Calderoni. A Techno-Heart Athlete -- 15. Coco Rebecca Edogamhe. A Very Ordinary Girl -- 16. Pierfrancesco Favino. Italianness, Masculinity, and Performance of a Popular Antidivo -- 17. Sabrina Ferilli. A Star Reborn. Negotiating Sexuality, Femininity, and Ageing through Authenticity -- 18. Valeria Golino. Transnational and Global Italianness -- 19. Caterina Murino. Global Ambitions, Italian Roots -- 20. Jasmine Trinca. The Smiling Girl Goes #MeToo -- 21. Laura Muccino and Sara Casani. Casting and Crafting Italian TV Stardom -- 22. Beppe Caschetto. How a Talent Agent Can Build a Film and Television Performer -- 23. Introduction to Section III -- 24. Monica Bellucci. Internationalising Italian Beauty -- 25. Alessandro Borghi. (Reluctant) Celebrity, (Self-)promotion, and Social Networks -- 26. Margherita Buy. Accounting the Career of an Ageing (Anti-)Diva -- 27. Paola Cortellesi. Artistic Versatility, Gender Equality, and the Use of Promotional Interviews in the (Re-)Negotiation of a Star’s Image -- 28. Matilda De Angelis. Naked Ambition -- 29. Elio Germano. Not Just an Actor -- 30. Riccardo Scamarcio. The Transference of Energy and the Enigmas of Intimacy -- 31. Greta Scarano. A Versatile Contemporary Celebrity -- 32. Checco Zalone. Popular Performance, Italian Masculinity, and Transmedia Promotion -- 33. Alberto Barbera. Enhancing Italian Actors and Actresses through Film Festivals.

Open Access

“Looking beyond the finished product of the actor’s performance, this essential collection illuminates the work of screen acting. Presenting a diverse range of case studies, chapters provide valuable insights into the formation of career pathways, the roles played by assorted intermediaries in managing actor, and the uses of various media outlets to generate promotional exposure.” — Paul McDonald, King’s College, UK “This book offers fascinating explorations of actors’ trajectories, including the ways they manage their age and their aging and how they broker off-screen activities, making this an especially useful and rich resource in Italian screen studies.” — Ellen Nerenberg, Wesleyan University, USA “This volume magnificently expands the geographical and media reach of star studies, demonstrating the ways in which contemporary, non-Hollywood stardom is and is not appropriately understood through the established paradigms. Furthermore, star studies have long been bedevilled by an emphasis on the star image at the expense of the work that goes into producing such images. Here the volume is triumphant, brilliantly covering all bases.” — Richard Dyer, King’s College, UK This open access book brings together performance studies, celebrity studies, and media production studies, and it offers a comprehensive understanding of the multi-layered condition of film and television performers within the contemporary Italian screen media landscape. By focusing on a selection of stars who reached success from 2000 onwards, the collection highlights how the renewal of the Italian media industry in the late 1990s impacted different aspects of Italian screen performers’ professional lives, from training to promotion and validation strategies. Luca Barra is Professor of Television and Media Studies at the Department of the Arts, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy Cristina Formenti is Lecturer in Film Studies at the Department of Arts, Culture and Media, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands Mariapaola Pierini is Professor of Film Studies at the Department of Humanities, Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino, Italy Francesco Pitassio is Professor of Film Studies at the Department of Humanities and Cultural Heritage, Università degli Studi di Udine, Udine, Italy.

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