Greta Scacchi

Early life

Scacchi was born on 18 February 1960 in Milan, Italy, the daughter of Luca Scacchi, an Italian art dealer and painter, and Pamela Risbey, an English dancer and antiques dealer. Scacchi's parents divorced when she was four, and her mother returned to her native United Kingdom with Greta and her two older brothers, first to London, then to Haywards Heath, West Sussex.

In 1975, after Scacchi's mother's remarriage, the family moved to Perth, Western Australia, where her stepfather was a visiting professor at the University of Western Australia (UWA). While in Perth, Scacchi attended Hollywood Senior High School and joined UWA's University Dramatic Society, In 1977, Scacchi returned to the United Kingdom to study at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where her contemporaries included Miranda Richardson and Amanda Redman.

Career

Scacchi's first on-screen role was in the first season finale of Bergerac in 1981, when she played a model who was the girlfriend of an international criminal being pursued by the eponymous detective. The following year, she made her film debut in the German film **.

Scacchi's first leading role was in the British film Heat and Dust (1983), opposite Shashi Kapoor and Julie Christie; her performance earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer to Film. She went on to give performances in films such as The Ebony Tower (1984), The Coca-Cola Kid (1985), White Mischief (1987), Presumed Innocent (1990), The Player (1992) and Country Life (1994). She turned down the role of Catherine Trammell in Basic Instinct (1992). She later reflected on her early career: "It was very clear to me even then that I was always being invited to play a male fantasy. I had to work very hard to punch some integrity into the idea of being a woman when I was placed inside that male gaze."

In 1996, Scacchi won an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Alexandra of Hesse in the television film Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny, and was nominated for a Golden Globe and numerous other awards. In 1999, she had a role as an Italian-Australian single mother in the Australian film Looking for Alibrandi, a performance for which she won the 2000 AFI award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2007, Scacchi received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for Broken Trail.

Scacchi is fluent in English, French, German, and Italian, which has made her a popular choice for European casting directors.

Scacchi has performed in a wide range of parts in theatre. She appeared In Times Like These (Bristol Old Vic) and Cider with Rosie (Phoenix Arts Theatre, Leicester) as her film career was taking off. After making four films in 15 months, in 1985 she appeared with Mark Rylance and Kevin McNally in Airbase (Oxford Playhouse and Arts Theatre). In Uncle Vanya at the Vaudeville Theatre, London, in 1987, she played opposite Michael Gambon and Jonathan Pryce. In 1991, she played Nora in Ibsen's A Doll's House in the Festival of Perth. A year later, she played the lead role in Strindberg's Miss Julie for the Sydney Theatre Company. She returned to Sydney in 1996 to play Cecilia in Sam Shepard's Simpatico. In 1999, she took the lead in Easy Virtue in Chichester, directed by actress Maria Aitken.

In 2001, Scacchi returned to Sydney for Harold Pinter's Old Times, directed by Aarne Neeme, playing Kate. In 2004, she toured Italy with an Italian production Vecchi Tempi of the same play, but this time playing Anne. In 2005, she performed at the Theatre Royal, Bath, in Thea Sharrock's production of Noël Coward's Private Lives. Back in Australia in 2008, she was nominated for a Sydney Theatre Best Actress Award for playing Queen Elizabeth in Schiller's Mary Stuart in Sydney. In that year, Scacchi also performed in Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea at the Theatre Royal, Bath, on tour and then in the West End back at the Vaudeville Theatre.

In 2010, Scacchi replaced an injured Kristin Scott Thomas in the Chatelet Theatre, Paris in the French premiere (37 years after it was written) of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music. As Desiree she sang "Send In The Clowns".

In May 2011, Scacchi appeared alongside Anita Dobson in the play Bette and Joan at London's Arts Theatre, written by Anton Burge and directed by Bill Alexander, about the personal and professional relationship between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. At the end of that year she appeared at the Ensemble Theatre, Sydney in David Williamson's new play, Nothing Personal.

In September 2013, Jonathan Miller directed a gala performance of William Shakespeare's King Lear at The Old Vic in London. Scacchi played Regan.

In 2014, Scacchi played Arkadina in Chekhov's The Seagull in Perth. In 2015, she joined the Headlong theatre company to star on a UK tour in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie as Amanda.

Between 20 August and 12 November 2016, Scacchi played Phoebe Rice opposite Kenneth Branagh's Archie Rice in a revival of John Osborne's The Entertainer at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End. The play received mixed reviews but hers were uniformly positive.

In June 2024, Scacchi returned to the role of Joan in Darby and Joan after the show was renewed for a second series.

Personal life

Scacchi is an Italian citizen by birth. She applied for British citizenship after turning 18, but was refused and refused again on appeal; she later applied again due to Brexit. She is a citizen of Italy, Australia and the United Kingdom.

From 1983 to 1989, Scacchi was in a relationship with New Zealand musician Tim Finn. She had a four-year relationship with American actor Vincent D'Onofrio, with whom she has a daughter, actress Leila George. She was previously the mother-in-law of actor Sean Penn, who was married to George from 2020 to 2022.

In 1997, Scacchi began a relationship with her first cousin, Carlo Mantegazza. They have a son.

Scacchi is an active supporter of campaigns and organisations that promote environmental causes. She has supported Greenpeace and Christian Aid's climate change campaign. In 2009, she posed nude with a codfish to promote the documentary The End of the Line, a film exposing the effects of overfishing. She continues to lead the linked Fishlove campaign, which has seen a host of well known actors pose for photographs with a variety of fish.

In October 2013, Scacchi was awarded the Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Knight in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic) for her services to the arts.

Filmography

Film

Television

Radio

Theatre

References

References

1. (2008-03-21). "Greta Scacchi, Mold". [[Daily Post (North Wales).
2. "Greta Scacchi profile". The Guardian.
3. (17 Aug 2008). "Slight mischief". [[The Sunday Times]].
4. (4 April 2016). "Giovanni Carsaniga (1934–2016)".
5. Cornwell, Jane. (22 June 2014). "Greta Scacchi: acting royalty". The Sydney Morning Herald.
6. (9 November 2014). "In Conversation… with Greta Scacchi". University of Western Australia.
7. Bosworth, Michael. (2000). "Hollywood Senior High School – A History".
8. (Summer 2010). "The Octagon Takes a Bow". Uniview.
9. Vagg, Stephen. (11 September 2025). "Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation 1982-1997".
10. Bryce Hallett, ''Her world's a stage'', ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'', Metropolitan, 10 February 2001, p.3
11. Rogers, Jude. (12 November 2023). "Greta Scacchi: 'I was always being invited to play a male fantasy'". The Guardian.
12. (29 May 2014). "Urban Cinefile Scacchi, Greta - Looking For Alibrandi". Urbancinefile.com.au.
13. George, Sandy. (19 November 2000). "Looking For Alibrandi finds five AFI Awards | News | Screen". Screendaily.com.
14. (10 March 2008). "The Deep Blue Sea: Swept away on an ocean of bitter tears". The Telegraph.
15. (18 February 2010). "Bittersweet soufflé is a delight". The Telegraph.
16. (10 May 2011). "''Bette & Joan''". Londontheatre.co.uk.
17. Sydney Morning Herald 18 December 2011
18. "The Old Vic | King Lear". Bookings.oldvictheatre.com.
19. (13 August 2014). "Daughter joins Greta Scacchi on stage for Chekhov in Perth". The Australian.
20. (20 September 2015). "The Glass Menagerie review – 3D actors trapped in a 2D production". The Guardian.
21. (10 September 2016). "John Osborne's The Entertainer is a big, fat, boring slice of prime-time chitchat". The Spectator.
22. (4 September 2016). "The Entertainer review – Kenneth Branagh's off-key swan song". The Observer.
23. Slatter, Sean. (2024-06-06). "Bryan Brown, Greta Scacchi ready to ride again with 'Darby and Joan' S2".
24. Urban, Andrew L.. "Scacchi, Greta – Looking for Alibrandi".
25. Walmsley, Olivia. (6 September 2022). "Greta Scacchi: 'Fitting the photogenic ideal opened lots of doors for me – but it was also frustrating'". The Telegraph.
26. Macdonald, Marianne. (28 September 2008). "Greta Scacchi: glad to be back". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
27. Macdonald, Marianne. (28 November 1999). "'Trainspotting, I'd love to do that...'". [[The Guardian]].
28. (14 February 2021). "Is Sean Penn Vincent D'Onofrio's Son-In-Law?".
29. (21 June 2014). "Greta Scacchi: acting royalty".
30. (11 July 2011). "Greta Scacchi on having a child with her cousin Carlo Mantegazza".
31. (16 April 2014). "Greta Scacchi". Christian Aid.
32. Thorpe, Vanessa. (19 June 2010). "Greta Scacchi revels in her happiest role yet: environmental campaigner". The Observer.
33. MYmovies.it. "Cinema: conferito a Greta Scacchi Ordine a Merito".