Maria Grazia Cucinotta

• Name — Maria Grazia Cucinotta • Born — 27 July 1968 • Birthplace — Messina, Italy • Occupation — * Actress • Years Active — 1990–present • Height M — 1.77

Cucinotta was born 27 July 1968 in Messina in Sicily, Italy. In a May 2019 interview with Il Giornale, she related how she was taunted as a young girl for the size of her breasts, and that at age 19, she nearly underwent breast reduction surgery, saying, "My mother saved me at 19 when I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life. I wanted to have a breast reduction. For me, it was too bulky. Like all the women in my family, I have a size 6. I considered it a nightmare, especially as a young girl when I felt the eyes on me and the jokes of adults. They told me my breasts weren't suitable for modelling. But I cancelled the operation. My mother said she'd failed as a parent if I'd had that operation. Luckily, Renzo Arbore later called me to work as a showgirl, and my life changed."

After playing a few bit parts on television, her first movie role was in Michael Radford's critically acclaimed Il Postino (1994). Cucinotta played Beatrice Russo, the female love interest opposite Massimo Troisi. Despite the film being Cucinotta's first major role, Troisi had no doubt about her abilities, as Cucinotta later recalled: He was a director and an actor who had the patience to teach me everything because I arrived at that audition recommended by a woman, Nathalie Caldonazzo, who was Massimo's girlfriend. That film changed my life. I'm happy that people still talk about him and that film with which he brought Italianness around the world. National Review critic John Simon effusively praised Cucinotta's performance, describing it as "a cross between ancient Mediterranean love-goddess-hood and un-self-consciously sultry girlishness." Cucinotta took part in the James Bond film The World is Not Enough (1999), playing a villain named "Cigar Girl". That same year, she also guest starred in The Sopranos episode "Isabella" as the titular character. In 2005 Cucinotta appeared on The Simpsons episode "The Italian Bob", voicing Sideshow Bob's wife, Francesca. She also produced and acted in All the Invisible Children (2005), an anthology film serving as a charity fundraiser for UNICEF. Cucinotta appeared in the segment titled "Ciro", directed by co-producer Stefano Veneruso. Cucinotta won the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2010. In 2012, Cucinotta received a star on the Italian Walk of Fame in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Maria Grazia Cucinotta is a Roman Catholic and devoted to Saint Anthony of Padua.

• Year — Title — Role(s) — Notes • 1987 — Miss Italia 1987 — Herself / Contestant — Annual beauty contest • 1987–1988 — Indietro tutta! — Herself / co-host — Variety show • 1988–1989 — Cocco — Herself / Various — Sketch comedy • 1991 — Andy e Norman — Sophie — Main role • 1992 — Il TG delle vacanze — Herself / co-host — Variety show • 1996 — La signora della città — Rosa Minniti — Miniseries • Padre papà — Luisa Iorio — Miniseries • 1997 — Solomon — Abishag — Television movie • 1998 — Vota la voce — Herself / co-host — Annual music festival • Il quarto re — Izhira — Television movie • Wildside — Lawyer — Episode: "Episode 37" • 1999 — The Sopranos — Isabella — Episode: "Isabella" • 2000 — Maria Maddalena — Mary Magdalene — Television movie • 2002 — Il bello delle donne — Rosy Fumo — Main role (season 2) • 2003 — Inferno Below — Santina — Miniseries • 2005 — The Simpsons — Francesca (voice) — Episode: "The Italian Bob" • 2007 — Imperium: Pompeii — Lavinia — Miniseries • 2008 — VIP — Nancy / Nicoletta — Television movie • 2009 — Così fan tutte — Maria Grazia — Episode: "Five" • 2012 — Punto su di te! — Herself / Contestant — Episode: "Episode 1" • 2017 — Celebrity MasterChef Italia — Herself / Contestant — Cooking show (season 1) • 2018 — Miss Italia 2018 — Herself / Judge — Annual beauty contest • 2021–present — L'ingrediente perfetto — Herself / Host — Cooking program

• Illustration — Cucinotta at the 66th Venice International Film Festival (Sep 2009)