Greta Scacchi

Greta Scacchi ( , ; born 18 February 1960) is an actress. Born in Italy to a British-Italian couple, she was raised in Britain and finally settled in Australia, becoming a naturalized citizen in January 1995.

Scacchi had her first leading role in the romantic drama film Heat and Dust (1983), for which she received a BAFTA Award nomination. She subsequently played prominent roles in the films White Mischief (1987), Presumed Innocent (1990), The Player (1992), Emma (1996), and Looking for Alibrandi (2000).

Early life and education Greta Scacchi was born on 18 February 1960 in Milan, Italy, the daughter of an Italian father and English mother. 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.

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 Alix 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.

Recognition and honours Scacchi was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for Heat and Dust in 1983.

She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal of Alix of Hesse in the biographical television film Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny in 1996.

She received another Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her performance in the Western television film Broken Trail (2006).

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.

Personal life Scacchi is an Italian citizen by birth. She applied for British citizenship after turning 18, but was refused, and again refused on appeal; she later applied again due to Brexit. In 1995, Scacchi became a Australian citizen. 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.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1982 Anna 1983 Heat and Dust Olivia Rivers Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer to Film Dead on Time Pretty Girl Short film 1984 The Ebony Tower Diana / "The Mouse" TV film Camille Marguerite Gautier TV film 1985 Defence of the Realm Nina Beckman Feature film Burke & Wills Julia Matthews Feature film Doctor Fischer of Geneva Anna-Luise Fischer TV film The Coca-Cola Kid Terri Feature film 1987 White Mischief Lady Diana Broughton Feature film Good Morning, Babylon Edna Bonnano Feature film A Man in Love Jane Steiner Feature film 1988 Young Distance (aka La Donna della Luna) Angela Feature film Love and Fear (aka Three Sisters, the original title is Paura e amore) Maria Feature film 1990 Presumed Innocent Carolyn Polhemus Feature film 1991 Shattered Judith Merrick Feature film 1992 Fires Within Isabel Feature film Salt on Our Skin George McEwan Feature film The Player June Gudmundsdottir Feature film Turtle Beach Judith Feature film 1994 Country Life Deborah Voysey Feature film The Browning Version Laura Crocker-Harris Feature film 1995 Jefferson in Paris Maria Cosway Feature film 1996 Emma Anne Taylor Weston Feature film Così Mental Patient (uncredited) Feature film Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny Alexandra of Hesse TV filmPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a MovieNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television FilmNominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film 1997 The Serpent's Kiss Juliana Feature film 1998 Love and Rage Agnes MacDonnell Feature film The Red Violin Victoria Byrd Feature film Macbeth Lady Macbeth TV film 1999 Ladies Room Lucia Cotton Mary Lily MacIntosh Feature film Tom's Midnight Garden Aunt Gwen Kitson Feature film The Manor Mrs Ravenscroft Looking for Alibrandi Christina Alibrandi Feature film Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Supporting RoleFilm Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Supporting Actress 2000 One of the Hollywood Ten Gale Sondergaard Biopic 2001 Festival in Cannes Alice Palmer 2002 Jeffrey Archer: The Truth Margaret Thatcher TV film 2003 Baltic Storm Julia Reuter Feature film 2004 Strange Crime Nicoletta Feature film Beyond the Sea Mary Douvan Feature film 2005 Flightplan Dr Lisa, The Therapist Feature film 2006 The Book of Revelation Isabel Feature film Icicle Melt Short film The Handyman Julia Parchant Short film 2007 Hidden Love Dr. Dubois Feature film 2008 Brideshead Revisited Cara Feature film Shoot on Sight Susan Ali Feature film Miss Austen Regrets Cassandra Austen TV film 2010 Un altro mondo Cristina Way to Live Forever Private Instructor Feature film 2011 Helen Van Zandt TV film 2014 The Falling Miss Mantel Feature film 2017 La Tenerezza Aurora Feature film The Girl in the Fog Beatrice Lehman Italian: La Ragazza Nella Nebbia 2018 Operation Finale Vera Eichmann Feature film Amanda Alison Feature film 2019 Palm Beach Charlotte Feature film Waiting for the Barbarians Mai Feature film 2021 Shepherd Glenys Black Feature film 2023 Run Rabbit Run Joan Feature film I Told You So (Te l’avevo detto) Frances

Television

Radio Year Title Role Notes 1989 The Skull Beneath The Skin Cordelia Grey Radio play of P D James novel. Scacchi's radio debut.

Theatre