Biography

Award winning actress Francesca Fanti presented the bold one-woman comedy show "Orgasmo Adulto Escapes From the Zoo," (written by Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo and Franca Rame) with which she won the ADA Artistic Director Achievement Award for Best Actress in Comedy in Los Angeles and The Bay Area Critics Award for Best Solo Performance in San Francisco where the show was critically acclaimed, sold out and extended for months.

Francesca was chosen by Francis Ford Coppola to play the leading role of Filomena Corrado in Distant Vision, a live cinema experimental production (and possible future full-length feature film) directed by Coppola as a month-long project at UCLA.

She can be seen in the FX TV show "American Crime Story - The Assassination of Gianni Versace" (episode #8) in the role of Franca Versace, mom of Gianni. Also in Bryan Singer's critically acclaimed digital web series "H+" in the leading role of Simona Rossi and in Nine opposite Daniel Day Lewis.

A versatile actor, Fanti has provided voice work for many projects including "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" (2012), the Oscar nominated Disney-Pixar success Luca (2021) and the Oscar winning Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio (2022).

Milestone Italian writer Dacia Maraini invited Francesca to perform her work in Italy after seeing Francesca's sterling performance of Maraini's drama one-woman show "Letters of Love" at the Italian Institute of Culture in Los Angeles. Francesca later on brought Maraini's controversial play "Dialogue Between a Prostitute and Her Client" to critically acclaimed performances in Pasadena and she has written a film adaptation of this play. She is also developing two other projects: "Dating Valentina" (a comedy about divorce, single parenting and online dating debut) and "Missing Milo H." (a drama inspired by the true story of a friend who recently went missing.

In Italy, Francesca also worked with American character actor Vincent Schiavelli, presenting the show "Cc'era 'Na Vota" in Sicilian dialect (not her own) to audiences in Sicily. She also starred in the very popular Italian TV show "La Squadra" and worked with director Carlo Carlei on the TV movie "Ferrari".

Francesca has also worked on numerous national commercials with such celebrities as Herb Ritts, Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna and Bob Richardson.
- IMDb mini biography by: N&M

Below some of the reviews Francesca received for her theatre accomplishments:

"Fanti delivers two hours of, well, orgasmic ferocity with an intensity Maria Callas could envy..." -CHICAGO FREE PRESS "Fanti's seductive allure and sagacious talent...powerful stuff, this, and the deserved standing ovation Fanti receives at the play's end proves it." -PASADENA WEEKLY "...extended again!...not to be missed....highly recommended..." -SAN FRANCISCO BAY TIMES "...an astoundingly versatile Francesca Fanti blazes through five of the seven monologues...with the power and focus of a heat seeking missile...TIP OF THE WEEK." -NEW CITY CHICAGO "Fanti's delivery is sensational...it allows Fanti to show us another dimension of her amazing array of talents and comedic skill." -BACKSTAGE "[Fanti] projects the poignant sensuality of an Anna Magnani or Sophia Loren, but she can also play an assortment of characters in ridiculous situations with the antic fervor of Robin Williams." -SOUTH PASADENA REVIEW "Francesca Fanti is riveting in the role, sometimes powerful and domineering, then turning to docile and delicate..." -REVIEWPLAYS "Fanti's sterling performance earned her two West Coast Critics' Awards, one for Best Actress in a Comedy and one for Best Solo..." -LA DOLCE VITA "A hauntingly sensual and hypnotic theatrical experience... Performed by two breathtakingly talented and sinfully gorgeous artists..." -THE TOLUCAN TIMES "RECOMMENDED!" -OUTLINES CHICAGO "With a stage piece of this caliber...this is a program that is worth a good look!" -ACCESSIBLY LIVE
- IMDb mini biography by: N&M

Francesca starred and performed most of her own stunt sequences in the first TT roadster Audi commercial (both driving and "flying" over a forest).

She used to compete in rifle shooting. She is an advanced yogi. She is an accomplished swimmer, runner and dancer.

Francesca Fanti studied acting with legendary Jeff Corey for many years. She also studied with Anthony Caldarella and Susan Perez from the Actor's Studio. Her very first acting teacher was Dominique De Fazio.