Giovanni Morassutti

Giovanni Morassutti (born March 15, 1980 in Padua) is an Italian actor, director, writer, artist, and cultural entrepreneur. Described by Enciclopedia Italiana as "a versatile actor in films and stage performances", since 2001 he has appeared in more than 30 films including independent films, prime-time tv, and international films, such as Duse (2025) (2025) directed by Pietro Marcello in the official competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival. He was born Giovanni Enrico Morassutti in Padua, Italy, on March 15th, 1980, to a German mother and an Italian father. Morassutti studied acting and directing since he was a teenager, approaching the work of the realistic school first with Susan Strasberg, then as an auditor at the Actors Studio in New York, observing the sessions moderated by Arthur Penn, Estelle Parsons, Eli Wallach, Lee Grant among others while working as a bike messenger and busboy in New York City. He was a student of Salem Ludwig at the HB studio (2001) and then he began studying with John Strasberg who became his mentor. In America, Giovanni worked with Ellen Stewart founder of La Mama e.t.c. , Ted Mornel, Kathleen M. Wilce, Jordan Mattos and Gus Van Sant. In Italy, after graduating from the National Film School in Rome directed by actor Giancarlo Giannini (2008), he got cast in several roles in theatre and film productions working with Fabio Jephcott, Roberto Faenza, Cinzia Th Torrini, Andrea Manni, Stefano Usardi, Matteo Corazza, Lidia Biondi, Harris Freedman, Riccardo Milani among others. His last work as a director is the theatre production of Madre sin Panuelo by Jorge Palant sponsored by the Argentian Embassy and presented in Rome and Milan in the fall of 2015. In Berlin (2018), he was cast in Daniela Lucato directed by Daniela Lucato which was presented at the 71st edition of the Cannes Film Festival. (2020) Morassutti is also a contributing artist of the Transversal Theater Company having performed both male leads in Railroad, winner of the Tor Vergata Award at the 28th Annual Festival Internazionale del Teatro Patologico directed by Dario D'Ambrosi. (2021) He is competing for the David di Donatello award for his role in Affittasi vita (2019) (2019). Giovanni Morassutti has won the award as Best Supporting Actor for his role as Damian in the film Lola (2020) directed by Francesca Tasini. His recent credits also include Fra due battiti (2021), An Approximation of their Barbarous Manners (2021) alongside character actor Bruce Glover, and the leading role of Tarquin in Guilty rebel (2024). As a director, he is working on the post-production of his first documentary film Personal Dream Space and collaborating with filmmaker and producer Marc Smolowitz in the making of The Lonely Child. Morassutti is also known for his involvement in Environmental Sustainability in the arts and Climate Change Theatre. In 2021 he directed the play When staged on the banks of the Tagliamento river using only renewable energy such as solar panels and in 2023 the play Mirror Mirror presented at the Dune degli Alberoni Oasis on the Lido of Venice, a natural environment rich in biodiversity managed by the WWF Venice and Territory on behalf of the Municipality of Venice. As a film director and screenwriter, he is the author of the docufilm Memorabilia based on his family's historic hardware company, uncovering a legacy of community that found its true expression in an unexpected theater troupe that mirrors his artistic path in New York City at the end of the Nineties.