Stefania was born in the village of Poggibonsi in Italy in 1979 and has been acting and playing the violin since the age of 3. When she was 6, she appeared in her first school play and then became a well known face on Italian Televison, making her first TV commercial for tinned peas when she was only ten years old. The daughter of a car mechanic and a washerwoman, she starred in her first Hollywood movie in 1995 as Catherine de Medici and has made 14 films since, including Aliens 5 – The Reincarnation; the renowned Four Colours: Purple, by Krystof Kieslowski; and Black Penguin White Penguin by Emir Kusturica. She is about to start work on her latest feature, shooting in Rome’s Cinecittà Studios. Her favourite food is Tortellini alla Wasabi Piselli - a dish she invented herself to satisfy her obsession with small green vegetables.