VENICE: Italian actor Toni Servillo has won the best actor award at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in Paolo Sorrentino’s film “La Grazia”.
Servillo portrays a morally upright Italian president struggling with indecision over signing a bill to legalise euthanasia and pardoning convicted murderers.
The prolific performer thanked director Sorrentino during his acceptance speech at the awards ceremony on Saturday.
Servillo used his platform to speak out against the war in Gaza, calling it a land where human dignity is cruelly trampled every day.
He has enjoyed a decades-long collaboration with Sorrentino, who frequently casts him in his films.
Servillo is best known internationally for his role in Sorrentino’s Fellini-inspired “The Great Beauty” as Jep Gambardella.
His expressive face has suited roles ranging from larger-than-life politicians to Sorrentino’s kindly father in “The Hand of God”.
Other notable performances include Eduardo Scarpetta in Mario Martone’s “The King of Laughter” and a shady businessman in Matteo Garrone’s “Gomorrah”.
Born in Naples in 1958, Servillo honed his craft in experimental theatre before achieving film acclaim.
The self-described “theatre militant” has won two European Film Awards and four David di Donatello awards throughout his career. – AFP