| Federico Castelluccio | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 29, 1964 Naples, Italy |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1986–present |
Federico Castelluccio (born April 29, 1964) is an Italian-American actor and professional visual artist, who is best known for his role as Furio Giunta on the HBO TV series, The Sopranos.
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Born in Naples, Italy, his family moved to Paterson, New Jersey in 1968.[1] In 1982, Castelluccio was awarded a full scholarship to the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he earned a BFA in painting and media arts.[2] Just prior to winning the scholarship, Federico received an opportunity to do a painting for veteran actor George Burns.[3]
Castelluccio began his career as an actor in 1986. Some of his film credits include Made with Jon Favreau, Fire with Robert Klein and Diary of a Hitman with Danny Aiello. In television, Federico's credits include NYPD Blue and his best known role in the HBO hit series, The Sopranos, as the Neapolitan enforcer Furio Giunta.
He also appeared in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints which debuted in 2006 at the Sundance Film Festival and received two awards, one for best dramatic directing and another for best dramatic ensemble, headed by Robert Downey Jr., Chazz Palminteri, and Rosario Dawson.
Castelluccio’s recent film projects include the biographical El Cantante starring Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez, Aftermath, a crime-thriller starring Michael Anthony Hall, Chris Penn and directed and written by Thomas Farone, The Obscure Brother, filmed in southern Italy, a short film that Federico executive produced and acted in. Federico starred with David Zayas and Otto Sanchez in 2003's La Araña directed and written by Vincent Zambrano and Jose Patino. Capers, a comedic film, was released in 2008 and stars Danny Masterson. Lucky Days is a full-feature film that recently completed filming in New York City. The 2009 film "Forget Me Not", directed by Federico, starring Yvonne Maria Schaefer, had international success. In television, Federico was recently seen as the lead role in Dragon Dynasty[4], a made for television film which aired on the Sci-Fi Channel. He also appeared in the episode of Kenny Vs. Spenny titled "Who Can Produce The Best Commercial" in a role strongly echoing his work on The Sopranos as Furio.
Castelluccio is also an accomplished painter. His fine art paintings are highly technical and influenced by Renaissance and 17th century Italian and Dutch Baroque masters. He has exhibited his paintings in galleries in New York, Washington, D.C., and Santa Fe, New Mexico, and his works are held in the collection of the Yale Fine Art Museum and Kresge Art Museum as well as private collections in the United States, South America and Europe. In 2006, Castelluccio and actor Paul Sorvino were privately commissioned for artwork to be donated as a permanent installation to the Boca Raton Community Hospital in Florida. During the fourth season of Celebrity Apprentice, Castelluccio was asked by Donald Trump to judge which celebrity designed the best hat. Castelluccio eventually chose La Toya Jackson. She was awarded $25, 000 for her charity, the AIDS Project Los Angeles[5]