Valeria Bilello is an Italian actress, model, television presenter, and film director. She began in television and advertising as a teenager, later appearing in Italian and international films and series including Happy Family, One Chance, Sense8, and Curon. She also directed the award-winning short film Attesa.
Background
Valeria Bilello was born on May 2, 1982, in Sciacca, in Sicily's Province of Agrigento, Italy, and grew up in Milan. During high school at a language-focused secondary school, she began modeling and appearing in television commercials, including a campaign connected with MTV Day in 1999.
Her early work placed her within Italy's expanding music-television and commercial-media culture at the turn of the twenty-first century. She later studied directing at a film school in Milan while continuing to work in television, advertising, and performance.
Education
Bilello attended a high school specializing in foreign languages in Milan. She subsequently studied directing at the Scuola di Cinema di Milano, beginning around 2004; the school provided practical training in filmmaking and included acting studies alongside directing. During this period she made the short film Attesa, which received a directing award in 2006.
Career
Bilello began her public career as a model and television presenter. She worked with MTV Italia from approximately 1999 to 2005, presenting programs including Web Chart, Hitlist Italia, Dancefloor Chart, Romalive, MTV Select, MTV On the Beach, and Dance Show. From 2005 she worked with All Music on programs such as Call Center, One Shot Revolution, All Music Show, Playlist, Community, and On Live.
While still active in television, Bilello studied directing in Milan and made the short film Attesa in 2006. Her screen acting career developed with Pupi Avati's Il papà di Giovanna, presented at the Venice Film Festival in 2008. In 2010 she appeared in Gabriele Salvatores's Happy Family and received a Best Actress award at the Festival International du film de Boulogne-Billancourt.
Between 2011 and 2013 she appeared in Il giorno in più, I soliti idioti, Ti amo troppo per dirtelo, Come non detto, Pazze di me, Miele, and David Frankel's One Chance. She also presented Canale 5's Nonsolomoda from 2010 to 2011. In 2012 Giorgio Armani selected her as the worldwide testimonial for the Armani Code Luna fragrance campaign, which included advertising and a trilogy of short films directed by Olivier Zahm, Can Evgin, and Julien Carlier.
Bilello continued working in Italian cinema and television, appearing in Io, Arlecchino, Monitor, Beata ignoranza, Compromessi sposi, Un'avventura, Made in Italy, Security, L'ombra del giorno, Il giorno più bello, Da grandi, and later productions including Fanum: Ombre dal passato and Finché notte non ci separi. Her television work has included the series Squadra mobile, Sense8, Lontano da te, Liberi tutti, and Curon.
Views
Bilello has described directing as a continuing creative space in which she can experiment. Her interviews also present acting as a collaborative practice shaped by the collective work of a film crew.
Personality
In interviews, Bilello has described herself as combining discipline with a rebellious streak and has emphasized perseverance in her professional life.
