Stefano Dionisi

Romantic leading man Stefano Dionisi began his career in his native Italy, appearing with Valerie Perrine in the TV-movie "Rose" (1986), followed by a starring turn in episode five of the immensely popular Mafia drama series "La Piova/The Octopus" in 1987. While his feature debut came opposite Nastassja Kinski in "Il Segretto/The Secret" (1990), the picture that really launched him to international prominence was Gerard Corbiau's Oscar-nominated "Farinelli" (1994), which cast him as 18th Century castrato singing sensation Carlo Broschi. Charming and compellingly handsome, Dionisi came across as a modern, narcissistic "superstar," and the actor's preparation for the role included several months' study with Belgian music coach Daniel Lipnick to master the lip-synching for the digitally-fused voices of counter-tenor Derek Lee Ragin and soprano Ewa Mallas Godlewska that approximated the famous castrato's beautiful tenor.