Massimo Popolizio (born 4 July 1961) is an Italian actor and voice actor.
Biography Massimo Popolizio studied at the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome in 1984, Popolizio started his career as a stage actor and, after graduation, started a fruitful artistic collaboration with theater director Luca Ronconi. In 1995 he won a UBU Award as Best Actor for his work in Shakespeare's King Lear and Towards Peer Gynt inspired by Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen, and again in 2001 for his role in Carlo Goldoni's 1747 play The Venetian Twins. In 2006 he won the Golden Aeschylus, conferred by the National Classic Drama Institute (INDA). In 2012, Popolizio returned to Ibsen in the title role of the stage work John Gabriel Borkman, with Lucrezia Lante della Rovere and Manuela Mandracchia. In 2013 he played Don Palma in the TV show Una grande famiglia.
Popolizio lent his voice for the Italian dubbing of Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films, to Tom Cruise (Dr. William "Bill" Harford) in Eyes Wide Shut and to the voice of Lionel Abelanski (Shlomo) in Train of Life. He acquired visibility with his more recent film roles in Crime Novel, Black Sea and My Brother Is an Only Child, as well as in the role of Victor Sbardella in Il Divo by Paolo Sorrentino. In 1998 he won the Nastro d'Argento for Best Dubbing for the dubbing of the title character of the film Hamlet, played by director Kenneth Branagh. In 1998 he voiced Tim Roth in the role of Danny Boodman TD Lemon 1900 in the film The Legend of 1900. In 2009 he was the Italian voice of actor Cal Lightman, the protagonist of the series Lie to Me (also played by Tim Roth). In 2013, he returned to the cinema with Welcome Mr. President and The Great Beauty.
Filmography Film YearTitleRole(s) Notes 1993 Caccia alle mosche Daniele 1995 Heartless Minister 1996 The Elective Affinities Marchese 2005 Romanzo Criminale Il Terribile 2006 Mare nero Laganà 2007 My Brother Is an Only Child Ettore Benassi2008 Il divo Vittorio Sbardella Amore che vieni, amore che vai Bernard 2009 The Big Dream Domenico2010 20 Cigarettes Storchi The Santa Claus Gang Junk Dealer Cameo appearance2011 Boris: The Film Massimo Drifters Sergio 2012 Steel Arturo2013 Welcome Mr. President Leader The Great Beauty Alfio Bracco2014 Amici come noi Ettore Leopardi Monaldo Leopardi The Rich, the Pauper and the Butler Father Amerigo 2015 Arianna Marcello Fermi2016 The Big Score Conversani Era d'estate Giovanni Falcone 2018 I'm Back Benito Mussolini2019 The Champion Tito Rigoni Welcome Back Mr. President Former Politician The Lion King Scar Italian voice Il ladro di giorni Totò Once Upon a Time... in Bethlehem Herod the Great 2020 The Predators Pierpaolo Pavone2021 Governance Renzo Petrucci Ai confini del male Giorgio2022 La notte più lunga dell'anno Francesco Dry Himself Cameo appearance War Attilio Benedetti Across the River and into the Trees Vanni Rizzon 2023 Eravamo bambini Antonio Rizzo
Television YearTitleRole(s) Notes 1996 That Awful Mess on Via Merulana Giuliano Valdarena Television movie 2001 L'attentatuni Angelo Branca Two-parts television movie 2005 Il grande Torino Erno Erbstein Television movie 2007 La stagione dei delitti Michele Mangano 6 episodes 2011 Il delitto di via Poma Inspector Massimo Del Frate Television movie2013 Il clan dei camorristi Don Palma 5 episodes Una grande famiglia Vincenzo De Lucia 6 episodes 2014 Qualunque cosa succeda Michele Sindona Television movie 2016 Io non mi arrendo Gaetano Russo Two-parts television movie 2018 Il confine General Cadorna Television movie 2021 Svegliati amore mio Ettore Tagliabue 3 episodes 2025 Sara: Woman in the Shadows Corrado Lembo 4 episodes
Theatre S. Giovanna, directed by Luca Ronconi (1983) Due Commedie in Commedia, G. B. Andreini, directed by Luca Ronconi (1984) Tasso, Goethe, directed by Cesare Lievi (1986) Il Gabbiano, Anton Cechov, directed by Massimo Castri (1987) Aiace, Sofocle, directed by Antonio Calenda (1988) La Sposa di Messina, Friedrich Schiller, directed by Elio De Capitani (1990) Gli Ultimi Giorni dell'Umanità, Karl Kraus, directed by Luca Ronconi (1992) Misura per misura, William Shakespeare, directed by Luca Ronconi (1992) Aminta, Torquato Tasso, directed by Luca Ronconi (1993) Venezia Salva, Simone Weil, directed by Luca Ronconi (1993) Peer Gynt, Henrik Ibsen, directed by Luca Ronconi (1995) Re Lear, William Shakespeare, directed by Luca Ronconi (1995) I Fratelli Karamazov, Fedor Dostoevskij, directed by Luca Ronconi (2001) I Due Gemelli Veneziani, Carlo Goldoni, directed by Luca Ronconi (2001) Lolita, Nabokov, directed by Luca Ronconi (2002) Baccanti, Euripide, directed by Luca Ronconi (2002) Rane, Aristofane, directed by Luca Ronconi (2002) Professor Bernhardi, by Arthur Schnitzler, directed by Luca Ronconi (2005) Cyrano de Bergerac, Rostand, directed by Daniele Abbado (2009) Il misantropo, Molière, directed by Massimo Castri (2010) Blackbird, D. Harrower, directed by Lluis Pasqual (2011) John Gabriel Borkman, by Ibsen, directed by Piero Maccarinelli (2012) Visita al padre, by Roland Schimmelpfennig, directed by Carmelo Rifici (2014)
Dubbing Movies Ralph Fiennes in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Daniel Auteuil in Sostiene Pereira, Sade and in The Eighth Day Bruce Willis in Armageddon Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut Tim Roth in The Legend of 1900 and Lie to Me Kenneth Branagh in Hamlet and Othello Lionel Abelanski in Train of Life Mark Rylance in Anonymous Crispin Glover in Beowulf Ulrich Noethen in Comedian Harmonists Ulrich Mühe in My Führer – The Really Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler
References
External links
2005: Il deserto dei tartari su Radio 3 letto da Massimo Popolizio (Il Terzo Anello - Ad alta voce): 23 puntate, formato .ram 2006: Il maestro e Margherita su Radio 3 letto da Massimo Popolizio (Il Terzo Anello - Ad alta voce): 22 puntate, formato .ram 2007: Le avventure di Tom Sayer di Mark Twain, su Radio 3 letto da Massimo Popolizio (Il Terzo Anello - Ad alta voce): 20 puntate, formato .ram 2008: Le memorie di Barry Lindon su Radio 3 letto da Massimo Popolizio (Il Terzo Anello - Ad alta voce): puntate formato .ram