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Asia Argento was born in Rome, Italy, into a family of actors and filmmakers, both occupations which she has herself pursued. She made her debut when she was only nine years old in Sergio Citti's Sogni e bisogni (1985). In 1988 she had the leading role in Cristina Comencini's first film, Zoo (1988), and was part of the cast of The Church (1989), directed by Michele Soavi. The following year she played Nanni Moretti's daughter in Red Wood Pigeon (1989) (also directed by Moretti).

It was with Close Friends (1992), written and directed by Michele Placido, that Asia's career really took off and she was able to move on from playing very young girls to more mature, complex roles. The movie was well-received at the Cannes International Film Festival. In Trauma (1993), she worked for the first time of several times with her father, famed Italian horror director Dario Argento (her mother is one of Argento's favorite actresses, Daria Nicolodi, playing an anorexic girl in search of her parents' killer.

Asia's absorbed, intense style of acting was well-used in Giuseppe Piccioni's Condannato a nozze (1993). In 1993 she co-starred in Carlo Verdone's Perdiamoci di vista (1994) in which she played Arianna, a physically disabled girl--an intricate, difficult role that won her the David di Donatello for best actress (1993-1994). She also had a featured role in the international cast of Queen Margot (1994), directed by Patrice Chéreau. In 1995 she worked with Michel Piccoli in Peter Del Monte's Traveling Companion (1996), which again won her a David di Donatello and a Grolla d'oro.

In 1994 Asia turned her hand to directing and turned out two short films: "Prospettive" (an episode of the film DeGeneration (1994)) and "A ritroso". In 1996 she directed a documentary on her father and, in 1998, one on cult director Abel Ferrara, Abel/Asia (1998), which won an award at the Rome Film Festival. In 1999 Asia made her feature-directing debut with Scarlet Diva (2000), in which she was the leading actress and author of the screenplay. The film was released in May 2000 in Italy and the rest of the world. It won an award at the Williamsburg Film Festival in Brooklyn, New York. In 2001, after directing a number of music videos, she gave birth to her first daughter, Anna Lou. In 2002 she starred in The Red Siren (2002) by Olivier Megaton with Jean-Marc Barr and the action thriller xXx (2002), directed by Rob Cohen, with Vin Diesel.

Asia is also the author of a number of short stories published in many prestigious magazines such as "Dynamo," "L'Espresso," "Sette," and "Village," Her first novel, "I Love You, Kirk," was published in Italy by Frassinelli Editrice in October 1999 and in France by Florent Massot in 2001.

(1999) Novel: &quot;I Love You Kirk (Italy: Edizioni Frassinelli).

Her photography has been published in several magazines, including German Vogue, Self Service (a French fashion magazine) and Italian GQ.

(2002) Sang on &quot;Je T&#39;Aime, Moi Non Plus&quot; (also featuring <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0596948/?ref_=nmwrk">Brian Molko</a>), from the album &quot;Positions&quot; by Trash Palace (Discograph Records)

(2003) Music video: Appeared in &quot;This Picture&quot; by <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm2202308/?ref_=nmwrk">Placebo</a>.

(2003) Music video: Directed &quot;sAint&quot; by <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0001504/?ref_=nmwrk">Marilyn Manson</a>. NOTE: The video was banned from airplay in the US.

She was <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm1497548/?ref_=nmwrk">Jimmy Bennett</a>&#39;s acting coach for the film <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt0340163/?ref_=nmwrk">Hostage (2005)</a>.

(2004) Music video: Appeared in &quot;Eight&quot; by <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0001504/?ref_=nmwrk">Marilyn Manson</a>.

Sang on &quot;La Tua Lingua sul Mio Cuore&quot; (also featuring Soul Kingdom), from the album &quot;RYLZ&quot; by Royalize (Royalty Records)

(2001) Sang on &quot;Hard Track&quot;, from the album &quot;The Latest&quot; by Slicker (Hefty Records)

(2004) Sang on &quot;Double Jeu&quot;, from the album &quot;L&#39;Absence&quot; by <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0953925/?ref_=nmwrk">Hector Zazou</a> (Taktic Music)

(2000) TV commercials (Italy): Renault Max automobiles.

(February 20, 2016) Participant: &#39;Ballando con le Stelle&#39; 11th edition, with dancing teacher <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm5339480/?ref_=nmwrk">Maykel Fonts</a>.

(2008) Was the voice of Faith Connors in Italian version of the video game &quot;Mirror&#39;s Edge&quot;

(March 28, 2017 - April 16, 2017) Stage Play: Rosalind Franklin in &quot;Rosalind Franklin Il segreto della vita&quot; (&quot;The Secret Life of Roaslind Franklin&quot;) play by Anna Ziegler (at Teatro Eliseo di Roma, Rome, Italy)

(2017) sang on &quot;Wait For Signal&quot;, from the album &quot;Ununiform&quot; by Tricky

(2017) Music video: Directed &quot;La vie est belle&quot; by French band Indochine. In this clip appeared Asia Argento and her children Anna-Lou Castoldi and Nicola Civetta

(2017) sang on &quot;Gloria&quot;, from the album &quot;13&quot; by Indochine

(2020) Participant: &#39;Pechino Express&#39; 8th edition with <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0312576/?ref_=nmwrk">Vera Gemma</a> as &#39;Le figlie d&#39;arte&#39;.

Other works

Asia Argento

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