Enzo Cilenti

Enzo Cilenti
Cilenti at the premiere of Free Fire at Toronto Film Festival in 2016
Born
Vincenzo Leonardo Cilenti

(1974-08-08) 8 August 1974 (age 50)
Years active1998–present
Spouse
(m. 2002)
Children2

Vincenzo Leonardo "Enzo" Cilenti (born 8 August 1974) is a British actor, known for his roles in works such as The Theory of Everything, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and Game of Thrones.

Early life

Cilenti was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire to Italian parents from Foiano di Val Fortore (in the province of Benevento). He worked with his girlfriend, actress Sienna Guillory, in the 2001 film Late Night Shopping. The two were married in 2002, and they have continued to appear together in various works. In February 2011 Guillory gave birth to their twin daughters, Valentina and Lucia, named after Guillory's grandmother and grand aunt, who were also twin sisters.

After attending Bradford Grammar School, a degree in French and Spanish at the University of Nottingham followed and led to him working as a night porter and a bodyguard on the Cote D'Azur and in Mexico City respectively.

Career

His first professional acting role came in Trial & Retribution, which led to the role of Grant in the world premiere of Liz Lochhead's Perfect Days at The Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. Here he was spotted by Wendy Brazington who was casting Michael Winterbottom's Wonderland which at the time had the working title Snarl Up. He played graphic artist Peter Saville on his second collaboration with Winterbottom, the Palme d'Or-nominated 24 Hour Party People.

He has appeared in plays both on and off the West End, notably lead roles in Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things at The New Ambassadors Theatre, and the European premiere of the Pulitzer prize-winning play Anna in the Tropics at the Hampstead Theatre.

In 2007, Cilenti had a recurring role in the CBS series NCIS as terrorist Mamoun Sharif.[1]

He also performed at The Royal Court in a series of plays written and directed by Russian artists entirely in Russian; in Thai ballet as Orpheus in Backpacker Orpheus, a play devised entirely from people's experiences in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake; and in conceptual theatre for new-writing company Paines Plough in a series of shows (including a one-man show) commissioned over a number of seasons by Miuccia Prada to showcase collections for her Miu Miu line at Milan Fashion Week.

Cilenti also directed a short film called Getalife, and in 2015 produced, wrote and appeared in his first feature-length movie The Wicked Within.[2]

His first novel, Mediterranean Homesick Blues, co-written with Ben Chatfield, was published in 2012.

He appeared in Kick-Ass 2 (2013)[3] and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).[4] In The Theory of Everything, he portrayed astrophysicist Kip Thorne.[5]

In 2015 he joined the cast of the HBO series Game of Thrones in Season 5 as Yezzan zo Qaggaz.[6][7] He also appeared in the BBC series Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in the role of Childermass.[8][9]

Cilenti played the part of Aubrey Hackett in the Amazon Studios series The Last Tycoon, which was released in July 2017.[10][11]

In 2019 he played the role of Joe Lyppiatt (in a gender-swap for the character Joanna) in Noël Coward's Present Laughter at the Old Vic in London opposite Andrew Scott.

He lives in London and Los Angeles.[citation needed]

Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Notes
1999 Wonderland Darren
2001 Late Night Shopping Lenny
2002 24 Hour Party People Peter Saville
2004 Millions Francis of Assisi
2005 Colour Me Kubrick Waldegrave
2007 Next Mr. Jones
2009 In the Loop Bob Adriano
The Fourth Kind Scott Stracinsky
Nine Leopardi
2011 The Rum Diary Digby
2013 Kick-Ass 2 Lou
Supercollider Leo Tarsky
2014 Guardians of the Galaxy Watchtower Guard
The Theory of Everything Kip Thorne
2015 The Martian Mike Watkins
High-Rise Adrian Talbot
The Man Who Knew Infinity Doctor
2016 Bridget Jones's Baby Gianni
Free Fire Bernie
The Man with the Iron Heart Adolf Opálka
2018 Juliet, Naked Barnesy
2019 Greed Young Eric Weeks
2021 Outside the Wire Miller
2022 Across the River and into the Trees Gran Maestro
2023 Heart of Stone Mulvaney
2024 The Beekeeper Rico Anzalone

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1998 Trial & Retribution Antonio Bellini 2 episodes
1998 The Bill Jerome Taylor 1 episode
2000 Heartbeat Paolo Mazzetti 1 episode
2003 Spooks Carlo Franceschini 4 episodes, uncredited
2003 Where the Heart Is Carl 1 episode
2003 Coming Up Tommy 1 episode
2005 No Angels Joe 1 episode
2005 Rome Evander Pulchio 4 episodes
2005 The Virgin Queen Jean de Simier Miniseries, 1 episode
2006-2007 NCIS Mamoun Sharif 2 episodes
2011 Lie to Me John Lightman 1 episode
2012 House Matt Johnson 1 episode
2013 Prisoners' Wives Mick 4 episodes
2015 Wolf Hall Antonio Bonvisi Miniseries, 2 episodes
2015 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell John Childermass Miniseries, 7 episodes
2015 Lady Chatterley's Lover Victor Linley Television film
2015 Jekyll and Hyde Captain Dance Main role, 8 episodes
2015-2016 Game of Thrones Yezzan zo Qaggaz 4 episodes
2016 Hooten & the Lady Tramacca 1 episode
2016 Grantchester Felix Davis 1 episode
2016-2017 The Last Tycoon Aubrey Hackett Main role, 9 episodes
2019 Luther Jeremy Lake 4 episodes
2019 Les Misérables Rivette Miniseries, 4 episodes
2021 Breeders George 3 episodes
2021 Domina Tiberius Nero Main role, 3 episodes
2021 The Girlfriend Experience Sean Recurring role, 7 episodes
2022-2024 The Serpent Queen Cosimo Ruggeri Main role
2023 The Crown Mario Brenna Guest, season 6, episode 2 "Two Photographs"

References

  1. ^ "TV Review: NCIS – "Sharif Returns"". blogcritics.org. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  2. ^ "The Wicked Within (Review) | INFLUX Magazine". influxmagazine.com. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  3. ^ "An Interview with Enzo Cilenti". fohnhouse.blogspot.ca. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  4. ^ "'Guardians of Galaxy' casts Enzo Cilenti". digitalspy.com. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  5. ^ Tunzelmann, Alex von (7 January 2015). "The Theory of Everything skips over the black holes of marriage and science". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Game of Thrones season five cast announced at Comic Con!". Watchers on the Wall. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  7. ^ Debnath, Neela (26 May 2015). "Game of Thrones actor Enzo Cilenti says his Yezzan is a 'very different take' from books". express.co.uk. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  8. ^ "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell: About the Show". Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  9. ^ "Meet the man behind Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell's Childermass: Enzo Cilenti". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  10. ^ Petski, Denise (16 December 2015). "Mark O'Brien & Enzo Cilenti Join 'The Last Tycoon'; Kalia Prescott In 'Imaginary Friend' Pilot". Deadline. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  11. ^ The Last Tycoon (TV Series 2016– ), retrieved 8 August 2017