The Life and Career of Rocco Siffredi: From Porn Star to Director

Rocco Siffredi, one of the most famous porn stars, will be a guest tonight on 'Forte e Chiara', Chiara Francini's show airing on Rai 1 from 21:25, alongside Mara Venier and Diletta Leotta. Let's see who Rocco Siffredi is. Rocco Siffredi (Alessandro Borghi) was born in Ortona, Abruzzo, on May 4, 1964 (making him 59 years old) to a carpenter father. His real surname is Tano, and he is the youngest of 6 siblings. At 16, he began working in the merchant navy and, once of age, joined his brother (Adriano Giannini) in Paris to work in his restaurant. In 1984, in a red-light district club, he met Gabriel Pontello (Johann Dionnet), a porn star and French producer from the eighties who introduced him to the world of adult entertainment, presenting him to producer Marc Dorcel and director Michel Ricaud, thanks to whom he starred in 'Belle d'amour', his first pornographic film. Initially, he seemed to want to leave the porn industry to start a modeling career, which, however, ended very soon. Contacted by Teresa Orlowski to return to the porn world. In 1987, he acted in 'Fantastica Moana' (his first Italian film) alongside Moana Pozzi (Gaia Messerklinger) and directed by Riccardo Schicchi (Vincenzo Nemolato). In 1990, he moved to Los Angeles, where a childhood friend introduced him to director John Leslie, who cast him in the film 'Curse of the Catwoman'. The most important European production companies began offering him leading roles in high-quality porn films, thanks to which he won significant awards. In 1993, Siffredi began directing and producing porn films after founding Rocco Siffredi Production in Budapest. In 1996, he won the Hot d'or in Cannes as the best debut director. At the age of forty, in June 2004, he announced his first retirement from performing in porn, continuing to focus on directing and producing. He would return to acting five years later. As reasons for his first retirement, he stated: 'I do it for my family. My children are growing up, and I can no longer just say: Dad is going to work to make money for the family. They want to know more.' Since 1993, he has been married to former Hungarian colleague Rózsa Tassi, known as Rosa Caracciolo (Nutsa Khubulava), whom he met that same year at the Hot d'or in Cannes, and with whom he has two children, Lorenzo and Leonardo, born in 1996 and 1999, respectively. The family has been living in Budapest for over fifteen years, and in the past, Siffredi has starred in some films with his wife. On March 6, the new series 'Supersex' was released on Netflix, one of the most anticipated of the year, in which Alessandro Borghi plays the famous porn star Rocco Siffredi. There are 7 episodes, written by Francesca Minieri and directed by Matteo Rovere, Francesco Carrozzini, and Francesca Mazzoleni, which retrace the actor's life from his childhood to the success of our days. Alongside Borghi, an exceptional cast with artists of the caliber of Jasmine Trinca, Adriano Giannini, and Saul Nanni. The series was premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. The actor received a sexual harassment complaint from journalist Alisa Toaff, after being interviewed by her for the release of the series dedicated to him, 'SuperSex'. Various advances but also insults were allegedly directed by Siffredi towards the professional through messages and calls, becoming so insistent that they caused her a state of anxiety that culminated in the complaint filed at the Prati police station, with texts attached, accompanied and assisted by lawyer Laura Sgrò.