My Brilliant Friend (TV series)

Main • Elisa Del Genio (season 1; guest season 2), Margherita Mazzucco (seasons 1–3), Alba Rohrwacher (season 4; cameo season 3; narration seasons 1–4), and Elisabetta De Palo (featured season 4; guest season 1) as Elena "Lenù" Greco • Ludovica Nasti (season 1; guest season 2), Gaia Girace (seasons 1–3; special appearance season 4), and (season 4) as Raffaella "Lila" Cerullo • Anna Rita Vitolo as Immacolata Greco • Luca Gallone as Vittorio Greco • Imma Villa as Manuela Solara (seasons 1–3) • Antonio Milo as Silvio Solara (season 1; recurring season 2) • Valentina Acca as Nunzia Cerullo (seasons 1–2, 4) • Antonio Buonanno as Fernando Cerullo (seasons 1–3; recurring season 4) • Dora Romano as Miss Oliviero (seasons 1–2) • Alessio Gallo (seasons 1–3) and Edoardo Pesce (season 4) as Michele Solara • Nunzia Schiano as Nella Incardo (seasons 1–2) • Giovanni Amura as Stefano Carracci (seasons 2–3; recurring season 1) • Gennaro De Stefano (season 2; recurring season 1) and Salvatore Striano (season 4) as Rino Cerullo • Francesco Serpico (seasons 2–3; recurring season 1) and Fabrizio Gifuni (season 4) as Giovanni "Nino" Sarratore • Federica Sollazzo as Pinuccia Carracci (season 2; recurring season 1) • Clotilde Sabatino as Professor Galiani (seasons 2–3) • Ulrike Migliaresi as Ada Cappuccio (season 2; recurring season 1) • Christian Giroso as Antonio Cappuccio (season 2; recurring season 1) • Eduardo Scarpetta as Pasquale Peluso • Giovanni Buselli (seasons 2–3; recurring season 1) and Pio Stellaccio (season 4) as Enzo Scanno • Giovanni Cannata as Armando Galiani (seasons 2–3) • Francesco Russo as Bruno Soccavo (seasons 2–3) • Bruno Orlando (seasons 2–3) and Stefano Dionisi (season 4) as Franco Mari • Daria Deflorian as Adele Airota (seasons 2–4) • Matteo Cecchi (seasons 2–3) and Pier Giorgio Bellocchio (season 4) as Pietro Airota • Giulia Mazzarino (season 3; recurring season 2) and Sonia Bergamasco (season 4) as Maria Rosa Airota • Gabriele Vacis as Guido Airota (season 3; recurring seasons 2, 4) • Maria Vittoria Dallasta as Silvia (season 3) • Riccardo Palmieri as Gino (season 3; recurring seasons 1–2) • Giorgia Gargano as Nadia Galiani (season 3; recurring season 2, featured season 4) • Fabrizio Cottone (season 3; recurring seasons 1–2) and Renato De Simone (season 4) as Alfonso Carracci • Rosaria Langellotto as Gigliola Spagnuolo (season 3; recurring seasons 1–2) • Pina Di Gennaro as Melina Cappuccio (season 3; recurring seasons 1–2, 4) • Francesca Pezzella as Carmela "Carmen" Peluso (season 3; recurring seasons 1–2) • Sofia Luchetti (season 3), Vittoria Cozza (season 4) and Ludovica Rita Di Meglio (season 4) as Adele "Dede" Airota • Salvatore Tortora as Gennaro "Gennarino" Carracci (season 3) • Elvis Esposito (season 3; recurring seasons 1–2) and Lino Musella (season 4) as Marcello Solara • Francesca Montuori (season 3) and Claudia Tranchese (season 4) as Elisa Greco • Chiara Celotto as Eleonora Sarratore (season 3) • Sophia Protino (season 3), Fatima Credendino (season 4) and Adriana Trotta (season 4) as Elsa Airota Featured The following actors are credited in the opening titles of a single episode of the series: • Antonio Pennarella as Don Achille Carracci (season 1) • Edu Rejón as Juan (season 3) • Giulia Pica as a doctor (season 3) • Claudio Lardo as Giuntini (season 3) • Mirko Setaro as Lila's cardiologist (season 3) • Vittorio Ciorcalo as Lila's neurologist (season 3) • Giovanni Toscano as Mario's friend (season 3) • Eugenio Di Fraia as Mario Gioia (season 3) • Rebecca Fanucchi as Clelia (season 3) • Iacopo Ricciotti as Maria Rosa's boyfriend (season 3) ==Episodes==

Season 1 (2018) Season 2: The Story of a New Name (2020) Season 3: Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (2022) Season 4: The Story of the Lost Child (2024) ==Production==

in 2019 Commissioned by Rai Fiction, HBO and TIMvision, the first season was produced by Italian production companies Wildside and Fandango and international film group Umedia. TIMvision withdrew from the project after the first season, while production companies The Apartment Pictures and Mowe joined production for the second season. On February 18, 2020, Gaia Girace announced that she would leave the series after playing Lila in three episodes of the third season, as a new and older actress would be cast for the following episodes. However, the director of the third season, Daniele Luchetti, later opted to retain Girace and Mazzucco for the duration of the season. ==Music==

The score of the series was composed by Max Richter. Season 1 }} The soundtrack album for the first season was released by Deutsche Grammophon on December 7, 2018, for digital download. It was preceded by the release of the single "Elena & Lila" on November 30, 2018. ;Track listing ;Additional music The first season features additional material from Richter's solo discography. Season 2 The soundtrack album for the second season was released by Deutsche Grammophon on May 1, 2020, for digital download. The soundtrack features material from Richter's solo discography. ;Track listing Season 3 The soundtrack album for the third season was released by Deutsche Grammophon on March 4, 2022, for digital download. The soundtrack features material from Richter's solo discography. ;Track listing Season 4 The soundtrack album for the fourth and final season was released by Deutsche Grammophon on September 27, 2024, for digital download. The soundtrack features material from Richter's solo discography. ;Track listing ==Reception==

Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a 93% rating with an average score of 8.4 out of 10 based on 57 reviews. The site's critical consensus is, "My Brilliant Friend is an expansive epic that gleans rapturous beauty from the most desolate of circumstances, but it is the intimacy between the central duo – and the remarkable performances that bring them to life – that audiences will remember most vividly". On Metacritic, it has a score of 87 out of 100 based on 20 reviews. Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett of The Guardian stated "How revolutionary it still feels to see female friendship explored onscreen in this way. It goes without saying that it takes the Bechdel test and turns it into ragù." On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has a 100% rating with an average score of 9.5 out of 10 based on 15 reviews. The site's critical consensus is, "Gorgeously shot and full of incredible performances, My Brilliant Friends second season expands its small world with rich results." On Metacritic, it has a score of 92 out of 100 based on 8 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season has a 100% rating with an average score of 9.2 out of 10 based on 13 reviews. On Metacritic, it has a score of 96 out of 100 based on 6 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the fourth season has a 100% rating with an average score of 9 out of 10 based on 5 reviews. Awards and nominations ==Home media==

On April 2, 2019, HBO Home Entertainment released the first season on DVD and Digital in Region 1. ==Notes==