Ruffini was born in
Livorno, Italy. He made his debut in
show business by participating in
commercials and in
Paolo Virzì's film
Ovosodo, in which he played the role of a disliked classmate of the main character. For several years he worked as an animator in many vacation villages. Passionate about cinema, in 2001 he founded the cinema association
Nido del Cuculo, with which he organizes events, festivals, film festivals (including the ''Joe D'Amato Horror Festival'' dedicated to
Joe D'Amato), produces documentaries, plays (among all
Io Doppio) and musicals in which he often plays the role of actor and author. In 2002 he won the
Cercasi VJ contest on
MTV. For more than three years he hosts programs such as
MTV on the beach,
Hitlist Italia,
MTV Mobile Chart and
Select. In 2005 he leaves the music network and starts to collaborate with
Marco Giusti. He participates in the demential talk show
Bla Bla Bla with
Lillo & Greg. In the same year, again with Marco Giusti, he figures as the author of
Stracult, on
Rai 2, during which he interviews authors and actors such as
John Woo,
Donald Sutherland and
Barbara Bouchet. In 2005 he participated in
Neri Parenti's
Natale a Miami; in 2006 he repeated with
Natale a New York. In 2007 he became the frontman for the channel
Comedy Central of the
MTV Italia group. In 2008 he participated in the theatrical show
Portamitanterose.it, created by
Maurizio Costanzo and
Enrico Vaime. In the same year he is in the cast of
Natale a Rio; in 2009 he is among the leads in
Carlo Vanzina's film ''
Un'estate ai Caraibi'', with
Gigi Proietti. He was later part of the cast of Paolo Virzì's
The first beautiful thing. In 2010 he co-stars with
Luca Argentero and
Paola Cortellesi the comedy directed by
Giambattista Avellino ''
C'è chi dice no. The same year he is also on stage with the musical 80 voglia di...'80!
directed by Fabrizio Angelini. Later he is one of the protagonists of two parallel movies by the director and screenwriter Fausto Brizzi: Men vs. Women and Women vs. Men''. In September 2011 he leads on
Italia 1 the comedy program
Colorado together with
Belén Rodríguez, being confirmed for the next 5 editions. At the same time,
Ex 2 - Still friends?, directed by Carlo Vanzina, is released in cinemas. In 2013 he made his directorial debut with
Fuga di cervelli, one of the most viewed Italian films in 2013, which grossed more than 5.5 million euros. From February to April 2014 he stars in the musical
Cercasi Cenerentola together with
Manuel Frattini. In October the film
Tutto molto bello was released where he is director and actor alongside
Frank Matano. From February 2015 he returns to host
Colorado, this time together with
Diana Del Bufalo. At the end of the year he stars in the
cinepanettone Natale col boss together with
Lillo & Greg and
Francesco Mandelli. In 2016 he voices the character of Yax for the Italian version of the
Disney film
Zootropolis. He is also at the cinema as an actor in the film
I babysitter by
Giovanni Bognetti with Francesco Mandelli and
Andrea Pisani. Then he renews his collaboration with
Filmauro for the cinepanettone
Natale a Londra – Dio salvi la regina, with Lillo & Greg and
Nino Frassica. In 2017 he is the director of the docufilm
Resilience, inspired by the true story of Alessandro, a victim of a very serious pediatric cancer. In October he appears in the
video clip for
In The Town, a single by
Sergio Sylvestre and
Gabry Ponte. In the same year he curated
Super vacanze di Natale, a montage film that celebrates 35 years of cinepanettone through its most famous scenes. He also returns to dubbing in
Despicable me 3 where he lends his voice to Balthazar Bratt. In 2018 he is
Puck in ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream directed by Massimiliano Bruno, which also features Violante Placido and Stefano Fresi. In March 2018, he made his theater debut with the comedy happening UP&Down
, accompanied by disabled actors; the show toured all the major Italian theaters for two years, and from that experience came the documentary UP&Down - Un film normale'', which Ruffini co-directed with Francesco Pacini. The film won the Kineo award at the
75th Venice Film Festival. As for cinema, in 2018 he is in the cast of Volfango De Biasi's ''
L'agenzia dei bugiardi'', a funny comedy that is a box office success. In 2019, he is the star and screenwriter of Fausto Brizzi's film
Modalità aereo. On TV he is host of the
reality show La pupa e il secchione e viceversa, a TV format brought back to screens after years. He also returns to present
Colorado with Belén Rodríguez. In February 2022 he returned to cinema with
PerdutaMente, a docufilm on
Alzheimer's directed with Ivana Di Biase. For artistic merit, he was presented with the Quiliano Cinema Award. In 2023, he is director of the theatre shows of Casa Abis and Ginevra Fenyes, digital talents supported by Vera S.r.l., his production company. He also directed a series of commercials for Mediaset Infinity, starring Max Angioni. ==Personal life==