Guerritore was born in
Rome to a
Neapolitan father and a
Calabrian mother. She had her first small part in
Vittorio De Sica's
Una breve vacanza, at the early age of 13. she tied herself romantically and artistically to film and theatre director
Gabriele Lavia, acting in his theatrical performances mostly strong female characters like
Jocasta,
Lady Macbeth and
Ophelia. Miss Julie in Strindberg's drama. The couple separated in 2001, during the rehearsals of Ingmar Bergman's
Scenes from a Marriage in which she played Marianne. Guerritore continued her work with other directors, like
Giancarlo Sepe, in
Madame Bovary,
Carmen, and
The Lady of the Camellias. Beside the stage career, Guerritore works on television and film, starting in 1976 along
Marcello Mastroianni in
Signore e signori, buonanotte. In 1977, she plays the title role in first
RAI colour TV play
Manon Lescaut; significant performances were in
Salvatore Samperi's
The Dark Side of Love (1985) and in
Mauro Bolognini's
The Venetian Woman (1986). She stayed far away from television for 17 years and came back on screen RAI in 1997 with the title role in
Costanza, and in 1999 in
Mario Caiano's ''L'amore oltre la vita
. In 2004, she played Ambra Leonardi in Amanti e segreti'', and in 2006 she played
Ada Sereni in Gianluigi Calderone's
Exodus. Lavia directed her in many movies, often erotically toned, including
Scandalous Gilda (1985),
Evil Senses (1986) and a
Sicilian film by
Giovanni Verga,
La lupa (1996). In theatre, she also wrote and directed ''Giovanna d'Arco
(2004–2006), and Dall'Inferno all'Infinito'' (2008). In 2007, she played a part in
Ferzan Özpetek's
A Perfect Day (
Un giorno perfetto), and in 2008 she took part to
Ivano De Matteo's
La bella gente. She has performed Saint Monica in
Christian Duguay's ''Sant'Agostino''. Guerritore portrayed Anna Di Gastoni in the 2018 film
My Big Gay Italian Wedding. In 2024, she starred as Gabriella de Rosa in the
Netflix Italian series
Deceitful Love. Guerritore's first feature film as a director, '''', about
Anna Magnani premiered at the Rome Film Festival on 9 October 2025, and was released in Italy on 6 November 2025. ==Filmography==