Hollywood Embraces Michele Morrone
TORONTO – With almost nothing to watch in theatres these Holidays, let alone this century, one film did stand out from an Italian perspective. The Housemaid, an adaptation of Freida McFadden’s 2022 best-selling novel, stars Hollywood’s current “it-girl” Sydney Sweeney, a former it-girl Amanda Seyfried, and a rising Hollywood star, Italy’s Michele Morrone.
The Housemaid follows Sydney Sweeney’s character Millie who becomes a live-in maid for a duplicitous affluent couple. Morrone plays Enzo, a mysterious groundskeeper for the property. The film seduced both critics and audiences, who dished out $133m in only 17 days of release – against a $35m budget.
Rotten Tomatoes called the film “A sly throwback to the lurid thrillers that used to dominate multiplexes”, while RT audiences gave it a high score of 92%. But a more interesting story is emerging with respect to Michele Morrone.
The Housemaid is the actor’s third American film, all three of which included notable cast members. And all three films found an audience. His sci-fi thriller Subservience (2024), in which he played opposite Megan Fox as a killer android, reached Netflix’s #1 spot in the U.S. and #7 globally.
In Another Simple Favor (2025), a dark comedy and murder mystery starring Blake Lively, Morrone landed a pivotal role as her Italian fiancé. The film dominated Amazon Prime’s Charts from the onset and reached #1 within a week of its release.
But his third film The Housemaid, inarguably his most successful American project to date, is just a smattering of what’s to come from the Apulian born Morrone. The actor was recently cast as Alfieri Maserati alongside Anthony Hopkins, Al Pacino and Andy Garcia. Wrapped in June 2025, the upcoming biopic Maserati: The Brothers is targeted for release this spring.
Still, Morrone feels like a persona non grata in Italy. Some would argue that he built his own doghouse by starring in a film – 365 – that could be construed as bordering on pornographic. But Hollywood is rife with examples of great filmmakers making films with highly explicit sexual content. Consider Last Tango in Paris, Shame and Crash as examples. All three acclaimed films.
In a written statement just seven months ago, and after a frank interview on “Belve” with TV Host Francesca Fagnani, Morrone implied that his standing in Italy was due to his political leanings, among other things. “I do not feel part of a cinema, this Italian one, that sings and plays by itself…if you do not think with your heart on the left you are fascist”.
The actor continued by calling out the “Prejudices of artists who act like inclusive democrats, leftists…not because they really care about their country, but simply because it’s cool to be an actor involved in social and political matters”. Agree with him or not, only two other Italian actors have starred in three or more American made films. And one of them is in her 90s.
Images courtesy of Lionsgate
Massimo Volpe is a filmmaker and freelance writer from Toronto: he writes reviews of Italian films/content on Netflix
