Vincenzo Amato (born 30 March 1966) is an Italian actor and sculptor. He has two daughters (11 and 12) Born in Palermo as the son of the stage director and folk musician Emma Muzzi Loffredo, after high school Amato moved to Rome, where his mother lived. Always dedicated to painting, he finished university focused on iron sculpting. After a couple of exhibitions at the art gallery Il Gabbiano in Rome, he moved to Manhattan, New York and began to exhibit with some success at the Earl McGrath Gallery in New York. In the US, Amato became friends with the director Emanuele Crialese, who directed his debut as an actor in the film Once We Were Strangers. His career as an actor had a breakthrough with the role of the fisherman Pietro in Crialise's next film, Respiro. In 2007, he was nominated for David di Donatello for Best Actor for his performance in Nuovomondo.