The Volpi Cup for Best Actor (Italian: Coppa Volpi per la migliore interpretazione maschile) is the principal award given to actors at the Venice Film Festival and is named in honor of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, the founder of the Venice Film Festival. The name and number of prizes have been changed several times since their introduction, ranging from two to four awards per edition and sometimes acknowledging both leading and supporting performances.
The Banshees of Inisherin (/ˌɪnɪˈʃɛrɪn/ in-ih-SHERR-in) is a 2022 black tragicomedy film directed, written, and co-produced by Martin McDonagh. Set on a remote fictional island off the west coast of Ireland in 1923, the film stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two lifelong friends who find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their friendship, with severe consequences for both of them. Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan co-star. It reunites Farrell and Gleeson after McDonagh's directorial debut In Bruges (2008).
The film had its world premiere on 5 September 2022 at the 79th Venice International Film Festival, where Farrell won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and McDonagh won the Golden Osella for Best Screenplay. It was theatrically released in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States on 21 October 2022 by Searchlight Pictures. The film received largely positive reviews, with particular praise for McDonagh's direction and screenplay, the performances of the cast, and Carter Burwell's score. It grossed $52 million worldwide against a $20 million budget.
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards and one Volpi Cup. His films as a leading actor have grossed over $7.5 billion worldwide.
Pitt first gained recognition as a cowboy hitchhiker in the Ridley Scott road film Thelma & Louise (1991). Pitt emerged as a star taking on leading man roles in films such as the drama A River Runs Through It (1992), the western Legends of the Fall (1994), the horror film Interview with the Vampire (1994), the crime thriller Seven (1995), the cult film Fight Club (1999), and the crime comedy Snatch (2000). Pitt found greater commercial success starring in Steven Soderbergh's heist film Ocean's Eleven (2001), and reprised his role in its sequels. He cemented his leading man status starring in blockbusters such as the historical epic Troy (2004), the romantic crime film Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), the horror World War Z (2013), and the sports drama F1 (2025).
Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. In the BFI listing of the 100 most important British films of the 20th century, he was the single most noted actor, represented across nine films—six in starring roles and three in supporting roles—including five directed by David Lean and four from Ealing Studios. He won an Academy Award, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe a Tony Award and a Volpi Cup. In 1959, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement in 1980 and the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in 1989.
Guinness began his stage career in 1934. Two years later, at the age of 22, he played the role of Osric in Hamlet in the West End and joined the Old Vic. He continued to play Shakespearean roles throughout his career. He served in the Royal Naval Reserve during the Second World War and commanded a landing craft during the invasion of Sicily and Elba. Along with Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson, he was one of the great British theatre actors who made the transition to films after the war, making his name in six Ealing comedies, starting in 1949 with both A Run for Your Money and Kind Hearts and Coronets (in which he played eight different characters). He went on to lead roles in 1951 with The Man in the White Suit and The Lavender Hill Mob (for which he received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor), then in 1955 with The Ladykillers, and culminating in 1957 with Barnacle Bill.
William John Neeson OBE (born 7 June 1952) is a Northern Irish actor. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, two Tony Awards and one Volpi Cup. With a film career spanning more than forty years, Neeson is regarded as one of Ireland's greatest film actors. Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $11.7 billion worldwide. Neeson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2000.
Neeson made his film debut in 1978 with Pilgrim's Progress followed by early roles in Excalibur (1981), The Bounty (1984), The Mission (1986), The Dead Pool (1988), and Husbands and Wives (1992). He rose to prominence portraying Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's Holocaust drama Schindler's List (1993) for which he earned an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination. He played leading man roles in drama films such as Nell (1994), Rob Roy (1995), Michael Collins (1996), and Les Misérables (1998). He took blockbuster roles portraying Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins (2005), and Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy (2005–2010).
Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in Grand Hotel (1932), as the pirate Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1934), as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa! (1934) for which he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, and his title role in The Champ (1931), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Beery appeared in some 250 films during a 36-year career. His contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stipulated in 1932 that he would be paid $1 more than any other contract player at the studio. This made Beery the highest-paid film actor in the world during the early 1930s. He was the brother of actor Noah Beery and uncle of actor Noah Beery Jr.
For his contributions to the film industry, Beery was posthumously inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
Michael Fassbender (German pronunciation: [ˈmɪçaʔeːl ˈfasbɛndɐ]; born 2 April 1977) is a German-Irish actor. His accolades include a win for one Volpi Cup and nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number nine on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
After studying at the Drama Centre London, Fassbender made his feature film debut in 300 (2006). Early roles include in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (2001) and the Sky One fantasy drama Hex (2004–2005). He first came to prominence playing Bobby Sands in the drama Hunger (2008). Subsequent roles include the 2009 films Fish Tank and Inglourious Basterds, and the 2011 films Jane Eyre and A Dangerous Method, and lead roles in the films The Counselor (2013), Frank (2014), and Macbeth (2015). He gained mainstream success for playing Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto in the X-Men series, and David 8 and Walter One in Prometheus (2012), and its sequel, Alien: Covenant (2017).
Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated stars of the 1930s and 1940s. As a performer he was known for his versatility. He received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, two Tony Awards, two Volpi Cups, the Silver Bear, as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and three Emmy Awards.
March began his career in 1920, by working as an extra in movies filmed in New York City. He made his stage debut on Broadway in 1926 at the age of 29, and by the end of the decade, he had signed a film contract with Paramount Pictures. He made seven pictures in 1929. He went on to receivetwo Academy Awards, for his performances in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). His other Oscar-nominated performances were in the films The Royal Family of Broadway (1930), A Star is Born (1937), and Death of a Salesman (1951).