Roberto Benigni is feeling the love.
The acclaimed Italian actor and director was on hand at the kickoff of this year’s Venice Film Festival on Thursday night, accepting the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
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After being introduced by director Jane Campion, who compared him to “an exploding bottle of Prosecco,” according to The Hollywood Reporter, and praised him as “a comic genius with heart and sincerity,” the Oscar-winning “Life is Beautiful” star took the stage.
After breathlessly listing off all the directors he has worked with over the years in thanks, Benigni told festival attendees, “I deserved a kitten, a kitten. Not a lion!”
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The 68-year-old also shared effusive praise for wife Nicoletta Braschi, an actress and producer who has been his artistic and business partner for decades.
“I can’t dedicate this award to you because this award is already yours,” he said. ”We have done everything together for 40 years. If you were to measure time, it would be with you and without you. We can share it: I take my tail, and the rest is yours. The wings are yours. If anything I’ve ever done has taken off, it’s thanks to you, your talent as an actress, your femininity. The light you give off.”
