From the intense racing drama Italian Race to HBO’s The Undoing, Netflix’s The Law According to Lidia Poët, and the spy thriller Citadel: Diana, De Angelis has moved easily between Italian productions and international projects. She has also continued building her film career with movies such as Rose Island, Fuori, and Luc Besson’s Dracula.
Here is a closer look at the Matilda De Angelis movies and TV shows that shaped her career and made her one of Italy’s most recognizable international actresses.
From Music to the Movie Screen
Matilda De Angelis was born on September 11, 1995, in Bologna, Italy. Acting was not actually her first creative path. She studied guitar and violin and performed as a singer before her screen career took off. Prime Video’s biography notes that she joined the band Rumba De Bodas in 2011 and appeared on its 2014 album Karnaval Fou.
That musical background matters because De Angelis often brings a loose, natural energy to her performances. She did not begin as a traditionally trained actress. In an interview about The Undoing, she explained that she had never attended acting school and entered acting almost by chance.
Then came the movie that changed everything.
Italian Race Was Her First Big Break
In 2016, De Angelis made her film debut as Giulia De Martino in Matteo Rovere’s Veloce come il vento, released internationally as Italian Race. The sports drama became her first major showcase as an actress.
What makes that beginning particularly interesting is that Rovere was looking for someone with a raw, instinctive quality rather than a polished professional performer. De Angelis later described the film as a huge breakout for her in Italy and said seeing the finished movie helped convince her that acting was what she wanted to do with her life.
So, if someone asks what Matilda De Angelis’ breakout role was, there are really two answers.
Italian Race was her Italian breakout.
The Undoing became her international breakout several years later.
Matilda De Angelis Movies Worth Knowing
Her film career quickly expanded after Italian Race.
The Prize and Youtopia
De Angelis appeared in The Prize in 2017 and Youtopia in 2018. These projects helped establish her as more than a one-film discovery and allowed her to take on very different characters during the early stage of her career. Her other credits from this period include A Family and Reckless.
Rose Island
For international Netflix viewers, Rose Island may be one of her most familiar films.
Released in 2020, the Italian comedy-drama stars Elio Germano alongside De Angelis, who plays Gabriella. The film tells a fictionalized version of the unusual story surrounding the Republic of Rose Island, a small offshore platform that declared itself an independent state. Netflix lists De Angelis among the film’s principal cast.
The performance also became an important awards moment in her career. De Angelis received major recognition in Italy for the role, further confirming that the attention created by Italian Race was no accident.
Across the River and Into the Trees
De Angelis later appeared as Renata Contarini in Across the River and Into the Trees, an adaptation connected to Ernest Hemingway’s novel. The project placed her in another international production and opposite veteran actor Liev Schreiber.
Robbing Mussolini
In Netflix’s Robbing Mussolini, De Angelis plays Yvonne. The movie mixes a heist story with a wartime setting, giving her another chance to step into a genre very different from her earlier dramas.
That variety has become one of the strongest features of her filmography. She rarely seems interested in playing the same character twice.
Fuori
One of De Angelis’ most important recent films is Mario Martone’s Fuori. The film competed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2025, with De Angelis playing Roberta, a young political activist who becomes part of writer Goliarda Sapienza’s world.
The performance brought her another major career achievement. At the 2026 David di Donatello Awards, De Angelis won Best Supporting Actress for Fuori.
That is a serious milestone. A decade after Italian Race announced her arrival, she was still earning major recognition in Italian cinema.
Dracula
De Angelis also joined Luc Besson’s Dracula: A Love Tale, playing Maria alongside Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz. The film first reached audiences in France in 2025 before expanding into other markets.
For an actress who started in a grounded racing drama, moving into a gothic vampire story is quite a jump. It also shows how difficult her career is to put into one genre.
Her Biggest TV Shows
De Angelis has arguably become even more internationally visible through television.
Tutto può succedere
Before Hollywood audiences knew her name, De Angelis played Ambra Scalvino in the Italian family drama Tutto può succedere. RaiPlay lists her among the main performers across the series, which ran for three seasons.
The show gave her something movies could not: time to develop a character across a longer story.
The Undoing
Then came HBO.
In the 2020 mystery drama The Undoing, De Angelis played Elena Alves, a young mother and artist whose death sits at the center of the mystery involving Grace and Jonathan Fraser, played by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. HBO identifies De Angelis directly as Elena.
This was her first major international production, and it dramatically increased her visibility outside Italy. De Angelis herself described the project as an unusually big opportunity for an Italian actress and said she was surprised by how quickly she won the role after submitting her audition.
If Italian Race introduced Matilda De Angelis to Italian cinema, The Undoing introduced her to the world.
The Law According to Lidia Poët
Netflix then gave her a leading role perfectly suited to her screen presence.
In The Law According to Lidia Poët, De Angelis plays Lidia Poët, a fictionalized version of the pioneering Italian lawyer who challenged restrictions placed on women in the legal profession. The series blends historical drama, murder mysteries, romance, and social conflict.
Netflix released the third and final season in April 2026, bringing the series to three seasons.
This may be the best project for viewers who want to understand her appeal. She gets to be funny, stubborn, emotional, rebellious, romantic, and highly intelligent, sometimes within the same episode.
Citadel: Diana
Prime Video pushed her in another direction with Citadel: Diana.
De Angelis stars as Diana Cavalieri, a Citadel agent working undercover inside the rival organization Manticore. Set largely in a futuristic Milan, the series combines espionage, action, betrayal, and personal revenge.
Going from nineteenth-century courtrooms in Lidia Poët to futuristic spy missions in Citadel: Diana could feel ridiculous on paper. On screen, however, that contrast shows exactly why De Angelis keeps getting interesting roles.
Matilda De Angelis Movies and TV Shows at a Glance
Some of her most notable credits include:
Movies
- Italian Race — Giulia De Martino
- A Family — Stella
- The Prize — Britta
- Youtopia — Matilde
- Reckless — Soledad
- Rose Island — Gabriella
- Atlas — Allegra
- A Bookshop in Paris — Albertine
- Across the River and Into the Trees — Renata Contarini
- Robbing Mussolini — Yvonne
- Fuori — Roberta
- Dracula: A Love Tale — Maria
- The Lesson — Elisabetta Sferzi
TV Shows
- Tutto può succedere — Ambra Scalvino
- The Undoing — Elena Alves
- Leonardo — Caterina
- Call My Agent – Italia — Herself
- The Law According to Lidia Poët — Lidia Poët
- Citadel: Diana — Diana Cavalieri
Is Matilda De Angelis Married?
There is no reliable public evidence that Matilda De Angelis is married as of August 2026.
She had been in a relationship with Alessandro De Santis of the musical duo Santi Francesi. Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported in May 2026 that the relationship had ended and that De Angelis had recently been seen romantically with actor Enrico Borello. The report did not describe her as married.
Because celebrity relationships can change and not every relationship is publicly confirmed, claims about her current romantic status should be treated more carefully than her professional credits.
What Ethnicity Is Matilda De Angelis?
Matilda De Angelis is Italian. She was born in Bologna in northern Italy and grew up around Bologna, including Pianoro.
Reliable biographical sources do not clearly identify a more specific ethnicity, so it would be misleading to assign one based only on her appearance or surname. Italian nationality and her Bologna background are the facts that can be confidently verified.
Does Matilda De Angelis Speak English?
Yes. Matilda De Angelis speaks English.
Her role in The Undoing required her to work in an English-language production with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. Reporting around the series noted that she learned English for the project, while De Angelis described The Undoing as her first international production.
Since then, she has continued appearing in international productions, making English increasingly important to her career.
Where Should You Start Watching?
If you have never seen Matilda De Angelis perform, I would start with three projects.
Watch Italian Race to see where the raw talent first became obvious.
Watch The Undoing to understand why international audiences started paying attention.
Then watch The Law According to Lidia Poët to see her carry an entire series as its central personality.
After that, Citadel: Diana, Rose Island, and Fuori show three completely different sides of her.
That may be the most interesting thing about the Matilda De Angelis movies and TV shows. Her career does not feel like a straight path toward one type of character. She can move from family drama to murder mystery, historical comedy, spy thriller, racing movie, literary drama, and gothic horror without making any one of them feel like the obvious choice.
And after winning another David di Donatello in 2026 for Fuori, it is clear that the early promise of Italian Race has developed into something much more lasting.
I am Jeremy Jahns – Your Cinematic Explorer
Immerse in movie reviews, Hollywood insights, and behind-the-scenes stories.