Claudio Bigagli is a writer, actor and director. He studied acting at the National Academy of Dramatic Arts, with Orazio Costa Giovangigli, and improved his training working with Dario Fo and Vittorio Gassman. His first play , Little Misunderstandings, played by Sergio Castellitto, was staged with great success at the Spoleto Festival in 1986, and won the Taormina Art Award for beginning playwrights. An year later became a popular film. His first novel, The Sky with a Finger, published by in 2010 by Garzanti, was also made into a movie directed by Francesca Comencini and was in competition at the 2012 Venice Film Festival. As an actor Bigagli has worked with some of the most important Italian directors. He played leading roles in many films, including: The Night of Shooting Stars; Kaos and Fiorile, by the Taviani brothers, You Upset Me, by Roberto Benigni, Bianca, by Nanni Moretti, The Good Life, by Paolo Virzi, and Mediterraneo, by Gabriele Salvatores, 1992 Best Foreign Movie Academy Award winner. His most recent character is Duilio Guicciardini, Minister of Economy and Finance, in The new Pope, by Paolo Sorrentino.