Italian actress and filmmaker Asia Argento was BOTD in 1975. Born in Rome, the daughter of filmmaker Dario Argento, she described a lonely childhood in which her parents were largely absent. She made her film debut aged nine and appeared in her father’s film Trauma in 1993, aged 16. She became a star in Italy with the films Perdiamoci di vista (Let’s Not Keep in Touch) and Compagna di viaggio (Travelling Companion), each winning her the David di Donatello award for best actress, and had an eye-catching role as a young assassin in Patrice Chèreau’s film La Reine Margot (Queen Margot). In 2000, she wrote, directed and starred in her debut feature film Scarlet Diva, an autobiographical portrait of a self-destructive actress, including a scene in which she is assaulted by a male film producer. She achieved wider international fame playing a Russian spy in the 2002 action film XXX with Vin Diesel, and as Royal mistress Madame du Barry in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. In 2004, she wrote, directed and co-starred in her feature film debut The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, a lurid psychodrama about mother and son sex workers, based on the novel by trans writer JT LeRoy. In 2006, the New York Times revealed that LeRoy’s novels were written by Laura Albert, with Albert’s sister-in-law Savannah Knoop playing the role of LeRoy in public. Knoop later claimed that Argento had an affair with her (as LeRoy) during the making of The Heart is Deceitful. Argento released her second feature film, Misunderstood, in 2014, announcing her retirement from acting to focus on filmmaking. In 2017, she became one of the first actresses to publicly accuse Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, via an article published in The New Yorker. She quickly became a prominent spokeswomen for the #MeToo movement, delivering a speech at the 2018 Cannes Festival claiming that Weinstein had raped her at Cannes when she was 21, describing the Festival as his “hunting ground” and denouncing those who enabled his abuses. Three months later, the New York Times published allegations that Argento had sexually abused Jimmy Bennett, the child star of The Heart is Deceitful, when Bennett was aged 17. Argento initially denied the allegations, but later admitted that sex had taken place. Further controversy followed when it was revealed Argento had arranged a US$380,000 nondisclosure settlement with Bennett. She was subsequently dropped as a judge on TV talent show X-Factor Italia, and widely criticised for attempting to silence Bennett, in contradiction to her support for the #MeToo movement. In her 2021 memoir Anatomy of a Wild Heart, she defended herself against Bennett’s allegations, also claiming to have been drugged and raped by director Rob Cohen during the making of XXX. Unofficially cancelled since the Bennett allegations, Argento has yet to make another film and has appeared only in documentaries or cameo roles in feature films. Married and divorced twice, Argento has two children. She was in a high-profile relationship with celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain from 2016 until Bourdain’s suicide in 2018. In 2024, she announced her relationship with Simone Bozzelli, a filmmaker 19 years her junior.