Luce Caponegro (born 17 December 1966), also known by her stage name Selen, is an Italian actress, TV presenter, and former pornographic actress.

Early life

Caponegro's father was an Italian industrialist active in the petroleum industry. She attended courses in singing, classical dance, and horseback riding as a child. After leaving home and marrying at the age of 18, she lived in a commune without running water or heating until the age of 20. In addition to Italian, she also speaks French and English.

Career as a porn star

In her early twenties, she first ventured into the adult industry with her first amateur hardcore video "Orgia di natale" directed by Cesare Geromini.Selen – Luce Caponegro
/ref> Her breakthrough came in 1993 at the age of 27 when the director Alex Perry offered her a role in the film ''Signore scandalose di provincia''. It is around this time she adopted the stage name Selen. She has been called Italy's favorite porn star. She made appearances at the Hot D'Or pornographic festival in Cannes and Erotica in Turin and won 17 prizes during her career as a famous pornographic actress from 1993 to 1999. Her last hardcore scenes were released in 2000 with the film ''Millennium''. Although her last sex scene was filmed in 1999, she continued to appear afterward in films as clips were used in later hardcore films. She has stated that she would not return to pornography in the future.

Directors

Selen starred in films by such well-known Italian porn directors including

Mario Salieri Mario Salieri (born 29 November 1957 in Naples) is an Italian pornographic film director and producer. Career Salieri started his adult film career with semi-amateur films shot in Amsterdam for the Italian market. Since the early 1990s, he has ...

, known for ''Dracula, Sceneggiata napoletana, Concetta Licata;'' Silvio Bandinelli, known for ''Il rosso e il nero, Cuore di pietra''); and Joe D'Amato, known for ''Selvaggia, Sahara, Selen regina degli elefanti''. She played the title role in ''Cindy'', directed by

Luca Damiano Luca Damiano (born Franco Lo Cascio; 29 August 1946) is an Italian film director. Born in Rome, Lo Cascio started his career as the assistant director of Fernando Di Leo in almost all the films he directed between 1967 and 1974. In 1974, he ma ...

Mainstream career

Caponegro has given no international interviews and has had a number of small roles in films and mainstream television. Caponegro has presented the music programme "Hot". She has made appearances in radio, hosting the show ''Lezioni di sesso'' (Sex Lessons). Caponegro has also participated in theatre and advertisements. In 2004, she starred in the

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

''La Fattoria''. She has also appeared in ''

Maurizio Costanzo Show Maurizio Costanzo (born 28 August 1938) is an Italian television host, journalist, screenwriter and film director. Biography Costanzo began his career as a journalist, first as a contributing writer to ''Paese Sera'' and then as managing editor ...

Uno Mattina ''Unomattina'' (also spelled ''Uno Mattina'') is a long-running Italian morning television show, broadcast by Rai 1 since 22 December 1986. History The first-morning program of the Italian national public television, was created to counterprogr ...

Domenica In ''Domenica in'' is an Italian Sunday long-running television show broadcast by Rai 1 Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the com ...

, I Fatti Vostri,'' and ''Omnibus''. Caponegro has attended the Palme D'Or film festival in Cannes as a mainstream actress; some of her films have been shown at the festival. Caponegro had a small part in Asia Argento's film ''

Scarlet Diva ''Scarlet Diva'' is a 2000 Italian film by actress and first-time director and screenwriter Asia Argento. Plot summary ''Scarlet Diva'' is a semi-autobiographical film about the Italian actress and director Asia Argento's life as an actress. A sel ...

'', which won a Williamsburg Brooklyn Film Festival Award for

Best New Director ''Best New Director'' was an award given by the New York Film Critics Circle from its first inception in 1989 until discontinuing in 1996. There was no award in 1993. 1980s 1989 *Kenneth Branagh – ''Henry V (1989 film), Henry V'' **Runners-up: St ...

Personal life

Caponegro has always lived in coastal

Romagna Romagna ( rgn, Rumâgna) is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, North Italy. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to t ...

. She has two sons, the first of whom, Kangi, was born in 1988 during her marriage with Fabio Albonetti, which has since ended in divorce. Her second son, Gabriele, was born in 2006 from her ex-partner Nicola Zanone.">Tgcom - Selen: "Sono una mamma canguro"
/ref> She is an animal-lover. In 2006, she graduated her school and expressed a desire to enroll at a university.

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 1966 births Living people Italian pornographic film actresses Italian film actresses Participants in Italian reality television series