Silvia Colloca (born 23 July 1977) is an Italian-Australian actress, opera singer, cookbook author, and TV cookery show personality. She has published six cookbooks.

Life and career

Colloca was born in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

to Loredana and Mario Colloca. Her only major film

role A role (also rôle or social role) is a set of connected behaviors, rights, moral obligation, obligations, beliefs, and social norm, norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behavi ...

was in ''

Van Helsing A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across ...

'', in which she played Verona, one of Dracula's brides. On 25 September 2004, at the medieval castle of Montalto in

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, Italy, she married the Australian actor

Richard Roxburgh Richard Roxburgh (born 23 January 1962) is an Australian actor, writer, producer, and director. He is the recipient of a number of accolades across film, television, and theatre, including three AACTA Awards (including AFI), three Logie Awards, ...

who played Dracula in that film. They have two sons and a daughter. The family currently resides in Sydney. Colloca is an opera-trained mezzo-soprano and worked as a musical theatre performer in Italy before becoming a film actress. She appeared in 2015 as Orfeo in

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...

's '' Orfeo ed Euridice'' in Sydney, and as The Queen in

Lindy Hume Lindy Hume (born 25 August 1961) is an Australian opera and festival director, who has worked throughout Australia and internationally. Early life Hume was born in the Sydney suburb of Paddington and grew up in Glebe and Annandale. Her fathe ...

's production of ''Snow White'' for

Opera Queensland Opera Queensland is an opera company based in Brisbane, Queensland. The company was founded with funding from the Queensland State Government in 1981 under the name ''Lyric Opera of Queensland'' after the Queensland Opera Company was closed in ...

and La Boite theatre in 2016. Her debut album, ''Sing Like an Italian'', was released by

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

in October 2022. She performs four numbers alongside arias and art songs by international stars singers. The album made its debut at No. 1 on the

ARIA In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

Core Classical and Classical/Crossover charts.

Television

''Made in Italy with Silvia Colloca'', an Australian 10-part TV series, premiered on

SBS TV SBS may refer to: Broadcasting * SBS Broadcasting Group, Belgium, formerly many countries * Talpa TV, formerly SBS Broadcasting B.V., Netherlands ** SBS6, Dutch television channel ** SBS9, Dutch television channel * Special Broadcasting Service ...

in November 2014, coinciding with the publication of the book of the same name. Colloca took a film crew home to meet her Italian family, showcasing three picturesque regions of Italy, Abruzzo where her family is from, Marche, and

Molise it, Molisano (man) it, Molisana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 ...

, using her mother's kitchen to present ''cucina povera'' (peasant cuisine). ''Silvia's Italian Table'', an eight part reality and cooking series debuted on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

on 6 October 2016. In each episode, Colloca invites a group of celebrities to cook and eat with her and engage in entertaining and intelligent conversation. Guests featured are

Kathy Lette Kathryn Marie Lette (born 11 November 1958) is an Australian-British author whose works have been best-sellers. Early life Lette was born on 11 November 1958 in Sydney's southern suburbs. She appeared in ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' of 20 Au ...

Lisa McCune Lisa McCune (born 19 February 1971) is an Australian actress, known for her role in TV series ''Blue Heelers'' as Senior Constable Maggie Doyle, and in '' Sea Patrol'' as Lieutenant Kate McGregor RAN. She has won four Gold Logie Awards. McCun ...

Tom Gleeson Thomas Francis Gleeson (born 2 June 1974) is an Australian stand-up comedian, writer, television and radio presenter. Gleeson formerly co-hosted ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'' alongside Judith Lucy and currently hosts ''Hard Quiz'', both ...

Magda Szubanski Magdalene Mary Therese Szubanski ( ; born 12 April 1961) is an Australian comedy actress, author, singer and LGBT rights advocate. She performed in ''Fast Forward'', '' Kath & Kim'' as Sharon Strzelecki and in the films ''Babe'' (1995) and ' ...

, Matt Moran,

Ken Done Kenneth Stephen Done (born 29 June 1940) is an Australian artist best known for his design work. Although his simple, brightly coloured images of Australian landmarks have adorned a very popular range of clothing and homewares sold under the " ...

, Sarah Ferguson,

Merrick Watts Merrick Watts (born 18 November 1973) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. He is best known for performing stand-up comedy and radio works as part of the comedy duo Merrick and Rosso with Tim Ross. Career Stand up Watts ...

Claire Hooper Claire Hooper (born 5 September 1976) is an Australian stand-up comedian, television and radio presenter and writer. Hooper is co-hosting '' The Great Australian Bake Off'' alongside Mel Buttle. She appeared as a team captain on the 2008 rev ...

Amanda Vanstone Amanda Eloise Vanstone (née O'Brien; born 7 December 1952) is an Australian former politician and a former Ambassador to Italy. She was a Liberal Senator for South Australia from 1984 to 2007, and held several ministerial portfolios in the ...

, Pia Miranda and

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe, (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the most won by any Australian along wit ...

. ''Cook Like an Italian'', an Australian 10-part TV series, premiered on

SBS Food SBS Food is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel airs programs about food and cooking, from cultures around the world. History SBS first revealed it would laun ...

in November 2020. A second season premiered in April 2021 and third season in May 2022.

Filmography

* '' Casomai'' (2002) as Cannes award hostess * ''

'' (2004) as Verona * '' The Detonator'' (2006) as Nadia Cominski * ''

Virgin Territory ''Virgin Territory'' is a 2007 romantic comedy film directed by David Leland and starring Hayden Christensen, Mischa Barton, Tim Roth, Rosalind Halstead and Kate Groombridge. Based upon Giovanni Boccaccio's ''Decameron'', it has also been know ...

'' (2007) as Sister Lisabetta * ''

Lesbian Vampire Killers ''Lesbian Vampire Killers'' is a 2009 British comedy horror film directed by Phil Claydon and written by Stewart Williams and Paul Hupfield. The film stars James Corden and Mathew Horne, with MyAnna Buring, Vera Filatova, Silvia Colloca and ...

'' (2009) as Carmilla * '' Out of the Night'' (2010) as Roberta * ''Triple Happiness'' (2010) * ''L'Apocalisse delle scimmie'' (2012) as Tossica * '' Nerve'' (2013) as Elena * '' Dante's Inferno Animated'' (2013, Short) as Beatrice (voice: Italian version) * ''Little Tornadoes'' (2022) as Maria

Published works

* ''Silvia's Cucina'', Penguin 2013. * ''Made in Italy'', Penguin 2014. * ''La Dolce Vita'', Penguin 2016. * ''Love Laugh Bake'', Pan Macmillan 2018.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colloca, Silvia 1977 births Italian film actresses Italian mezzo-sopranos Chefs of Italian cuisine Living people Actresses from Milan Australian television chefs Women chefs 21st-century Italian singers 21st-century Italian women singers