Ruffini Paolo

Paolo Ruffini (Livorno, 1978) is an actor, television presenter, director, writer and film and theatre producer.

He made his film debut in Paolo Virzì’s Ovosodo (1997) and has appeared in numerous box-office hits, working with Neri Parenti, Carlo Vanzina, Paolo Virzì and Fausto Brizzi. He made his directorial debut with the film Fuga di cervelli (2013) and has directed several documentaries, including PerdutaMente (2021), Ragazzaccio (2022) and Rido perché ti amo (2023). His television career began in 2002 when he won the Cercasi VJ competition on MTV, where he presented numerous shows, before moving to Mediaset, where he became a long-standing presenter of Colorado (2011–2019). In November 2025, he returned to television on Italia 1 at the helm of  “Zelig On”, which was confirmed for a second series set to begin in April 2026.

He has written seven books, including “Posso solo amare”, “Tutto Bene” and “Benito, Presente!”, published in February 2025 by Baldini+Castoldi. In January 2026, his new book “Io sono perfetto” was published by La Nave di Teseo.

He has been involved in social causes for over 10 years. In 2018, he brought the “Up&Down” project to the theatre, featuring actors with disabilities; the production attracted over 250,000 audience members and achieved success in numerous areas, including winning a Nastro D’Argento for the feature-length documentary and selling 30,000 copies of the accompanying book. Since October 2024, the sequel to the show, “Din Don Down”, has been playing to sold-out audiences across Italy, and since January 2025 he has been co-hosting “Radio Up&Down – the programme with an extra chromosome” with Federico Parlanti on Radio24.

On social media, he has amassed over 6 million followers on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok thanks to the video podcasts he has created, including “Il Babysitter – Quando diventerai piccolo capirai” (which has also become a stage show) and “Il Badante – The present is already the future”, in which he interviews children and elderly people on philosophical topics, amassing over 250 million views in total.