Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for House of GucciFew fashion houses, if any, can claim to have a history as scandalous as Gucci’s. Founded in 1921 in the Italian city of Florence by Guccio Gucci, the company is an haute couture powerhouse that gained prominence in the 1950s. However, behind the scenes of the luxurious photoshoots and fashion shows, things weren’t always perfect, especially when it came down to those with the Gucci name.
Guccio passed away in 1953, leaving his fashion empire to his three sons: Vasco, Rodolfo, and Aldo. In 1974, however, Vasco died of cancer, and the Gucci family spiraled down into petty feuds, legal disputes, vendettas, and overall controversies that would fill the pages of tabloids and respectable newspapers alike for years. It all culminated in the 1995 murder of Maurizio Gucci by a hitman hired by none other than his ex-wife, Patrizia Reggiani. It’s this chaotic, juicy part of the Gucci story that Ridley Scott tells in his new movie, House of Gucci.
Based on the eponymous book by journalist Sara Gay Forden, House of Gucci features Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani, who married into the Gucci empire against the family’s wishes after winning over the heart of Maurizio, played by Adam Driver. The cast also has Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto, and Salma Hayek as the many key elements to this real story that could put any soap opera to shame. If you want to keep track of who's who in this fashion drama, here's a guide to all the real-life people portrayed in the film and the actors and actresses who play them.
Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga)
Born to a working-class mother and a father she never met (although there is a father figure in the film), Patrizia caught the eye of Maurizio Gucci and married into one of Europe’s most powerful fashion empires. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, she became active in both Italian and American high societies and had two daughters with Maurizio, Alessandra and Allegra. By the late 1980s, however, the marriage wasn’t doing so well. The couple officially divorced in 1994, and one year later, Patrizia plotted the murder of her ex-husband. She was sentenced to 29 years in prison in 1997 but got out on good behavior in 2016.
Best known for hit songs like “Just Dance”, “Poker Face”, and “Born This Way”, as well as for her wild red carpet outfits that may or may not include raw meat, Lady Gaga made her debut on the big screen in 2013, playing one of the many versions of the assassin, El Chameleón, in Machete Kills. After that, she appeared as herself in Muppets Most Wanted, had a minor role in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, and played central characters in both the Hotel and the Roanoke seasons of American Horror Story. In 2018, she starred alongside Bradley Cooper in A Star is Born, a film that earned her an Oscar for Best Original Song for “Shallow” and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver)
The only child of Rodolfo Gucci and the grandson of Guccio Gucci, Maurizio became the company’s major shareholder after the death of his father and entered a legal war against his uncle, Aldo, for control over the family’s empire. He eventually won, but the company was in a bad shape, losing both money and prestige. Unable to restore the Gucci name to its former glory, Maurizio sold all of his shares, putting an end to the family’s association with the brand. Driver springboarded to stardom after playing the villain, Kylo Ren, in the latest Star Wars trilogy, but, before that, he’d had a series of roles in critically acclaimed movies and TV shows like Frances Ha, Inside Llewyn Davis, and HBO’s Girls. In 2019, he was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar for his performance in BlacKkKlansman. He received another nomination the following year, this time for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for Marriage Story. In 2021, he starred in Leos Carax’s musical feature Annette and worked with Scott both in House of Gucci and in The Last Duel.
Aldo Gucci (Al Pacino)
The eldest son of Guccio Gucci was the company’s chairman from 1953 to 1986. He stepped down following Maurizio’s lawsuit and was arrested for tax evasion after his own son, Paolo, tipped the IRS off on his financial activities.
Al Pacino is an old household name in Hollywood, having starred in classic pictures such as Serpico, The Godfather, Scarface, Dog Day Afternoon, and Scent of Woman, for which he won his first and, so far, only Oscar out of nine nominations, in 1993. Over the past few years, Pacino was in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood and played union leader Jimmy Hoffa in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. He was also in Season 1 of Amazon’s Hunters as Nazi hunter, Meyer Offerman.
Rodolfo Gucci (Jeremy Irons)
Maurizio’s father named his son after his own stage name: Rodolfo was an actor that, under the name Maurizio D’Ancora, appeared in nearly 50 movies from 1929 to 1946. Following the death of Guccio Gucci, Rodolfo left the film industry to take care of the family business alongside his brothers. Rodolfo passed away in 1983, leaving his shares of the company to Maurizio and making him majority shareholder.
Irons is best known for movies like The Mission, Dead Ringers, and Reversal of Fortune, as well as for voicing Scar in Disney’s The Lion King. He won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1991 for his performance in Reversal of Fortune. Most recently, he played Alfred in Justice League and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Ozymandias in HBO’s Watchmen, and former British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, in Munich: The Edge of War.
Paolo Gucci (Jared Leto)
Paolo was the chief designer of Gucci in the 1960s and is credited with creating the company’s logo. In the late 1970s, he was named Gucci’s vice-president by his father, Aldo, but their relationship would soon go sour. In 1980, Paolo was fired from Gucci after starting his own business under the company name without informing either his father or his uncle, Rodolfo. As revenge, he helped Maurizio get Aldo out of the family business and later turned his father in to the IRS.
The 2014 Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar winner for Dallas Buyers Club, Jared Leto is best known nowadays for playing the Joker in the 2016 Suicide Squad. His acting credits also include Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream and Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049. Leto is also the main vocalist and songwriter of the band, 30 Seconds to Mars.
Pina Auriemma (Salma Hayek)
A TV psychic with close ties with Patrizia Reggiani, Giuseppina “Pina” Auriemma was the one responsible for finding the man to kill Maurizio. Hayek is best known for her work with director Robert Rodriguez in movies like Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, From Dusk Till Dawn, and Spy Kids 3: Game Over. In 2003, she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, in Frida. Besides House of Gucci, in 2021, she was also in Marvel’s Eternals as Ajak, in the action-comedy Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, and in the romantic drama, Bliss.
Paola Franchi (Camille Cottin)
The woman Maurizio got involved with after his divorce. Soon after the murder, Paola was evicted from the home she shared with Maurizio by Patrizia. Camille Cottin is a French actress best known in the US for her roles in Robert Zemeckis’ Allied and in the French Netflix series Call My Agent!. She was also in a few episodes of BBC America’s Killing Eve as Hélène, one of the highest-ranking members of the secret organization known as "The Twelve". In 2021, she also starred beside Matt Damon in Stillwater and opposite French heartthrob Louis Garrel in Our Men.
Domenico De Sole (Jack Huston)
President of Gucci from 1994 to 2004, De Sole was responsible for saving the company from bankruptcy and turning it back into a fashion powerhouse. Huston is best known for his roles in American Hustle, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and The Irishman, as well as in TV series like Boardwalk Empire, Manhunt, and Fargo.
Tom Ford (Reeve Carney)
Now a legendary fashion designer and an accomplished filmmaker, Tom Ford was in the early days of his career at the time of Maurizio’s death. He was hired by Gucci in the middle of the company’s turmoil and is largely credited with designing the creations that brought the brand back to its glory. Though Carney is best known by theater buffs for playing Spider-Man in Broadway’s Spider-Man: Turn off The Dark, he’s also done his fair share of work in movies and television. His most famous role on the screen is Dorian Gray in the horror series, Penny Dreadful.
Nemir Kidar (Youssef Kerkour)
The founder of Investcorp, the investment fund that eventually bought all of Maurizio’s shares of Gucci and gained control of the company. Kerkour is best known for his roles in British shows like Channel 4’s Home and Baghdad Central. He’s also in the cast of the Netflix crime drama Stay Close, set to come out in late December.
Benedetto Ceraulo and Ivano Savioni (Vincenzo Tanassi and Andrea Piedimonte Bodini)
Ceraulo was a pizzeria owner turned hitman responsible for firing the shot that killed Maurizio Gucci. Ceraulo is currently serving a life sentence for the murder. Tanassi is an Italian actor that has had minor roles in Ron Howard’s Inferno and in the Netflix movie On My Skin: The Last Seven Days of Stefano Cucchi. Savioni was a hotel doorman with a past who helped find a hitman to kill Maurizio. Piedimonte is an Italian actor that has worked with Scott in Hannibal and All the Money in the World.