Has three children: Marta (b. 1985) from his former wife Rita; Matteo (b. 1995) and Marco (b. 1997) from his companion of 20 years, Giulia Begnotti.
He was typecast in the role of the funny southerner ("terrunciello") in his early movies; the turning point in his career came with Pupi Avati's Regalo di Natale (1986), when he showed good qualities as a dramatic actor.