# Frank Matano

Francesco Matano is an Italian comedian, television personality, YouTuber, and actor. Matano rose to prominence in 2008 through prank videos on YouTube, and was the first Italian YouTuber to surpass one million subscribers.
Shortly following his online success, Matano eventually joined into the television industry. He starred in Le Iene, serving as an envoy and presenter. He was also a judge on Italia's Got Talent.

## Biography

Francesco Matano was born in Santa Maria Capua Vetere in 1989 to an Italian father and an American mother. He grew up in Carinola but studied as a teenager in the United States, where he graduated from Cranston High School East in Rhode Island. In 2007, at the age of 18, he found success online with his YouTube channel in Italy. His videos consist mainly of telephone pranks and social experiments. He briefly studied languages at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, but did not take any exams.
His first television appearance was in 2009, on the program Le Iene. The following year, he presented a program on Sky dedicated to telephone pranks called Sky Scherzando? In 2011, he participated in the program Ti lascio una canzone by Antonella Clerici, conducting short interviews with the cast. In 2012, he participated in the Lost in Google web series with the JackaL, and in September of the same year participated in 2012 Prima di morire on La3 alongside Jacopo Morini. He also appeared in the music video for "Ragazzo inadeguato" by Max Pezzali.
In 2013, he made his acting debut in Fuga di cervelli, directed by Paolo Ruffini. During the same year, he created a second channel on YouTube dedicated to video games called "FRANK MATANO Games". In 2014 he starred in Tutto molto bello, also directed by Ruffini, released in cinemas on 9 October 2014. Matano also began dubbing in 2014, performing in the Italian South Park translation. In 2015 he appeared on television as an envoy of Le Iene presentano: Scherzi a parte, planning jokes on victims Paolo Brosio and Ruffini. That same year he starred alongside Claudio Bisio in the film What a Beautiful Surprise, directed by Alessandro Genovesi. He also served as a judge in Italia's Got Talent. In May 2015, he was announced "Revelation of the year" at the TV Direction Awards.
From 16 October 2016, Matano presented the midweek episodes of Le Iene with Ilary Blasi and Giampaolo Morelli. Towards the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, he voiced Duke Donnolesi in Zootropolis. In November 2017, together with Claudio Bisio, he presented The Comedians, broadcast on TV8. In 2018 he starred in the film I'm Back, directed by Luca Miniero. Also in 2018, he was the protagonist of another film Tonno spiaggiato, directed by Matteo Martinez. On 4 February 2018, he participated as a competitor along with Iva Zanicchi on the special edition of Guess My Age - Indovina l'età led by Enrico Papi on the Italian channel TV8. In 2021, he participated as a competitor in the Italian comedy show LOL - Chi ride è fuori.

## Filmography
### Films

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | Fuga di cervelli | Franco Esposito | Feature film debut |
| 2014 | Tutto molto bello | Antonio | |
| 2015 | What a Beautiful Surprise | Paolo | |
| 2016 | Zootopia | Duke Weaselton (voice) | Italian voice-over role |
| 2018 | Tonno spiaggiato | Francesco | |
| 2018 | I'm Back | Andrea Canaletti | |
| 2019 | Beware the Gorilla | Lorenzo Caputo | |
| 2021 | Una notte da dottore | Mario | |
| 2021 | Sing 2 | Darius (voice) | Italian voice-over role |
| 2023 | Transformers: Rise of the Beasts | Stratosphere (voice) | Italian voice-over role |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2009–2013 | Le Iene | Himself/ Reporter | Variety show (seasons 13–17) |
| 2010 | Sky Scherzando? | Himself/ Host | Comedy series |
| 2011 | Ti lascio una canzone | Himself/ Co-host | Talent show (season 5) |
| 2012 | Lost in Google | Himself | Webseries |
| 2014 | South Park | Additional voices | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Scherzi a parte | Himself/ Reporter | Crossover version with Le Iene |
| 2015 | Tale e quale show | Himself/ Guest judge | Variety/Talent show |
| 2015–present | Italia's Got Talent | Himself/ Judge | Talent show (season 6–present) |
| 2016, 2018 | Le Iene | Himself/ Host | Variety show (seasons 20, 22) |
| 2017 | The Comedians | Frank | Main role, 10 episodes |
| 2018 | Guess My Age | Himself/ Guest | Contestant for one episode |
| 2021 | LOL - Chi ride è fuori | Himself | Contestant (season 1) |
| 2022 | LOL - Chi ride è fuori | Himself/ Co-host | Season 2 |
| 2022 | The Bad Guy | Director on Stage | Episode: "I Saw a Light" |
| 2022 | Zootopia+ | Duke Weaselton (voice) | Main role; 6 episodes |
| 2023 | Gigolò per caso | Luigi | Main role |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist(s) |
| 2013 | "Ragazzo inadeguato" | Max Pezzali |
| 2017 | "Volare" | Fabio Rovazzi |
| 2019 | "Non avere paura" | Tommaso Paradiso |