Mezzogiorno was born in Rome, 9 November 1974, a daughter of actors Vittorio Mezzogiorno and Cecilia Sacchi. She grew up watching her parents on set. At first, she wanted to become a ballerina, and she studied dancing for 13 years. After her father's death when she was 19, Mezzogiorno moved to Paris, where she attended the stages by Arianne Mnouchkine and worked for two years at the Peter Brook Workshop. She made her stage debut with the role of Ofelia in Qui est là, based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The play toured various European cities. She received the Premio Coppola-Prati 1996, the jury was presided over by theatre critic Franco Quadri. One year later, she made her film debut in Il viaggio della sposa (The Bride's Journey), written by and starring Sergio Rubini. Mezzogiorno was awarded the Targa d'Argento as the New Talent in Italian Cinema, she was also given the Grolla d'oro, and the Globo d'Oro by the Foreign Press Association and the Premio Flaiano as Best Actress of the 1997 - 1998 season.

In 1998, Mezzogiorno starred in the film Del perduto amore directed by Michele Placido, with Fabrizio Bentivoglio and Sergio Rubini (she was awarded the Nastro d'Argento, the Ciak d'Oro and Premio Pasinetti as best actress in a starring role) and, for the Italian National Television Network RaiDue, in a film made-for-TV Più leggero non basta ("A lighter burden to bear") in the role of a young girl with muscular dystrophy, directed by Elisabetta Lodoli with Stefano Accorsi.

In 1999, Mezzogiorno played the role of Silvia, daughter of Enzo Tortora by whose mistaken conviction the film was inspired. The film Un uomo perbene with Michele Placido and Mariangela Melato, was directed by Maurizio Zaccaro. In that same year, she worked in Asini, directed by Antonello Grimaldi, with celebrated Italian comedian Claudio Bisio.

In 2000, she travelled between Prague and Paris for work in the TV miniseries Les Miserables, directed by Josée Dayan, with Gérard Depardieu and John Malkovich. She worked in Denmark in Nobel, directed by Fabio Carpi, with Héctor Alterio. In Italy, she worked with Puglielli in Tutta la conoscenza del mondo ("All There Is to Know"), and then, L'ultimo bacio ("The Last Kiss") directed by Gabriele Muccino with Stefano Accorsi and Stefania Sandrelli (winning the Premio Flaiano). With the success of this last movie Giovanna become really famous in Italy.

In 2001, Mezzogiorno appeared in the film Malefemmene with Ángela Molina and directed by Fabio Conversi, in the role of Francesca, who was imprisoned following a judicial error and came into contact with the reality of friendship and attachment which she had never imagined possible. She also worked on Stai con me, with Adriano Giannini and directed by Livia Giampalmo, in the role of a mother of twins.

In 2002, she worked on the set of Ilaria Alpi - Il più crudele dei giorni, in the role of the protagonist, directed by Ferdinando Vicentini Orgnani (the film tells the tragic and dark story of the Italian TV journalist killed in Mogadiscio). She also starred in France in the Holocaust-period TV drama Entrusted, directed by Giacomo Battiato, with Klaus Maria Brandauer, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Steven Moyer, based on Loup Duran's best-seller. In Italy, she starred in the film La finestra di fronte ("Facing windows") directed by Ferzan Özpetek, costarring Massimo Girotti and Raoul Bova. This film, critically acclaimed and a box office success, earned her a lot of awards: the David di Donatello, the Ciak d’Oro, the Nastro d'Argento, the Globo d'oro by the Foreign Press, the Flaiano Award, the Karlovy Vary Award as "Best Actress in a Leading Role".

Mezzogiorno starred in the film L’amore ritorna, directed by Sergio Rubini, costarring Fabrizio Bentivoglio and Margherita Buy. She also worked in France, on the set of her first comedy: Au secours, j'ai 30 ans, directed by Marie-Anne Chazel, with Pierre Palmade.

In 2004, Mezzogiorno worked in the TV movie Virginia (La monaca di Monza), directed by Alberto Sironi. She then returned to the theatre, working with the director Piero Maccarinelli in 4.48 Psicosi, written by Sarah Kane.

In 2005, La bestia nel cuore ("Don't Tell"), directed by Cristina Comencini, was an Academy Award candidate for Best Foreign Language Film, earning Mezzogiorno one of the most important international prizes for an actress: the Coppa Volpi, previously won by Shirley MacLaine, Gong Li, Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve and Sophia Loren.

In 2006, Mezzogiorno acted in AD Project, a sci-fi thriller by Eros Puglielli, and acted in "Lezioni di Volo" ("Flying Lessons") by Francesca Archibugi.

In 2007, she appeared as Leila, a sexy thief, in the black comedy Notturno Bus ("Night Bus"), directed by Davide Marengo and starring Valerio Mastandrea and Ennio Fantastichini.

She travelled to Colombia to become Fermina Daza, the principal female character from Love in the Time of Cholera based on the book written by Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez and directed by Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral).

After appearing in two films shot in 2008, Sono Viva and Palermo Shooting by Wim Wenders, in 2009 she achieved great international success with Vincere by Marco Bellocchio, selected for the official competition in Cannes and a solid candidate for the final award.

Mezzogiorno narrated and produced a documentary to celebrate the career of her father Vittorio, 15 years after his sudden death in 1994.

She was a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2010.^[1] In January 2011, she was rewarded with the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress 2010 for her role in Vincere.

In 2017, Mezzogiorno appeared in the role of Adriana in the film called Napoli velata (Naples in Veils).^[2]

On the set of the film Lighter is not Enough (1998) she met Stefano Accorsi, who became her long-time partner. On the set of Vincere she met the driver Alessio Fugolo, whom she married in 2009 in Griante with a civil ceremony.^[3] She has two sons, Leone and Zeno, born 26 August 2011. ^[4]

• Saverio Ferragina press agent

• Giovanna Mezzogiorno at IMDb