Edoardo Ballerini

Edoardo Ballerini first tasted critical acclaim with with a recurring role as heroin-addicted middleman-for-hire Corky Caporale on HBO's beloved mob saga, "The Soprano's." In 2010, "Sopranos" producer Terence Winter tapped Ballerini for a recurring role as tight-jawed crook Ignatius D'Alessio on the Atlantic City-set historical gangster series, "Boardwalk Empire." A many of many talents, Ballerini has worked on both sides of the camera: In 2003, he portrayed silent-film heartthrob and original "Latin Lover" Rudolph Valentino in his well-received first project as a writer-director, "Goodnight Valentino." Adapted from a true account by essayist H.L. Mencken, the short film explored issues of celebrity, manhood and mortality. Ballerini is an avid blogger and has written extensively about the craft of acting and the politics of negotiating a career in Hollwyood. He has also contributed writings to secular Buddhist organization the Interdependece Project. In recent years, Ballerini has applied his acting talents to narrating audio books, reading historian Stephen Greenblatt's "The Swerve: How the World Became Modern" and Harvard professor Paul Farmer's "Haiti: After the Earthquake"--which also featured contributions from multiple Oscar-winner Meryl Streep. Completists should look for the Italian-American in a brief but hilarious turn as the son of psychotic German Gustav Shank (played by comedian Jeffrey Jones) in John Leguizamo's much-maligned "The Pest" (1997).