My Brilliant Friend season 3: Sky Atlantic release date of Elena Ferrante book adaptation, and who is in cast?

A fortnight after being released to US audiences, the third series of My Brilliant Friend is coming to the UK.

The show is an adaptation of the Italian author Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series of books.

My Brilliant Friend follows the lifelong friendship of two women, as they grow up and navigate a poor and violent neighbourhood on the outskirts of Naples.

Series three of My Brilliant Friend is adapted from the third book in Ferrante’s quartet, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay.

The Italian language series will see political upheavals, and find Lila working in a sausage factory for a brutal boss, whilst Elena is enjoying  success following the release of the novel she wrote in the second series.

When will series three of My Brilliant Friend be released in the UK?

After a 6 February release in Italy, and a US release later that month, UK audiences have had a longer wait for the highly anticipated third series.

My Brilliant Friends comes to Sky Atlantic in the UK on 10 March with all episodes released at once.

Who is in the cast?

Alba Rohrwacher as The Narrator

Rohrwacher has lent her voice to the show since the first series, almost as a stand-in for the author of the source material.

She will continue to narrate episodes in the third series -  but keep a lookout for an onscreen appearance from the actor.

Rohrwacher is best known in Italy for her leading role in The Wonders, a film about a quiet beekeeping family whose daily life is disrupted by a troubled boy and a new reality TV show.

Rohrwacher also starred opposite Adam Driver in Hungry Hearts, as a mother whose unstable mental state threatens the health of her child.

Margherita Mazzucco as Elena Greco

19-year-old actor Mazzucco, with the help of fantastic makeup artists, will continue to play Elena as she approaches her 30s.

The biggest transformation came between series one and two when Elena aged by about a decade, and as the third season doesn’t have such a significant time jump, the makeup artists may have a chance to catch their breath.

Mazzucco’s character will be sucked into the political world during Italy’s ‘years of lead’, a decades-long period of violence from both the left and right.

My Brilliant Friend was Mazzucco’s first screen role, and if you have been captivated by her performance, unfortunately she has been in nothing else since.

However, you will be able to catch her as the titular character in Chiara, an historical biopic of St. Clare of Assisi, which is currently in post-production.

Gaia Girace as Lila Cerullo

Also returning as Elena’s best friend, Lila, is Gaia Girace.

Lila, the less fortunate of the pair, left her abusive partner in the previous series but has not found much personal success, and this season finds her slaving away at a sausage factory to make ends meet.

Since My Brilliant Friend, Girace has taken on a main role as Rosa Gabrielli in the series Luna Park, set in 1960s Rome.

Girace has also appeared in two shorts, A Future Together, and I santi, and is involved in the TV movie Diane de Poitiers, slated for release this year.

Alessio Gallo as Michele Solara

The cold and violent brute, Michele Solara, who was a terror in the first season is back in series three, and is still played by Gallo.

Solara will be an unwelcome interference in Elena’s life once again.

Gallo is known for starring in 11 episodes of Italian crime series Gomorrah as Tonino Spiderman.

Gallo was previously involved in the 2014 movie The Prince of Crime, also set in Naples, and has featured in shorts La Cena and Les îles de Brissogne.

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. NationalWorld is a new national news brand, produced by a team of journalists, editors, video producers and designers who live and work across the UK. Find out more about who’s who in the team, and our editorial values. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going. You can also sign up to our newsletters and get a curated selection of our best reads to your inbox every day.