My Brilliant Friend: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

My Brilliant Friend tells the story of Elena Greco, a now-elderly woman who discovers the most important friend in her life, Raffaella "Lila" Cerullo, seems to have disappeared without a trace. A writer, immersed in a house full of books, Greco turns on her computer and starts writing the story of their tempestuous friendship, starting from the point when Elena met Lila their first year of primary school in 1950.

Set in a dangerous and fascinating Naples, their story goes on to cover more than 60 years of their lives as she tries to describe the mystery of Lila, Elena's brilliant friend and — in a way — her best friend, and worst enemy.

Series details

• Title: My Brilliant Friend
• Format: Scripted
• Language: Italian
• Genres: Drama
• Premiere date: 2018-11-18
• Final broadcast date listed: 2024-11-11
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: HBO
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 55 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 7.2/10
• TVMaze ID: 38058
• IMDb ID: tt7278862
• TVDB ID: 344626

Cast and credited roles

• Margherita Mazzucco — Elena Greco
• Gaia Girace — Raffaella "Lila" Cerullo
• Anna Rita Vitolo — Immacolata Greco
• Alessio Gallo — Michele Solara
• Eduardo Scarpetta — Pasquale Peluso
• Giovanni Amura — Stefano Carracci
• Giovanni Buselli — Enzo Scanno
• Rosaria Langellotto — Gigliola Spagnuolo
• Francesco Serpico — Nino Sarratore
• Elvis Esposito — Marcello Solara
• Luca Gallone — Vittorio Greco
• Fabrizio Cottone — Alfonso Carracci

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2018-11-18; final listed air date 2018-12-10; episode order: 8.
• Season 2: premiered 2020-02-10; final listed air date 2020-03-02; episode order: 8.
• Season 3: premiered 2022-02-06; final listed air date 2022-02-27; episode order: 8.
• Season 4: premiered 2024-09-09; final listed air date 2024-11-11; episode order: 10.

Source and licence

Adapted from My Brilliant Friend on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.