Anna Rita Viapiano was born in Cassano delle Murge, where she lived his childhood; later she moved with her family to Matera where she started her first artistic studies with the ballet and then started actively interested in theater when she was a little over 14 years, attending Enrico Annecchino's laboratories, "Hermes" by Emilio Andrisani and "Teatro dei Sassi" always in Matera led by Massimo Lanzetta and Loredana Paolicelli.

Performances continue dividing between dance and music troupe of Tirambo Lino Cavallo.

She graduated at the University of Urbino Isef with honors and enrolled at the Conservatorio musicale Egidio Romualdo Duni of Matera.

[citation needed] Her first contact with the cinema world is the participation in 1993 in the movie The Star Maker by Giuseppe Tornatore while she was in Matera, where she was offered a small part.

The encounter with Tornatore marks her beginning with the seventh art since shortly after the shooting to Rome to attend different schools of cinema.