After his retirement in 1964, with the rank of Brigadier General, Faà di Bruno started a career as an actor, working with Carlo Lizzani (La vita agra), Pier Paolo Pasolini (Pigsty), Vittorio De Sica (Lo chiameremo Andrea), Billy Wilder (Avanti!

),[1] Federico Fellini (Amarcord),[2] Luciano Salce (Alla mia cara mamma nel giorno del suo compleanno), Mario Monicelli (We Want the Colonels).

[3] Tall at 1.96 metres (6 ft 5 in), with a baritone voice and an aristocratic bearing, Antonino Faà di Bruno was often cast in roles of high rank, nobleman, officers and members of the ruling class.

Vittorio Emanuele Ribaud, who attempted a coup d'état in We Want the Colonels, and of the Duke-Count Piercarlo Semenzara in Il secondo tragico Fantozzi.

In 1947, he married the widow of his cousin Emilio Faà di Bruno who had died in 1943, Anna Maria Andreini.