Born in Palermo, Guadagnino spent part of his childhood in Ethiopia, but the family moved back to Italy to escape the Ethiopian Civil War.

[3][4][5][6] Guadagnino spent his early childhood in Ethiopia, where his father taught history and Italian literature at a technical school in Addis Ababa.

[7] As a teenager, Guadagnino was a registered member of the Italian Communist Party, and wrote for the Palermo youth wing newspaper.

[7] He then transferred to the Sapienza University of Rome and completed his degree in literature and cinema history,[7] with a thesis on the American filmmaker Jonathan Demme.

[8] At Sapienza he met actress Laura Betti and would often attend her parties and cook for guests, such as Bernardo Bertolucci and Valerio Adami.

[12] His second feature film, erotic drama Melissa P. starring Spanish actress María Valverde, made a successful debut the following year.

[24] In 2015, Guadagnino directed the second installment of the Desire Trilogy, erotic thriller A Bigger Splash, with Tilda Swinton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ralph Fiennes and Dakota Johnson.

[26][27] Guadagnino's next film was Call Me by Your Name, an adaptation of André Aciman's novel of the same name, starring Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, and Michael Stuhlbarg.

Guadagnino set his version in Berlin circa 1977—the year in which the original film was released—and aimed to focus on "the concept [and...] uncompromising force of motherhood.

[38] In January 2019, it was announced Guadagnino had directed The Staggering Girl a short film, starring Julianne Moore, Kyle MacLachlan, Marthe Keller, KiKi Layne, Mia Goth and Alba Rohrwacher.

He also wrote and directed We Are Who We Are an 8-episode limited series for HBO, starring Chloë Sevigny, Kid Cudi, Alice Braga, Jack Dylan Grazer, Spence Moore II, Jordan Kristine Seamon, Faith Alabi, Corey Knight, Tom Mercier, Francesca Scorsese, Ben Taylor and Sebastiano Pigazzi.

[44][45] In 2021, Guadagnino served as a producer on Beckett—previously titled Born to Be Murdered—directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino starring Alicia Vikander and John David Washington.

[46] On 28 January 2021, it was reported that Guadagnino was going to direct an adaptation of Camille DeAngelis's 2015 novel about teenage cannibals Bones & All, with Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell in talks to star.

[51][52][53] On 11 February 2022, he signed on to direct the sports drama film Challengers, starring Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist.

[68][69] Guadagnino will next direct the thriller After the Hunt, written by Nora Garrett and starring Julia Roberts, for Amazon MGM Studios and Imagine Entertainment.

[71][72] He will also serve as producer on Hailey Gates' directorial feature debut Atropia, which finished shooting in July 2023, under his Frenesy banner.

[77] In October 2024, Guadagnino was entering final negotiations to direct a "new interpretation" of Bret Easton Ellis's 1991 novel, American Psycho, with Scott Z. Burns adapting for Lionsgate.

[85] Guadagnino headed the jury for Louis Vuitton's Journey Awards in 2012, an international competition dedicated to young filmmakers.

[86] He also participated as a jury member in the first edition of Fashion Film Festival Milano in 2014, chaired by Franca Sozzani, chief editor of Vogue Italia.

[94] Other directors Guadagnino cites as influences include Alfred Hitchcock, Jean-Luc Godard, Nagisa Oshima, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Douglas Sirk.

Actors who usually appear on his films include Tilda Swinton, Fabrizia Sacchi, Alba Rohrwacher, Timothée Chalamet, Dakota Johnson, and Michael Stuhlbarg.

[98][99][100] Sacchi has appeared in three of his features and various other projects, such as the short films L'uommo risacca and The Staggering Girl, as well as in the documentary Mundo Civilizado.

[104][105] Guadagnino regularly works with producers, Francesco Melzi d'Eril, Marco Morabito, and screenwriter David Kajganich.