[2] Her breakthrough role as an actress came in 1994's critically acclaimed Il Postino, directed by Michael Radford.

Cucinotta played the lead female role of Beatrice Russo, the love interest of the main character Mario Ruoppolo, played by Massimo Troisi, who passed away shortly after the film's completion.

Although it was her first major role, Troisi had no doubt about her abilities, as Cucinotta later recalled: He was a director and an actor who had the patience to teach me everything because I arrived at that audition recommended by a woman, Nathalie Caldonazzo, who was Massimo's girlfriend.

[6] In 2012, Cucinotta received a star on the Italian Walk of Fame in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

[7] Maria Grazia Cucinotta is Roman Catholic and devoted to Saint Anthony of Padua.