Born in Cesena, Braschi studied in Rome's Academy of Dramatic Arts where she first met Benigni in 1980.

Braschi's two most successful collaborations with her husband were Johnny Stecchino (1992) and La vita è bella (Life is Beautiful) (1997).

The first, an Italian comedy that cast the actress as the girlfriend of a mobster (Benigni), was a huge hit in Italy, while the second, in which Braschi played the wife of an Italian Jew (Benigni) imprisoned in a concentration camp, was a widely praised success that launched both Braschi and her husband into the international spotlight.

The film won her a David di Donatello award (Italy's equivalent of the Oscars) and much praise from critics and the public.

In 2010, she toured the Italian theatres starring in Tradimenti, based on Harold Pinter's play Betrayal.