Kessisoglu was also a member of the comedic group Cavalli Marci ("Rotten Horses").

[1] His paternal grandfather moved as a child with his family from Smyrna (today İzmir, Turkey) to Greece and later to Italy to escape from the Armenian genocide.

[2] The family settled in Trieste for several years before finally moving to Genoa.

The original surname, Keshishian (Քեշիշյան), was Turkized during the escape in Keşişoğlu (with the Armenian -ian ending replaced by the Turkish patronymic ending -oğlu) to arouse less attention, and then Hellenized to Kesísoglou (Κεσίσογλου).

[2] In June 2003, Kessisoglu married TV anchor and journalist Sabrina Donadel with whom he has a daughter, Lunitta (b.