The actor opens up to&nbsp;L&rsquo;OFFICIEL&nbsp;about playing Anthony's boyfriend, Giuseppe, in Season 3 and being stereotyped as a heartthrob, both onscreen and off.

PHOTOGRAPHY&nbsp;Julian Hargreaves

Sebastiano Pigazzi wants to clear a few things up. For starters, although the&nbsp;And Just Like That&hellip;&nbsp;actor, 29, has Italian roots to match his unmistakably Italian name, he was actually born in the United States&mdash;despite what you may have read online. &ldquo;Whoever is writing my Wikipedia page hates me,&rdquo; he tells&nbsp;L&rsquo;OFFICIEL. &ldquo;It has my birthday wrong and says that I was born in Rome, but I&rsquo;m an American citizen, born in Boston. I grew up between New York and L.A&hellip;so, just a bit west of Rome.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Because his&nbsp;And Just Like That&hellip;&nbsp;character, poet-turned-Hot-Fellas-bakery-heartthrob Giuseppe, has a thick Italian accent, Pigazzi has encountered one confused fan after another ever since he first began portraying softspoken love interest of Anthony Marentino (Mario Cantone, reprising his fan-favorite&nbsp;Sex and the City&nbsp;role) in Season 2 of the Max series. &ldquo;When they meet me, people always say,&nbsp;Wait, you&rsquo;re not even Italian,&rdquo; he laughs. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m like,&nbsp;Yes, I am. You don&rsquo;t need to have an accent to be a real Italian.&rdquo;&nbsp;
In fact, Pigazzi&rsquo;s ties to the country&mdash;and its entertainment industry&mdash;run deep. His great-grandfather, Giuseppe Amato, was a renowned producer and screenwriter with credits including Federico Fellini&rsquo;s 1960 masterpiece&nbsp;La Dolce Vita; his actor grandfather, Bud Spencer, was known for his roles in &ldquo;spaghetti Westerns&rdquo; of the &lsquo;60s and &lsquo;70s. Both late men were considered legends in the world of Italian cinema, but growing up, Pigazzi wasn&rsquo;t interested in the industry himself.

&ldquo;I didn't think about acting until I was much older,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;When I was a kid, I had no real concept of what a &lsquo;cinema family&rsquo; even meant. I would watch movies, but I wasn't a cinephile, and I'm still not, really. Although I do wish that I had asked my grandfather so many more questions and been more attentive to what he was saying while I still had him.&rdquo;
Now, Pigazzi is exploring the history of another Italian family onscreen in&nbsp;And Just Like That&hellip;, with the introduction of Giuseppe&rsquo;s mother, played by Patti LuPone, in this week&rsquo;s episode. &ldquo;We had a great time,&rdquo; he says of filming with LuPone. &ldquo;She's very professional and nice to be with on set. I had one scene with her, Mario, and Victor Garber&mdash;just us four&mdash;and I was like,&nbsp;Wow, these are Broadway legends.&nbsp;I felt so out of place and was like,&nbsp;Should I be here? Am I a fraud?&nbsp;But it was a lot of fun.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Ahead, Pigazzi opens up about his character's evolution, meeting fans of the show, and the conversations he hopes to spark with his onscreen romance.

L&rsquo;OFFICIEL:&nbsp;Had you watched&nbsp;Sex and the City&nbsp;before joining the cast of&nbsp;And Just Like That&hellip;?
SEBASTIANO PIGAZZI: I do remember watching a few episodes with my mom when I was a kid, but I was young and it was too raunchy for me at that age. I did go back and watch some episodes, though, and it was really funny. It was so ahead of its time and &ldquo;the first&rdquo; in so many different ways. Now I&rsquo;m a fan.
L&rsquo;O:&nbsp;When you first auditioned for the show, what was your impression of the role?
SP: Honestly, it was fear. He was described as having a &ldquo;Herculean physique,&rdquo; and they basically wanted someone with an eight-pack. That's not me, so I figured I was never going to get it. But then for some reason the role changed a bit, and it was more suited to me once he was less of a bodybuilder. 
L&rsquo;O:&nbsp;What was it like to join the cast? Were you intimidated at all?&nbsp;
SP: Our first interaction was at a table read over Zoom, which went pretty well. Then when I met everyone, they were like,&nbsp;Oh my god, your table read was so good. I thought,&nbsp;Really?&nbsp;I was so surprised, but they were so nice and put me right at ease. I also had already met Mario for coffee, because we had so many scenes together and wanted to get more acquainted, and everyone else was super welcoming, too. Sarah Jessica Parker also sent me a really sweet message the first week that I was shooting.

L&rsquo;O:&nbsp;You and Mario have some of the lighter and more fun scenes in the show. What&rsquo;s it like to work together?
SP: We just clicked from day one, and now we're really good friends. He cracks me up on set. We have a very playful dynamic&mdash;I think we're probably even more playful off-camera, because on-camera there's more of a seriousness in terms of our relationship. Obviously, we're in love in the story, and I think that reads as a bit more serious business.
L&rsquo;O:&nbsp;Giuseppe is Anthony&rsquo;s first love interest after the end of his marriage to Stanford Blatch [the beloved character was written off the show following actor Willie Garson&rsquo;s death in 2021]. Were you worried that fans wouldn&rsquo;t be ready to accept a new partner for him?&nbsp;&nbsp;
SP: Yeah, for sure. I was terrified. I thought people were going to see me on that screen and be like,&nbsp;Oh my god, forget him. I remember even reading about [Garson&rsquo;s death] in the news, and thinking it was so crazy because he was so young and talented. Never in a million years did I think I was going to be, basically, filling in his shoes. So I was a little scared, but at the end of the day, it's out of my control what people think. I just try to go in there and do my job.

L&rsquo;O:&nbsp;Since its first season, the show has made headlines for its new characters&mdash;some of whom have been quite controversial. What kind of conversations do you hope Giuseppe sparks?&nbsp;
SP: Well, I think he already sparked one with the whole &ldquo;verse&rdquo; thing last year, which I barely knew was a thing [in Season 2, Giuseppe encouraged Anthony to explore versatility in their bedroom roles]. This year, it would probably be conversations about age differences and what that means when true love is there&mdash;and I do think he and Anthony have that. So hopefully it's more about love and positive things and not too much controversy. I try not to look at my DM requests as much as I can, just in case there is something bad that would affect me. But I think most of the fans like their story&mdash;I mean, I think we&rsquo;re cute.
L&rsquo;O:&nbsp;Have more people started to recognize you from the show recently?
SP: Yeah, they have. I remember the first time it happened last season, I was at a bar in Long Beach and these two girls came up and asked if I was on&nbsp;Sex and the City. I wanted to say,&nbsp;Well, first of all, it's actually&nbsp;And Just Like That&hellip;, but I just said&nbsp;No. They were like,&nbsp;Oh, you look just like this guy!&nbsp;and pulled up a picture of me. Finally, I told them that it was me, but it was dark, and they were like,&nbsp;Wait, no, it&rsquo;s not you.&nbsp;So, that was my first big interaction with some fans. 
L&rsquo;O:&nbsp;How do you think Giuseppe has evolved since last season?
SP: I think he's matured. He and Anthony kind of balance each other out&mdash;one is more playful, the other is more mature. And even though there&rsquo;s an age difference between them, I think Giuseppe is probably more of a fun character this year. He's a little bit more easygoing, but still has the maturity. I think that translates for Anthony, too. But this season, Giuseppe tries to make things more serious with Anthony.

L&rsquo;O:&nbsp;Are you as creatively motivated as Giuseppe?&nbsp;
SP: I actually used to write poetry when I was a kid. And there was just a period in my life where I wanted to try different creative outlets, and I sort of played around with different materials to&nbsp; piece together some clothes&mdash;mostly coats. It would be optimistic to describe it as an actual clothing line, but I did make a site and everything; I just never had the courage to put it out there. But Giuseppe is much more outgoing and willing to accept and live the artist's life than I am. I'll try to do that for a bit, but then I can also be a snob sometimes [laughs]. We are very different, for sure&mdash;our clothes are different, and he&rsquo;s really clean-shaven, I&rsquo;m rarely clean-shaven. Luckily, having a lot of Italian roots, I know a lot of people that I can draw upon to find that groove. L&rsquo;O:&nbsp;Did you draw upon anyone in your real life for his accent?&nbsp;
SP: Basically everyone in my real life. The funny thing is that I didn't do that accent until I was probably, like, 20 years old. I mean, why would I? It's so stupid. But then once I did it, everyone kept asking me to do it again. So then I was forced into it and it became second nature. I do it all the time now.

L&rsquo;O:&nbsp;One thing you&nbsp;haven't&nbsp;had to do much this season is wear the Hot Fellas uniform. Anthony begged Giuseppe to put the short denim romper back on to attract bakery customers, and although he eventually obliged, Giuseppe didn't want to be objectified. How do you feel about being stereotyped as a sex symbol or heartthrob yourself?
SP: I probably would have to agree [with Giuseppe]. I just don't want to be pigeonholed into one thing. I'll do any role at least once, if I think the character's good. The dream project would be to direct something of my own one day. But I don't want to play the same character over and over again, that's for sure. It's more of a repetitiveness that I want to avoid.
L&rsquo;O:&nbsp;Luckily, there aren&rsquo;t too many fictional bakeries staffed exclusively by &ldquo;Hot Fellas.&rdquo; Did you ever think bread would play such a big role in your career?&nbsp;
SP: Well, it's played a big role in my life, so it's only fitting that it plays such a big role in my career. [laughs] It's my weakness, too. I'm eating so much more bread now. Thankfully, it's bread and not pasta&mdash;because if it was pasta, I'd be even more screwed.

GROOMING: Barbara Bertuzzi

Photo by Julian Hargreaves, courtesy of Sebastiano Pigazzi.

'And Just Like That...' Star Sebastiano Pigazzi Wants to Be More Than a Hot Fella

Recommended posts for you

Hommes

The Best Dressed Men at Paris Haute Couture Week Fall/Winter 2025

Hommes

9 Trends You'll Want to Test from Men’s Spring/Summer 2026 Runway Collections

Fashion

ENHYPEN’s SUNOO talks 8Seconds, Personal Style, and Coming Back to the Philippines

Fashion

Roger Vivier’s Newest Collection Turns the Rose into Wearable Art

Fashion

SPATIO’s Refresh at OPUS Mall Is a Love Letter to Filipino Creativity

Culture

Hyun Bin Is Crash Landing in Manila and You Could Be There

Hommes

'And Just Like That...' Star Sebastiano Pigazzi Wants to Be More Than a Hot Fella

Beauty

Renew, Reimagine, Radiate: Discover the All-New Renewplus Medical Aesthetics