‘Minerva Academy’ Cast Guide, Meet the Actors Behind Netflix’s New Military School Drama (With Photos)

‘Minerva Academy’ is arriving on Netflix as an eight episode Italian teen drama set inside a fictional military high school in Naples, and the ensemble driving the story blends newcomers with familiar faces from Italian film and television. The cast includes Ciro Minopoli, Biagio Venditti, Margherita Buoncristiani, Beatrice Savignani, Simone Secce, Giulio Brizzi, Nicole Malaj and Alicia Edogamhe, alongside Massimiliano Gallo, Cristiana Capotondi, Irene Maiorino, Raiz and Michele Rosiello. The series premieres globally on September 22, giving viewers all eight episodes at once to watch at their own pace.

Below is a breakdown of the core cast members and the characters they play, along with the context each actor brings to this new campus drama.

Ciro Minopoli

Ciro Minopoli leads the series as Salvo, a boy from a group home who joins the school to uncover the truth about what happened to his best friend. This role marks his first major credit, making him one of the breakout names to watch as ‘Minerva Academy’ rolls out.

His character gives the series its central mystery, since Salvo’s search for answers about his missing friend runs alongside the everyday pressures of adjusting to a rigid new environment. He is described as a kid from the outskirts of Naples who ends up at the academy specifically to look for his close friend who vanished there, which grounds the show’s mystery angle in a very personal stake.

Biagio Venditti

Biagio Venditti plays Vincenzo, a teenager who wants to follow in the footsteps of his military father and pursue a military career. He was previously seen in the 2024 movie L’ultima settimana di settembre, so he arrives with slightly more on screen experience than some of his younger castmates.

Venditti’s character is shaped by family expectation rather than personal choice, since Vincenzo comes from a lineage of high ranking military relatives. He is described as someone seemingly destined for this path, surrounded by relatives who already hold senior military rank, which sets up tension between duty and identity throughout the season.

Margherita Buoncristiani

Margherita Buoncristiani takes on the role of Camilla, a spoiled teenager from Milan who is sent to the military academy by her father in hopes it will change her behavior. This is also her first major credit, placing her alongside Minopoli as one of the show’s fresh faces.

Camilla’s arc centers on a clash between her privileged upbringing and the discipline demanded by Minerva. She is portrayed as spoiled and self-centered, sent there by her father specifically to be straightened out, and that friction with the school’s culture becomes one of the more pointed character studies in the ensemble.

Massimiliano Gallo

Massimiliano Gallo plays Achille Giordano, the all-powerful commander of the institution. He was previously seen in Netflix’s Vanished Into The Night and in Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand Of God, giving the production one of its more recognizable names.

Gallo has spoken about the character’s layers beyond the obvious authority figure archetype. He described Achille as someone who lives by discipline and military tradition, but whose story reveals cracks and fragility, largely because his own son is one of the students at the school.

Cristiana Capotondi

Cristiana Capotondi plays Laura Canali, a civilian professor of history and philosophy who relates to the students in a maternal way and observes the school’s rigid military dynamics from the outside, bringing a pronounced critical spirit into the classroom. Her character represents the outsider perspective within Minerva’s otherwise closed military culture.

Capotondi has discussed how Laura’s background as a public school teacher shapes her reaction to the academy’s grandeur and rules. She explained to La Stampa that Laura is a civilian on loan to this school, but she comes from public institutions where basic supplies like toilet paper can be scarce, and that contrast leaves her both impressed and unsettled by what she finds at Minerva.

Irene Maiorino

Irene Maiorino portrays Teresa Bonaiuto, the deputy commander who works alongside Achille Giordano. Her character operates under the watchful presence of the strict commander while helping oversee the cadets’ daily discipline.

Maiorino is already known to international audiences for other Italian television work, having appeared in the acclaimed series My Brilliant Friend, according to Giffoni’s own coverage of the premiere.

Giulio Brizzi

Giulio Brizzi plays Max, a third year student at the academy. His character is part of the senior cadet group, distinguishing him from the first year trio at the center of the main mystery.

Along with his fellow senior cadets, Brizzi’s storyline offers a view of what years spent under Minerva’s discipline can shape a student into, contrasting with the newer arrivals still adjusting to the school.

Nicole Malaj

Nicole Malaj plays Rachele, another third year student at the academy alongside Max. Her character rounds out the senior cadet dynamic that runs parallel to the newer students’ arcs.

Malaj is one of the younger cast members for whom this is a first significant role, joining several of her castmates in stepping into a major production for the first time.

Raiz

Raiz appears among the adult cast members at Minerva Academy, joining Massimiliano Gallo, Cristiana Capotondi and Irene Maiorino as part of the school’s staff and officers overseeing the students.

Michele Rosiello

Michele Rosiello also joins the adult side of the cast, part of the officers and civilian staff the series follows as they guide, and sometimes struggle to guide, the students in their care.

With the full season now streaming, which cadet’s storyline at ‘Minerva Academy’ are you most curious to see play out by the finale.