Supersex's Rocco Siffredi: The true story behind Netflix's most explicit show
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Netflix's Supersex spoilers follow.
The enormity of Rocco Siffredi's penis – alleged to measure between 23 and 26cm (we can see you measuring that now with your fingers, stop it) – is eclipsed only by the impact said penis had on the porn industry.
Over four decades, the 'Italian Stallion' has made roughly 1,400 hardcore films with catchy titles like The Ass Collector and Buttman's Big Tit Adventure 3. And they were known for being rough. (To the extent that many question the validity of 'celebrating' his career at all.)
Rocco's life outside of porn was rough in a different way, so it's no wonder that Netflix, the streamer behind prestige fare such as Sex/Life and 365 Days, would jump on the chance to dramatise it and ride that story for all its worth with their own TV adaptation.
But how true to life is Supersex? The title is a fairly accurate one given that around 70% of the show is real, according to Siffredi, and yep, he did have a lot of sex.
"When I saw the series, seven hours, all at once… it was pretty difficult," he recently told The Independent. "My mind was going so fast. So many memories. So much happiness but also much pain."
Still, for want of better wording, it's quite hard to pack so much meat into just seven episodes, yet pack they did. So just how successful was Supersex showrunner Francesca Manieri in this oversized endeavour?
Supersex true story explained
Rocco Siffredi, born Rocco Antonio Tano on 4 May 1964, grew up in the coastal town of Ortona in Italy’s impoverished Abruzzo region. The death of his brother at a young age and the family's struggle to cope with that loss — as seen in Supersex — is real, and so is his mother's support of Rocco's chosen career path.
Inspiration came not from a college career advisor, but a porn mag titled Supersex, funnily enough, that Rocco had loved since the age of 12. Boys will be boys, except this boy wanted to be just like his idol from the photos, a French porn star named Gabriel Pontello. Eight years later, Rocco would actually meet him in a Paris sex club where Gabriel introduced Siffredi to porn producers and kickstarted his career.
Drawing from Alain Delon's character in a 1970 gangster movie named Borsalino, Tano took the stage name of Siffredi and became a giant, throbbing success all across Europe. But it wasn't as easy as this sounds. He was even living in Margate for a brief period in the '80s, which – for all its charms – is no Côte d'Azur.
In 1990, Siffredi moved to Los Angeles to extend his influence, but "it was very tough," he tells Variety because of his accent and "because Americans are used to selling, not to buying." But Rocco pushed through, and he pushed through hard. In doing so, he transformed the American porn industry just like he had in Europe, winning over 150 industry prizes.
But by 2004, Siffredi was done with starring in porn. At a Paris industry convention, he announced his retirement, just like the show's protagonist does at the start of Supersex. The difference in real life though is that Rocco didn't really bang an aspiring performer in front of the crowd while making that announcement. That part is fictionalised, although we wouldn't have put it past the real Rocco, quite honestly.
There had been previous breaks from porn, like in the '80s when he modelled or later when Rocco briefly worked with the fashion world. As recently as 2023, Siffredi maintained that particular relationship by walking for Dsquared2 in Milan wearing a pair of unbuttoned jeans, a red logo T-shirt, and a suit jacket. That's not all though.
Significantly, Rocco is one of very few porn stars who also appeared in film and TV shows outside of the adult industry, as well as documentaries and various ads. A commercial he filmed for Amica Chips, a snack food, drew so much controversy that it was even banned at one point.
The years after 2004 were quiet though, aside from some directing gigs, until Rocco decided to return to porn in 2009, citing his frustration with the younger stars, who lacked his talents.
Six years later, Siffredi left the industry yet again soon after he appeared on L’isola dei famosi (The Celebrity Island), an Italian reality TV show where he was left stranded, naked and alone on a beach for seven days. TV gold, if you ask us.
Throughout all this, Siffredi has been married to Rosa Caracciolo (born Rózsa Tassi), a Hungarian model he first met at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. Two years later, they performed together in the film Tarzan X: Shame of Jane and would go on to have two sons, Lorenzo and Leonardo. The couple have stuck together through everything, including Rocco's multiple retirements and his ongoing battle with sex addiction.
Siffredi is still retired today, although he remains in the public eye through projects like this and interviews too.
In that aforementioned Independent chat, Rocco, now 59 years old, had tears in his eyes when reflecting on the choices that he's made in life, saying:
"You have family, you have a wife, you have children and you never stop thinking, 'Did I do the right thing or not?'"
Whether Rocco made the right decisions or not, his story remains a fascinating one regardless, and the impact of his achievements can still be felt today on all kinds of screens.
Supersex is now available to stream on Netflix.
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