Acting career thumb|Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg in the Trevi Fountain, Rome, during the shooting of La Dolce Vita (1960) Mastroianni made his screen debut as an uncredited extra in Marionette (1939) when he was fourteen, and made intermittent minor film appearances until landing his first big role in Atto d'accusa (1951). Within a decade he became a major international celebrity, starring in Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958); and in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960) playing a disillusioned and self-loathing tabloid columnist who spends his days and nights exploring Rome's decadent high society. Mastroianni followed La Dolce Vita with another signature role, that of a film director who, amidst self-doubt and troubled love affairs, finds himself in a creative block while making a film in Fellini's 8½ (1963).
Acting career thumb|Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg in the Trevi Fountain Rome during the shooting of La Dolce Vita (1960) Mastroianni made his screen debut as an uncredited extra in Marionette (1939) when he was fourteen and made intermittent minor film appearances until landing his first big role in Atto d'accusa (1951) Within a decade he became a major international celebrity starring in Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958); and in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960) playing a disillusioned and self-loathing tabloid columnist who spends his days and nights exploring Rome's decadent high society Mastroianni followed La Dolce Vita with another signature role that of a film director who amidst self-doubt and troubled love affairs finds himself in a creative block while making a film in Fellini's 8½ (1963)