Anna Falchi was born Anna Kristiina Palomäki on 22 April 1972 in Tampere, Finland, the daughter of an Italian father Benito (Tito) and Finnish mother Karina. Anna has a brother Saro and a half brother in Sweden Peter (same father). In 1978, at the age of six, she moved to Italy with her family. She started her career as a model. She first appeared on television in a commercial for an Italian bank in 1992. The ad starred Paolo Villaggio, and was directed by the celebrated Federico Fellini. This helped her launch a film career, starting with "Nel continente nero" ("On the Dark Continent") in 1993.