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Born on April 29, 1964 in Naples, Italy, Federico Castelluccio grew up in Paterson, New Jersey and was determined to become an artist and eventually an actor. Having an innate ability for drawing and painting, his talents did not go unnoticed. In 1982 Federico was awarded a full scholarship to the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he earned a BFA in painting and media arts. Just prior to winning the scholarship, Federico received an opportunity to do a painting for veteran actor George Burns. When Federico presented him with the portrait, Burns introduced him to people from PBS, ABC and other networks that found merit in his painting. He was hired by these networks and became an award-winning illustrator and continued to work professionally all through his college years. Federico stopped illustrating in 1992, yet had been acting already for six years and simultaneously made the transition from illustration to fine arts. He has exhibited his paintings in several NYC galleries over the years, including Yoshi, Silverstein, and Ambassador Galleries. Federico's paintings are in private and public collections in the U.S., South America and Europe.

Federico's fine-art paintings have drawn praise for their high level of technical ability, finding influence in the Renaissance and 17th-century Italian and Dutch baroque masters. Over the years he has exhibited his paintings in galleries in New York City, Washington DC and Santa Fe, New Mexico. His works are held in the collection of the Yale Fine Art Museum and Kresge Art Museum as well as private collections throughout the United States, South America and Europe. In 2006, Federico and Paul Sorvino were privately commissioned for artwork to be donated for permanent installation to a new wing of the Boca Raton Community Hospital in Florida.

Federico began his career as an actor in 1986 and began doing showcase plays, Summer Stock Theatre, Off-Off Broadway and Shakespeare Festivals. He was with several Repertoire companies including, Eclectic Theatre Company and Flock Theatre Company, where he did classics, contemporary and Shakespeare, including "A View from the Bridge", "Twelfth Night", and "Good Night Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet” and John Patrick Shanley's "Savage in Limbo." While doing plays, Castelluccio found himself venturing into film, doing everything from independent features to film shorts. Some of his film credits include "Made" with Jon Favreau, "Fire" with Robert Klein and "Diary of a Hitman" with Danny Aiello. Debuting at the Sundance Film Festival, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" received two awards - one for best dramatic directing and best dramatic ensemble headed by Robert Downey Jr., Chazz Palminteri and Rosario Dawson. Federico's recent film projects include the biographical "Cantante, El" starring Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez; "Aftermath", a crime-thriller starring Anthony Michael Hall and Chris Penn and directed and written by Thomas Farone; "Male oscuro, Il", filmed in southern Italy, a short film that Federico executive-produced and in which he acted; "Capers", a comedy and stars Danny Masterson. "Lucky Days" recently completed filming in New York City. In television, Federico was seen as the lead role in "Dragon Dynasty", which aired on the Sci-Fi Channel, "NYPD Blue" and the HBO hit series, "The Sopranos", where he played the Neapolitan enforcer "Furio Giunta".