The Minerva Academy (Original title: Minerva – La scuola) Netflix cast is led by Ciro Minopoli as Salvo, Biagio Venditti as Vincenzo and Margherita Buoncristiani as Camilla. The wider Italian ensemble includes Giulio Brizzi, Nicole Malaj, Massimiliano Gallo, Cristiana Capotondi, Irene Maiorino and 14 additional performers.

Also titled Minerva: La Scuola, the eight-episode teen drama premieres on Netflix on September 22, 2026. It is set inside a fictional military high school in Naples, where Salvo is secretly searching for the truth about his missing best friend.

Minerva Academy Netflix cast and characters

Netflix has confirmed character descriptions for the three central cadets. The platform has announced the rest of the ensemble but has not yet published a complete actor-to-character breakdown for every supporting role.

Ciro Minopoli as Salvo

Ciro Minopoli plays Salvo, a teenager raised in a foster home who enters Minerva with a private purpose. He wants to discover what happened to his best friend. The military school’s secrecy, strict hierarchy and restrictions make that investigation difficult, especially when asking the wrong question can carry a serious penalty.

Salvo gives the series its central mystery. He is both a new cadet learning how the academy works and an investigator testing the institution’s official version of events. His lack of a traditional military family background also distinguishes him from students who see Minerva as an inherited path.

Biagio Venditti as Vincenzo

Biagio Venditti portrays Vincenzo, a cadet who wants to emulate his father’s military career. Where Salvo enters with questions, Vincenzo appears to begin with a clearer belief in the system and in the future it can provide.

That ambition creates pressure. The academy does not simply train its students; it forces them to decide whether the dream they arrived with genuinely belongs to them. Vincenzo’s storyline can therefore explore the difference between personal purpose and family expectation.

Margherita Buoncristiani as Camilla

Margherita Buoncristiani plays Camilla, a privileged teenager from Milan whose father sends her to Minerva to be reformed. Her arrival is not driven by military ambition, making the school feel more like a punishment than an opportunity.

Camilla must adjust to dawn flag ceremonies, uniforms, confiscated phones and rules against romantic relationships. Her resistance offers a natural way to expose the academy’s customs, while her growth need not mean accepting every rule without question.

Who are the adult cast members?

Massimiliano Gallo, Cristiana Capotondi and Irene Maiorino headline the adult side of the ensemble. Netflix says the story follows officers and civilian teachers as well as cadets. These adults are responsible for training the students, but they also have to confront their own consciences, weaknesses and mistakes.

Gallo is known for Italian films and series including The Hand of God. Capotondi has a long screen career that includes Notte prima degli esami, while Maiorino appeared as Lila’s mother, Immacolata Greco, in My Brilliant Friend. Netflix has not yet assigned their individual Minerva roles in its public English announcement.

What is Minerva Academy about?

The series takes place at Minerva Military High School, an institution governed by traditions that seem to come from another era. Students wake before sunrise for the raising of the flag. Civilian clothes and mobile phones are forbidden. Military tactics and fencing sit alongside ordinary lessons, and romantic relationships are prohibited.

Within that setting, Salvo searches for answers about his missing friend, Vincenzo attempts to honor his father’s career and Camilla resists the reform plan imposed on her. Rivalries, family pressure and the mystery bring their stories together. Every mistake has a price, but the show’s larger question is whether discipline reveals what the students truly want or simply teaches them to obey.

Readers interested in another young ensemble facing secrets can explore our guide to the Unknown Number high-school catfish cast. For a different Netflix mystery centered on young characters, see the Seven Dials cast and characters.

Where was Minerva Academy filmed?

The fictional school was created primarily at the Royal Palace of Portici near Naples, with Villa Campolieto in Ercolano also used as a filming location. The historic architecture supports the academy’s old-world formality and gives its ceremonies, corridors and institutional rules a convincing physical presence.

How many episodes are there?

Minerva Academy has eight episodes. The first two screened at the Giffoni Film Festival in July 2026, ahead of the Netflix release on September 22. Netflix has not announced a weekly streaming schedule, so the available season is expected to arrive together.

Ivan Silvestrini directs the series. Ivano Fachin, Giovanni Galassi, Tommaso Matano and Michela Straniero wrote it, and Roberto Sessa produced it for Picomedia.