In 2004 he separated from his first wife, the journalist and writer Margherita D'Amico, niece of Suso Cecchi D'Amico; they divorced in 2008. In 2005 he became romantically linked with the actress Luisa Ranieri, whom he met on the set of the television mini-series Cefalonia, and with whom he has two daughters, born in 2011 and 2015 respectively. The couple married on 23 June 2012 in a civil ceremony at the Donnafugata castle in Sicily.
Zingaretti made his film debut in 1987 with a minor role in Gli occhiali d'oro ("The Gold-Rimmed Glasses") — directed by Giuliano Montaldo — and in the same year first appeared on television in Il Giudice Istruttore ("The Investigating Magistrate)", directed by Florestano Vancini and Gianluigi Calderone. He first gained critical attention with his role as the ferocious "Ottorino" in Marco Risi's 1994 film Il branco ("The Wolf Pack"). In 1996 he starred with Sabrina Ferilli in the film Vite strozzate ("Strangled Lives"), directed by Ricky Tognazzi.
However, stardom arrived with his leading role as Commissario Salvo Montalbano, in the Inspector Montalbano series of TV films, initially shown on RAI Two, and then RAI One, as well as many other European TV channels and SBS in Australia. The series, which started running from 1999 and is still ongoing, consists of 36 films through 2020.
After his success he became one of the most in-demand dramatic actors in Italy appearing in such films as:
Prima dammi un bacio ("First Give Me a Kiss") (2003), dir. Ambrogio Lo Giudice
I giorni dell'abbandono ("Days of Abandonment") (2005), dir. Roberto Faenza
Tutte le donne della mia vita ("All The Women Of My Life") (2007), dir. Simona Izzo
Alla luce del sole ("To The Sunlight") (2005), a film on the life of Don Pino Puglisi.
In 2008 he appeared in four new Montalbano films, and in the same period adapted and directed the play La Sirena, from a story by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa.
In 2010 four new Montalbano episodes were produced, broadcast by RAI One on 14 March 2011 and the three following Mondays.
Between 2011 and 2012 he was in the cast of the comedies Immaturi - Il viaggio, dir. Paolo Genovese and Il comandante e la cicogna (Garibaldi's Lovers), dir. Silvio Soldini. He was among the stars of the international production Asterix & Obelix in the service of His Majesty, dir. Laurent Tirard in which he played a Roman general, and participated in a minor role in Romanzo di una strage – (Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy), dir. Marco Tullio Giordana. Also in 2012, he starred in two television films about two characters from twentieth century Italian history. First was Paolo Borsellino - I 57 giorni – (Paolo Borsellino - the 57 Days), dir. Alberto Negrin, made on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the death of Giovanni Falcone, while the latter told the life of the industrialist Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno – (Adriano Olivetti - the Strength of a Dream), dir. Michele Soavi. In 2014 he starred in the film in Maldamore, dir. Angelo Longoni, with his wife, Luisa Ranieri, Alessio Boni, Claudia Gerini and Ambra Angiolini, and in Perez., dir. Edoardo De Angelis, together with Marco D'Amore; moreover the same year he returned to TV with the mini-series Il giudice meschino – (The Indolent Judge), dir. Carlo Carlei, with his wife.
In 2013 another four episodes of Montalbano were broadcast by RAI One, and two more each year from 2016 through 2020.
