Jacopo Gassmann was born in Rome in 1980.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Film Directing from New York University and later completed a Master of Arts in Theatre Directing at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

During his time in the United States, he attended theater and film directing courses at various American universities (Harvard, UCLA) and created several works (short films, video art), including About the House (2004, based on a work by Julio Cortázar, screened in the Competizione video cineasti del presente at the Locarno Film Festival).

He is the author of documentaries such as La Voce a Te Dovuta, presented at international festivals in Locarno, Istanbul, Cinemed Montpellier, Montreal New Cinema and New Media, and FIC Brasília; and Il Più Bel Gioco del Mondo, presented at Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome and the Genoa Film Festival.

In 2005, he curated and directed the play Il Minore ovvero Preferirei di No with Roberto Herlitzka, based on the life and works of Ennio Flaiano (performed at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome and revived in 2008).

In subsequent years, he curated the artistic selections for the International Documentary Festival at Palazzo Venezia (Art, Music, and Dance) and the Sole e Luna Doc Fest in Palermo.

He has translated and adapted numerous theatrical texts from English into Italian and collaborated as a lecturer with the Centro Sperimentale di Regia in Milan.

Between 2010 and 2012, he lived in London, where he directed the play Nocturnal by Juan Mayorga (at the John Gielgud Theatre- RADA in London) and worked in the dramaturgy department of the Soho Theatre.

In 2013, he directed La Paz Perpetua by Juan Mayorga at Teatro Belli in Rome. The production was revived in 2014 for an Italian tour (AMAT Marche circuit, Teatro Verdi in Padua, Teatro Elfo Puccini in Milan).

In 2015, he opened the Trend Nuove Frontiere della Scena Britannica festival, translating and directing Confirmation by Chris Thorpe. The play was later performed in various Italian cities.

In 2016, he translated Bull by Mike Bartlett for Teatro Franco Parenti and translated and directed There Has Possibly Been an Incident by Chris Thorpe for Trend XV.

In 2017, he translated and directed Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar, winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize, for a coproduction between Teatro della Tosse and Teatro di Roma. The play premiered in the summer at La Milanesiana.
During the 2017–2018 season, Disgraced, Confirmation, and There Has Possibly Been an Incident toured Italy.
Disgraced was a finalist for Best Direction at the 2018 Le Maschere del Teatro Awards and for Best New Foreign Play at the 2018 UBU Awards.
The project Il Teatro di Chris Thorpe (Confirmation and There Has Possibly Been an Incident) won the 2018 Franco Enriquez National Award for Best Direction and Translation in the contemporary theater category.

In the 2018–2019 season, he translated Yellow Moon by David Greig (Trend XVII) and An Intervention by Mike Bartlett (CSS Udine).

In March 2019, he directed El chico de la Ultima fila by Juan Mayorga for a production by Piccolo Teatro di Milano-Teatro d’Europa (a finalist for the 2019 Hystrio Award for Best Production and winner of the 2019 Flaiano International Award for Best Direction).

In September 2020, he translated and staged Nothing of Me by Arne Lygre at the Venice Theatre Biennale (a production by TPE and Teatro Stabile dell’Umbria).

In December 2020, he won the National Association of Theatre Critics Award for Best Direction. In 2021, he edited and translated Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar for La Nave di Teseo.

In June 2022, he directed Iphigenia in Tauris for the classical plays cycle at the Greek Theatre of Siracusa. The production continued on tour at the Pompei Theatrum Mundi and Estate Teatrale Veronese festivals.

In the 2023–2024 season, he directed The City by Martin Crimp for a coproduction between Teatro Stabile del Veneto, Teatro dell’Elfo, Emilia Romagna Teatro, TPE, and LAC Lugano. The play was a finalist for the Hystrio Award. In spring 2024, he directed Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth conducted by Daniel Oren for Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and in autumn 2024, Shakespeare’s Macbeth for Teatro Stabile di Napoli.

In the summer of 24 he was awarded the Adolfo Celi prize for theatre. In March 2025, he will direct El Golem by Juan Mayorga for a production by Sardegna Teatro, Teatro di Roma-Teatro Nazionale and Teatro Stabile dell’Umbria.

He is also the curator of the contemporary theater book series Green Room for Luca Sossella Editore.