BEATRICE FIORENTINI
Photography ADRIANO RUSSO
Art direction ANTONIO PICCIRILLI
Fashion direction AMELIANNA LOIACONO
Interview FEDERICA TROTTA MUREAU
Hair ALESSANDRO REBECCHI @THEGREENAPPLEITALY
Make up ARIANNA CAMPA @BLENDMANAGEMENT
Sweater ANNA MOLINARI, culotte INTIMISSIMI.
Acting is often described as becoming someone else, but perhaps it is also a way of discovering parts of yourself you did not know existed. What has acting revealed to you about who you are?
Who I am? Wow, that’s a beautiful question. I don’t know. I’m still very much on the journey. Let’s see… I think acting has revealed to me that it is beautiful and exciting to always have the opportunity to be everything or its opposite. The idea of being able to change and see myself transformed makes me feel comfortable. Perhaps it is also one of my favourite ways to escape, even from myself. It has revealed to me that we are all an incredible multitude and that often, behind my ironic way of looking at life, there is something else. Before, I didn’t know that. I have become aware of my life experience up to this point. Acting makes you come to terms with yourself. In a way, it is also about feeling drawn to taking a magnifying glass and starting to look around, to explore… inside and everywhere. It has revealed to me that I have a profound curiosity and respect for people’s stories, that people ignite something in me and that without them I would be nothing. Or at least, I would be someone who gets bored. I would like to give shape, voice, justice and redemption to what I see behind their eyes. Acting welcomed me like the long-desired home with a flowering garden, where you feel you want to stay for a long time. This profession is made of play but also of seriousness, and I admit that I was surprised when, out of love for this profession, I discovered that I was more disciplined than I thought, and more than I had understood myself to be. It was incredibly funny because I could feel the impulse exploding inside me to shout it to the whole world: “Ohhh folks, I’m disciplined!” I like acting, and in order to do it I had to learn how to “tame” myself.
There is a strange paradox in being an actress: you learn to inhabit other people’s lives while constantly being asked to build your own identity in the public eye. How do you protect the person you are when so much of your work is about becoming someone else?
I don’t reveal everything. I withdraw when I feel the need. There has to be a desire to keep your roots anchored in everything that characterizes the deepest and truest part of who we are. And you have to protect it. These are deeply personal pockets of time spent in solitude, or with very few precious people.
left – Sweater ANNA MOLINARI.
right – Total look PHILOSOPHY BY LORENZO SERAFINI..
What is more frightening to you: being completely yourself in front of a camera, or becoming someone entirely different? Are there characters you have played, or would like to play, who frighten you because they might reveal something about yourself?
Hmm… When the camera is on, whether it is to shoot a scene or to take creative photographs, it is the perfect moment to tell ourselves that we can become something else, that is exactly where the beauty of the game begins. I prefer to leave everything in the hands of the characters. And therefore, to feel completely different. In my private life, in my deepest self, I am also shy, reserved and private. And then I put on costumes, I project myself into the story, I change my hair and I like it that way, feeling like someone else and giving a voice to my alter egos. “Daniela”, the character I play in “Mare Mosso”, which we recently presented at the Venice International Film Festival, is very different from me. She is a character who is a bit rough around the edges, with a life story and a way of moving through the world that are different from mine. And yet, in the moment when I was filming, I felt as though I were her.
Do you think vulnerability can be acted, or does the camera always know when something is genuinely felt?
I believe everything can be done, everyone has their own way of working, but I also believe that when you are willing to go deep and truly feel, everything can come across more strongly, and the camera is ready to capture it.
left – Dress COURRÈGES, shoes SAINT LAURENT.
right – Total look PHILOSOPHY BY LORENZO SERAFINI.
The most interesting performances often happen in the spaces between words: a pause, a look, a hesitation. What do you think silence can communicate that dialogue cannot?
Dialogue is the director’s advice, which we are obliged to listen to. It is their way of seeing the world. Silence is the possibility we are given to ask ourselves a question. It is our free point of view. A precious moment of stillness left to each person’s secret thoughts. I believe that silence is a good opportunity in which all of us (the actor included) can really put our lives to the test, and often you have the intuition that calculations don’t add up. Or maybe they do.
You are entering a profession that can make you feel constantly judged—for your talent, your appearance, your choices, even your age. How do you learn to listen to criticism without allowing it to define you?
It is very important to me not to let myself be defined by a label or a single experience. I don’t do that to myself, nor do I do it to others. Regardless of whether criticism comes or not, my mind has always been trained to respect those boundaries. I focus on the things that are important to me, keeping my eyes on the goal. So far, in my professional life, I haven’t really experienced the more negative side of this aspect of the profession; on the contrary, I have received some beautiful words and wonderful feedback. It feels good! But in life, the opposite can happen too, regardless of work. In any case, in order not to let criticism define me, I would probably ask myself to look back. I would observe the path I have taken, the effort I have put into it, my setbacks and my wounds, my happy moments, and I would focus on everything that lies behind a journey, behind my life, and not just on one experience or one specific fact. We are always constantly transforming. There are things I may do better, others less well, others I still have to discover, with the desire to always improve myself professionally and as a human being. I believe that this is part of the game. I would probably also try to understand and look with kind eyes at who the criticism comes from and what kind of criticism it is. Sometimes people don’t have the tools. Often, the criticism that reaches us speaks more about the person delivering it than about us, and perhaps in that case, they are doing themselves a disservice.
Total look ETRO.
Fame is often imagined as the ultimate form of being seen. But do you think there is a difference between being visible and being truly seen?
Yes, there is a difference.
Once, a teacher had us do an exercise. In the first part of the exercise, we had to sit on chairs facing each other and look into each other’s eyes. Suddenly, all the noise faded away. Being truly seen is an act of courage, both for the person who looks and for the person who allows themselves to be seen. It means giving yourself a chance to take off your mask, to put down your armour, and on the other side, it means giving yourself a chance to let yourself be touched, surprised, and to look beyond. Both sides have to move past the fear. An actor, or someone who works in the artistic field, may have a greater predisposition towards this. I believe that in life, it is not entirely within our control. The chairs are free in the middle of the room; we may want to sit down but someone else may not, and vice versa. It is not for everyone, it is not within our control, and that is okay because when it happens, that moment makes all the difference. Being truly seen lies in the beauty of an encounter. It is what makes you call a relationship magical and special. A place where you feel you don’t have to run away.
left – Dress LA PERLA.
right – T-shirt SAINT LAURENT, skirt COURRÈGES.
When you imagine yourself ten years from now, do you hope to recognise the actress you are today, or do you hope she will feel like a completely different person?
I would like to see myself with many experiences accumulated, to see professional growth, but at the same time, I would like to recognize certain things within myself that I have carried with me since I was little; losing them completely would mean, in a way, failing.
If one day you could look back at the very beginning of your career and speak to the girl you are now, what would you want her to remember—before the industry, before the expectations, before anyone else tells her who she should become?
That often feeling like you have no skin and feeling so much on an emotional level can be a strength; that inside her there is an unshakeable faith, a part of her that truly believes, and even when obstacles try to silence it, this faith is stronger than everything. To be grateful and to not be afraid.
