Talking with Susanna

We are here for IM Italian magazine with Gianni Rosato, an actor we already know, whom we have already gone to visit once for an interview and who usually, in short, we look for our people who have already been interviewed, because in some way they have had some important news to tell us. This time we wish you well. So many good things have happened, and you have a new film and a new blockbuster.

First and foremost happy to be Hosted at the home of IM Italian magazine, which has already brought me luck, as you had already wished me in the past. So I expect a lot more news after this interview because, in my opinion, it will become a succession of news and good things that will come, what can I say I’m happy because after our interview I received an offer for the film that is DO UT DES of which I am the male protagonist, where I am flanked by very good actors such as Beatrice Schiaffino, who is the female protagonist, Ilaria Lorica, Luca Vallone, Ilde Mauri, and many others in this film. But the movie was born right after the post-pandemic period, when we were all forcibly confined at home and I remember that I did the self-tape during that period. And then we shot the film in Rome, Milan and Budapest.

As I was saying, you told us behind the scenes earlier, how did you get cast in this film?

As I was saying, you told us behind the scenes earlier, how did you get chosen for this film?

As happens to all of us actors, we have an agency that offers us auditions, and in that period obvi-

On the fourth callback. I still remember seeing people coming and going, so I even had the benefit of the doubt about the hypothetical choice and then finally I remember the production calling me that it was 11:03. I was sitting on the bed, watching a movie, only there was no longer the possibility of being able to audition in person, with casting, and therefore we had to settle for the classic Selftape, alas, if it hadn’t been for that I wouldn’t have made the film today.

Because I didn’t know either Dario o Monica, but soon after, when a relationship of mutual respect was established. Monica told me in confidence: “Look, if it hadn’t been for that self-tape I would never have chosen you. Why? Because, in any case, there is a lack of empathy, that intimacy that is established between the actor, the character, and the casting director during the audition phase.

Then I had the opportunity because they allowed me to meet in person, to do an audition. But it’s something that left a strong impression on me, it was a phrase said by Monica when she called me back for the third time, she looked at me and said look: “I chose you because you were the only one who made my flesh tremble in my life,” which I and I didn’t understand at first, I told her, but for better or for worse? “It’s like, don’t you understand, I’m choosing you.”

I was confused, about the first project I did as a lead, then knowing that I was chosen from a cast of actors who are just as good, for goodness sake.

It passes over you, it’s an indescribable emotion.

I don’t remember what they were showing. My best friend, Cinzia Scaglione, is also a solitary and I remember that they suddenly said ok, let’s confirm the role. I burst into tears, and my friend Cinzia hugged me as if to say: Well done, did you see? You sweated a lot for this role and in the end, you made it. And from there the whole journey of the film began, which I will tell you about shortly.

So it was also like sweating during the post-lockdown period, I imagine the work done for filming and so on was quite difficult.

Well, look, I have to say that the production protected us from every point of view, in the sense of wherever we went. We always had someone from production looking after us. I remember perhaps the worst period regarding Covid, was in Budapest because, unlike Italy, Budapest took the COVID situation a little lightly, in fact many people went around without masks, you entered a shop, a bar, or a restaurant to take something and they were all, without masks and memory, looking at us like aliens. There was a guy at the counter of a bar who asked me, why do you Italians go around with masks? My answer was: well, why does Covid exist? And that boy said to me: Eh, are you stupid in Italy because you haven’t understood yet that it’s just the flu?

There was a little bit of that. But whose side were you on, given what was happening in Italy, how could you pretend it was just the flu? I mean, unfortunately. Many people have lost the most important thing we have, which is life. And how

So yes, I have to be honest about the film, my great satisfaction lies in the fact that I was confronted with a character light years away from me. So for an actor to play a character that doesn’t even belong to you is a challenge. He is can you say yes? It’s true, the flu doesn’t count if we consider the first victims of Bergamo and we’re talking about 500 victims in the space of four days, 5 days, we cannot take such a situation lightly. Shortly after we saw what happened. Despite this, we continued to protect ourselves with masks, and disinfectants, respecting the safety distance and I must say that it was a difficult time, beautiful, exciting for the work we were doing, but equally difficult in many ways, however, we made it in the end. absurd and he is and it’s beautiful when you get a good result which is then appreciated by the public and beyond. The film is inspired by true events.

And was it only filmed in Budapest or also in Italy?

No, we started with the first two weeks in Milan. Then we had a week off. Changes, positions, and so on. We moved to Rome, so two weeks in Milan, one. About 10 days, 12 days in Budapest, and then a week in Rome. Precisely because there were changes in location based on concessions. First Rome rather than Budapest and so on. So let’s say that there have been some changes in the location and covers.

And the film deals with a rather current topic, in short...

So we detach ourselves from these situations to also embrace the theme of gender violence and given what the historical period is, with everything we hear today such as feminicides and so on, I must say that. I’m even more proud to have played that role because the film itself allows you to send a message, a very important message that has to do with gender violence and violence against women. Even the other evening, when we were awarded at the Deluxe Film Festival, where we received the award for best film and I received the award for best actor, I didn’t hesitate for a moment to spread what today is no longer a thought common but must become a mantra for everyone. And that is that in the face of violence against women or the face of violence against women or in the face of gender violence, tolerance must in any case be zero. And let’s always remember this when a woman says no is no.

Where did you get the inspiration to be able to play a role so distant from you?

Wow, great question, so basically. I won’t deny that I started seeing a lot of films, I had already seen many other things, I started to document myself through social media through streaming. I left the cinema to try to avoid what we had already seen and to build a Leonardo (which is the name of my character) to build a Leonardo that did not belong to something already seen. And I must tell you that I succeeded, but I did some good internal work.

I made use of the collaboration of Dario and Monica, who are the director and screenwriter, among other things, they also co-directed the creation of this character together. But this is an individual, subjective work that they did, with each actor, that is, they carved out a space with each actor to build, to give you indications on directions and paths to follow. What to avoid instead? What to pursue with respect and tact? Because, in any case, the issue is very delicate. There is a risk of going off the rails. It’s a moment, a snap of the fingers, so they were very good at directing us, at the same time giving us carte blanche and then going to do a sort of skimming of the excesses.

And listen, if I may, without spoiling anything. There is one scene that gave you a lot of difficulty, more than the others, if it’s possible, without spoiling anything, let’s say without giving away.

I won’t tell you the whole story, but I can tell you the scene. I’m not saying that it destabilized me, but that I also feel, my voice betrays me a little in telling you that memory, was the moment in which Leonardo abuses Francesca, and Francesca as seen in the film, is a person who has had a past painful because he has suffered violence and sees in Leonardo the possibility of being able to start trusting men again. And it is Leonardo himself who gives her the final blow. So imagine the enormous interior work done by me and Francesca, and I remember that at the beginning this was perhaps one of the scenes we shot, the most, not only from a technical point of view for the cameras but also from an emotional point of view, because there was a moment when I hugged Francesca with the cameras off and I told her, I’m sorry for what I’m about to do and she replied:

“Gianni, we are two actors, we are two professionals, do what you want listen.” There we let ourselves go and that scene was one of the most beautiful from an actor’s point of view, but also from a film point of view, one of the most dramatic, ugly, and heavy. But I repeat, we are all satisfied with the work done.

Awork that has brought you awards, best film, and best leading actor, we have made many improvements.

Wow, who expected this? Yes, but above all because you can see when a director, a screenwriter, or an actor works on a film anyway. But let’s face it, the actor is vain, whether the director likes it or not, even if he is behind the camera he is equally vain but vain, in the good sense of the word. I mean, let’s do a job. We hope that this will be appreciated, but not out of a desire for visibility and notoriety. No, but why? We like to be appreciated for our work, for us. The desire to be appreciated and even more.

Applauded, appreciated. Does it also mean applauding yourself?

Yes, for appreciation in the sense, of public appreciation, I mean. Then when we learned about it at the beginning of the trip. Dario received a mention for directing, but Dario is behind the camera, he is a monster, he is an excellent director, and he is an excellent director of photography. He received a mention for his work Bea at the Dubai Film Festival. I call her Bea, because for me she has now become like a sister, both she and Beatrice Schiaffino, who plays Emanuelle, received the award for best actress at the Dubai Film Festival.

Of course, also because criticism is giving an excellent response to respect?

Critics, both Italian and foreign, are giving excellent feedback to the film. After the release in Italy, as before the release in Italy, it went to the Berlin Film Festival, where it was sold in 10 different foreign countries in Europe and beyond. In fact, after its release in Italy, it was also released abroad and already the releases in Taiwan, Japan, and the United States meant that the production, as if by magic, received wonderful, unexpected reviews.

Magically, why?

Because the idea that one of your projects lands abroad seems almost like a dream to you, and from abroad, where the industry is 10 times bigger than the Italian one, there is someone who reviews the film and then gives you those reviews? Some of them are video recordings made by critics, many others have been written on portals, the web, newspapers, and so on. I remember that the other evening, after receiving the award I began to read them all, I must have received about 10, 12, then I sent them to you and they were one more beautiful than the other, but since they didn’t stop only at the direction or the screenplay or acting, they were reviews that made the project go round. There was a linearity and balance in those reviews which, believe me, put you in a position where you can’t say Ah but... In short, I don’t know if I managed to explain the concept, it often happens that a film is reviewed and that film is judged only as technical-artistic or only ascribable to the historical period. This is what I like about these reviews received from abroad, not because they don’t do it in Italy, for goodness sake, but because in Italy we have excellent critics. But I noticed that abroad the opinions all follow the same line, in the sense. We start with technical criticism and then involve the actor’s interpretation subject to respect for the script and historical time. There is a complex but exhaustive linearity in all its parts.

So in short, they are just like saying also beautiful, constructive, even liked.

A lot, for us actors it’s constructive feedback. It’s true, you took the words out of my mouth, they are constructive feedback.

Sure, I guess well. So what can we say? In short, we left you when you had just finished a film and were in the planning phase, you were full of ideas for the future and we found you who, in short, have been rewarded. And now this film is going around the world anyway...

Then IM Italian wishes you a happy new year, as well as new beautiful, interesting, intense projects that give you a lot of satisfaction. Then we will come to visit you again.

Thank you, thank you 1000, thank you 1000. First of all, a little spoiler, I just finished shooting 1 nice authorial short film. Handsome. It was filmed in Calabria, the production is Calamazo. They are young, resourceful, amazing, and let me pass the term tough.

I also want to wish all the IM Italian staff and everyone, all the followers who write to me, who bombard me with messages, and all your followers, happy holidays with serenity and peace in our hearts, because we have them. We all need it.