I gush and gush about so many Italian actors and actresses and have ignored one of the most successful, Valeria Golino. She’s 44 and her career as lapsed 25 years, having starred in American, Italian and French films; you probably remember her as Tom Cruise’s girlfriend, Susanna, in “Rain Man”. She was in “Frida”, “Big Top Pee Wee”, and “Leaving Las Vegas.”
As for the Italian films we’ve seen her in, she was Nanni Moretti’s sister-in-law, Marta, in “Caos Calma”, the mother of the disabled child in “La Ragazza del Lago”, and a dozen others. She’s seen currently in a very successful French film, and she’s won countless awards, including a David di Donatello best actress award for “Mario’s War” in 2005.
She’s Italian and Greek and grew up in Naples, starting out as a model and her sexy, raspy voice is her trademark. She speaks Italian, French, Greek, and English and she’s was once engaged to Benicio del Toro. Today she’s with one of Italy’s most famous young actors, Riccardo Scamarcio who is 13 years younger than she is.
So why do I ignore her? I just haven’t loved her so much; I can’t say why. She’s a little bit of an over-actor in some movies and relies too much on her sexuality in others. Or am I being too unfair?
Tonight I’m watching the 2009 “Giulia Esce La Sera” (Giulia doesn’t go out at night), a movie about a woman who falls in love with a guy she meets when she’s a prisoner on work release. She got a David di Donatello nomination for it and ‘ll watch it with an open mind. Think abou it; Tom Cruise, Pee Wee Herman, Benicio del Toro, and Riccardo Scamarcio can’t all be wrong; can they?
I Love Italian Everything 