Last week Yahoo! Cinema Italia gave fans a chance to ask actor/director Sergio Castellitto anything they wanted for any upcoming interview ( hey, I told you about it – why didn’t you do it?) about his new film, Venuto Al Mondo (Twice Born). It stars Penelope Cruz and is based on a book written by Sergio’s wife, author Margaret Mazzantini.
The video of the interview is out, and one of my questions was answered; in fact, Sergio called me by name and said, “Ça va, Cheri”. This is how starstruck I am: I am excited that Sergio Castellitto said “Ça va” to me in a video interview.
And why “Ça va”? My name is very confusing to Europeans. “Cheri” is a word, of course, and not a name, in France, and so people from all over Europe are left to wonder why my mother named me “dear”. I am Cheri because of my mother’s confusion with the French language, Sergio. But I loved the “Ça va” anyway. “Ça va” right back at you!
WATCH THE INTERVIEW WITH SERGIO CASTELLITTO
You can watch the video – it’s in Italian and not terribly interesting, but that’s not Sergio’s fault. I’d told you earlier about the questions being posted, like: “Why is your wife such a tight ass?”, and “Why do you think your shit doesn’t stink?” (or the Italian equivalents, anyway). The real questions were few and not exactly riveting. I asked about five questions and he answered the most important: Will the film make its way to the US?
Of course it will, he told us, it’s an English language film and it will be in our theaters (hurray!) next spring.
Other questions: Why did he choose an American actor (Emile Hirsch) instead of an Italian one for the role of Diego?
He chose Hirsch because he’s is a really good actor, and because it’s an English language film. He made the choice because he loved Hirsch in “Into the Wild” and because it will make the film more international.
And, why did he give all his children the middle name “Contento” or “Contenta”? Because it’s a happy name, duh!
And why this story? Sergio decided to make this movie because, well, he felt like making a movie. And this is a good story with a strong character, Gemma, played by Penelope Cruz.
A guy who calls himself Gandolf asked Sergio if he’d read a script that he’d written
. Wow, Gandolf, hai le palle, ragazzo! Anyway, Sergio said no (very politely). He’s too tired right now (maybe later).
Venuto al Mondo, or Twice Born as it will be called in the US, looks great and I can’t wait.
PS – I’m still waiting for This Must Be The Place to come to my city. Anybody have any news on that front?
I Love Italian Everything 