We met Ludovico where every day he creates, with his friends, colleagues and fellow adventurers, new fantastic worlds and where he puts himself to the test with the art of acting. We are talking about the Lorenzo da Ponte Academy, in Vittorio Veneto (Italy) where he studies drama.
Immediately, everything about him made us understand that he is a candid, sincere young man with very few filters. He presented himself simply as Ludovico Girardello, with his curly blonde hair and his smile, turning an interview into a nice and open talk. On January 4th, 2018, the new chapter of his first film will be released in Italy, the one that “ripped him away” (albeit for a very short time) from the world of theater in which he was born: “Il Ragazzo Invisibile – Seconda Generazione (The Invisible Boy – Second Generation).
Despite the freezing cold, we sat on the rooftop of the Academy, where we shared a few laughs, and Ludovico, with his sweet lightness and natural niceness, told us about his first steps in the world of entertainment, his great passion for theater and his immense desire to “strip off” his angel face and to interpret one of those bad, bad guys of the cinema.
The art of acting is part of your family. Have you always dreamed of being actor?
In the family, the actors are Elena, Federica and me. My brother majored in History of Cinema, and my father is a writer. I felt like I wanted to work as an actor when I did my second play and my first film.
Big screen and stage: what is the biggest difference between them? And what do you like the most of each one?
I prefer to be on the stage, which doesn’t mean that I don’t like cinema. I see Cinema as a big assembly line, like a corporation, whereas theater exists thanks to the passion and the heart, I see it as a workshop of a craftsman. I definitely like the stage more; it’s less built in. Cinema is more static; you can run as many takes as you want if a scene doesn’t go well. Whereas on the stage everything is truer.
How was working with Gabriele Salvatores? Was it “scary” to work on your first film role with an Oscar-winner director?
I was younger, and I took everything more like a game. I didn’t think I was going to get the role, I was doing the auditions but I wasn’t really thinking about it. The second time I was more aware of it though, I tried to work on my character in a more conscious way, not as if it was still a game. When I saw myself in the first film I was ashamed of my acting, I didn’t like myself at all! In the second film, I am a teenager and just like any other teen, I had to relate to that darker phase of life, where everything is, as said, darker.
Probably you have been asked this more than once, but what would you do if you hat the power of invisibility right now?
I would go and steal (laughs). I would enter a record store and steal all the records.
Who is your favorite superhero? (Michele asides)
I don’t really like the traditional superheroes, so I’d say Deadpool.
What is the best advice you have received so far for your career?
Have fun! And don’t take yourself too seriously.
What does acting mean to Ludovico?
To keep having fun.
A director you would like to work with?
Definitely Quentin Tarantino.
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And Now Let’s Get Serious…Just Kidding! ?
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Must have on set: Headphones to listen music.
Superpower: To love everyone, even though I want to steal, then I would hug everyone (laughs.) And my optimism, opposite to my mom who wouldn’t have ever thought that I would be chosen for the first movie.
Epic fail on the job (theater and set): The biggest epic fail on the set I think it was a very bad swear, said as I tripped on a big cable that was crossing the set while filming “Il Ragazzo Invisibile – Seconda Generazione” (The Invisible Boy – Second Generation), while the backstage camera was rolling. On stage, instead, while I was playing Romeo in “Romeo and Juliet”, during a fight scene, a sword cut my forehead and I started bleeding.
Happy place: Right here at the Accademia.
Favorite accent: Scottish, like Willie’s in The Simpsons.
Movie: then and now. My childhood film was Robin Hood (Disney). My favorite now…still Robin Hood! And it’s the play we are producing right now.
Favorite Word: Precipitevolissimevolmente (said with some difficulties J; in English a superlative form of hastily)
Who you’d rather be (as a character): On the stage, I would like to play Othello, I always try to do a role that can be as much different as possible from me, also physically speaking. In a film, I would like to be the villain. With the face angelic face and hair that I got, I want to try to go further and do something very different from me.
Favorite Italian and American film: Italian movie: Il Capitale Umano (Human Capital); American movie: Pulp Fiction.
Favorite Quote: It’s a revision of a line from Puck in “Midsummer Night’s Dream”: “It’s exactly this thing about you, being human, that makes yourselves so interesting. If I don’t want to do something I do it tomorrow, or tomorrow, or tomorrow, or tomorrow. I never fear, unlike yourselves, that time’s never going to be enough.
And so, from time to time, I happen to find myself bored, for I need to find a reason for my existence. But you, you need to find that reason every day, or you’ll end your days with empty hands. And this gives you strength, ideas, emotions. The real fun, for us, comes when one of your kind enters the woods. We learned from you everything about love, and friendship, for we didn’t know any of that before. Alas, it’s true. Meanwhile, we did learn how to be jealous, bad-tempered, and many other things that often drive us into fights. But it’s beautiful still, it’s a burden we don’t mind to carry, for it gives us a little bit of the things you feel. It’s good, to be mortal.”
The last TV Series you binge-watched: Vikings; I love it because I enjoy period films and TV series. In Vikings there are a lot of villains, I really like how it was shot and its actors, I like everything about it. I also enjoyed Breaking Bad, but I have to pick one, I’ve just been hooked on Vikings lately. I’m looking forward to next season; I’m waiting for it!
The most beautiful thing while filming “Il ragazzo Invisibile – Seconda generazione”. Nothing much, only the time spent with the crew on and out the set. And a portrait of myself was given to me by someone from the set; it was a really nice thing.
Sweets or Popcorn? Pop corn.
Favorite dish? Pizza.
