We met Ludovico Girardello last year, on the occasion of the release of his film “The Invisible Boy – Second Generation” and to meet him again, after almost a year, a thousand more projects and a continuous growth, it was not a surprise. We knew it.
Perhaps one of the sincerest and filter-free actors you can ever talk to, who says things just like he thinks them, without beating around the bush and with the mind of someone who is really young, who wants to do something and would like to see a real change in the world of cinema. A world of cinema that follows a single and unique word: freedom.
As always, with him you can’t but laugh and have fun, listening to crazy projects (which we cannot wait to see come to life) and talking about his new film “Capri-Revolution” that was competing at 2018 Venice Film Festival and that will be released this December. Without forgetting the project that for him is the closest to the truth of the actor: theater.
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Can you tell us a little of your character in “Capri-Revolution”?
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I’m the sidekick, in general, the pupil of the male lead who is the beardy man. And basically, I am almost always between the girl and him, because he speaks only English and she speaks in Neapolitan dialect, so I translate for them. Then I have some friendly relations with her, and the man is just my teacher both on an artistic level because he teaches me to paint, and on the philosophy of life. Everything is so nice.
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How did you prepare to play this character?
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For the painting part, I had an already-made drawing on which I had to do some “fake” painting. For the role, actually, I didn’t need any kind of preparation because I had already understood the character, he’s quite simple to get to know, he hasn’t great mental pivots that I could deepen, he’s a young boy so he hasn’t many self-doubts.
“I’m the sidekick…”
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How was working with the director, Mario Martone, and the rest of the cast?
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I very much enjoyed working with the director, because Mario [Martone] is a theatre director, and even on set he still works pretty much like in theatre, so it was a team effort: there are ideas from all of us in the movie, and so what I liked the most was creating something all together without following anyone’s instructions. So, we had a lot more fun. It was an artistic job from start to finish, like deciding some things, such as “in my opinion that lamp should be over there” or shit like that. At the end of the day, you can tell yourself “I did my part,” and that is better than just standing there doing only what you’re told.
“It was an artistic job from start to finish.”
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How is coming back in Venice?
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Well, let’s just say that I was expecting to come back with this movie because, after some calculation, I thought “in my opinion, first they send it to Venice, and then to the theatres.” And it turned out like this.
Originally, they had the idea of sending it to Berlin or Cannes, but it was all too early or too late, and so they decided to come to Venice and play it safe. But it’s cool being here, it’s huge, plus in competition, for prizes, like at the Oscars or the Golden Globes.
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This year, in and out the competition, there are some remakes too.
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I’ve always f***ing hated remakes. In the end, you just have to take a book and adapt it into a movie. It’s not difficult. But one must always pick up old stuff. It seems that every director no longer has any f***ing idea of what to do and to tell a story s/he must resume old movies that usually are great cults, like “Ghostbusters” or also “A Star is Born.”
“I’ve always f***ing hated remakes.”
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“Capri-Revolution.” Which is the revolution that you’d like to see in the cinematographic industry?
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That everyone could tell what they want with no censure or things like that. There is really a lot of censure in the show business in general, and there is always something to complain about this because someone says “ok, I get produced a story that I created, something new, something that no one has ever done before,” and s/he should be allowed to tell it as s/he wishes.
Having a producer, in short, who lets you do what you want, without saying “no, that no, that yes, this no, this yes.” “To be free” should be the main thing since we’re talking about an artistic job. If someone does an artistic work pointed in a “prissy” way, in my opinion, it’s not even worth it.
I’m creating a cartoon right now, completely from scratch. We’re 5 people and we’re making an animated series and I don’t want to go to a producer and say “Oh, I have this idea. Do you want to make it and produce it?” I don’t need it, at most I can get it to be distributed, and that might be ok. But I’m doing it for myself, I don’t do it for money.
We’re five guys, one has studied at the BigRock and he does the animation, I have 4 guys that draw the pictures, I write the screenplay, and with other people we dub it. With a group of 20 people, I can create a 10-episodes cartoon.
So that is the thing I would like to see in the artists, in general. Or at least, seeing people that produce good stuff, not the usual stuff with which you play it safe and you never take a risk.
“That everyone could tell what they want with no censure…”
“‘To be free’ should be the main thing since we’re talking about an artistic job.”
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Was there a movie that gave you hope about this creativity you’re talking about?
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I’d say the independent cinema movement in general. Because there it lies the “I tell it the way I want” thing, because the majority of “classic” movies, so with a director and a producer etc, I’m not saying all of them, but the majority is pointed in the security of doing well and betting on the number, not on the quality. And that’s when you say “ok, but why are you doing it then?”
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And your idea of portraying a crazy and evil character is still there? Is it still your dream?
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Yeah yeah, until they give that role to me I’m not happy.
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And what are you doing now on stage?
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In terms of new stuff, we have to make “Puss in Boots” for children and now at the Academy we’ve created a group of six young actors, more or less all the same age – and I’m the youngest – in which we perform children’s shows based on classic literature, like Shakespeare or Goldoni and many others. At the moment, we are preparing “The Tempest” and “The Comedy of Errors.” I’m personally working on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
All too often, when we talk about kid’s shows we just think that’s bullshit, but it’s one of the most difficult things to do because you can’t stand still on the stage. All kids get distracted very easily, you always have to keep them on their toes, and if you lose their attention you can also close the curtain and go back home… they’ll never listen to you anyway.
Then we’ve “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” that is one of the few modern texts, which I’ve ever got in contact with because I usually work with “ancient texts.”
And then we are recreating many others plays because there will be the “Shakespearean December,” with “Romeo and Juliet,” “Macbeth,” “The Tempest” and the “Twelfth Night.”
“Romeo and Juliet”
“Macbeth”
“The Tempest”
“Twelfth Night”
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Epic Fail on the job
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During “Macbeth,” this other actor and I perform Malcolm and Macduff. There’s a scene in which I tell Macduff that I’m the murdered king’s son. So, we have to set this expedition, but we fight on conflicting ideas.
At this point, he sits down with the audience, pissed, and I tell him “I’m not that one, I’m a loser, somebody who has no aspirations, not like my father blah blah blah” and basically, I tell him, “Now we will fight Macbeth together, and may the chances of our success be as great as the justice of our cause!” I give him my hand and I pick him up and we touch each other heads.
So this one time, I did exactly this and *bang*! We headbutt very strong. And then you can’t talk any s**t at that moment, you have all the audience around you. What an unbelievable pain!
Also, during the second show of “The Tempest.” The scene is with the spirits that are dressed in random clothes and they have to make a scene about Gods for the two lovers, Miranda and Ferdinand. We step out on the stage, in a really lazy way because, obviously, spirits don’t want to do that stuff, and after a dance of this play with the Goddess of Fertility and things like this, Prospero will chase us away and we leave running.
I wore a long dress that went completely under my feet and I basically fell behind the scene. I went behind the curtain sliding in it and another actress came up on my back because she had to go out from there too.
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How do you expect and think that the audience will react to this movie?
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In my opinion, who often goes to the theatre to see a play will like it because it’s very theatrical in his being cinematographic, and so for me, people that are used to see this kind of stuff, and it’s also a movie set in a different age, will accept it better than who is used to watch other kinds of movies, like “Avengers” and so on. Then obviously, maybe they’ll like it anyway, but they won’t say “ah, I’ll put it among my favorite movies of all time,” they could say that it’s interesting just like they could say “cool” or that’s “a s***ty film.”
So, in my opinion, it depends only on people’s point of view, I can’t say that you’ll necessarily like it or not. Everyone will have his own way to watch it.
“…it depends only on people’s point of view, I can’t say that you’ll necessarily like it or not.”
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The movie that makes you cry every time?
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“Up.”
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The movie that you couldn’t finish?
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“Once Upon a Time in America.”
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The last bet you lost?
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I always win! (laughs)
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If your life was a movie, how would it be called?
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“The Panic.”
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If you could go to a dinner with three people, from the past or the present, who would you choose?
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Leonardo da Vinci because it would be nice to see him eat and talk with me. Dario Fò because he makes you laugh and would make everything more sparkling. And Lucy, the ugly and short Australopithecus. What a nice dinner.
