Interview: Catching up with Maria Grazia Cucinotta

With an impressive list of film and television titles, Maria Grazia Cucinotta proves that her talent matches her Sicilian bombshell looks.

Born in Messina in 1968, Cucinotta got into modeling when she was just a teenager. Shortly thereafter, she headed north to Milan where she ended up leaving the modeling industry altogether for a career in television and film. Although she has paid her dues with hard work and dedication, success came almost instantly. She was taking acting lessons while working on her first job as an actress, a television show called, "Indietro tutta." It wasn't long after her TV debut that she was spotted by the late actor and director, Massimo Troisi. It was Troisi's 1994 Oscar nominated film, "Il Postino" that catapulted Cucinotta into the international spotlight, and it has been non-stop ever since. She has appeared in dozens of movies and television shows in Italy and the United States. She was even a Bond girl in the 1997 film, "The World Is Not Enough." But it's her coveted Role as Beatrice Russo in Massimo Troisi's "Il Postino" that will always hold a special place in her heart.

I recently caught up with Cucinotta. We talked about that breakout role in "Il Postino," what she thinks of Italian-American culture and how her Sicilian heritage has influenced her work as an actress.

Tell me about the early days of your career and your beginnings as an actress.

I started very young as a model, when I was 16 years old. I moved to Milan, but immediately I was fascinated by the world of television entertainment. My first role was in the TV show "Indietro tutta" by Renzo Arbore. In the meantime I was going to acting class and I was attending lessons in diction. I started in the 1990s as an actress. The fascination of this work is that I can live my life and a thousand other lives, and I can charm the people through the role that I play. They can identify with me, is a form of interaction, someone recognizes himself in the things that I do and say.   

You've worked on both sides of the Atlantic, on both the big and small screen.. What are the differences for you in working with Italian cinema and American cinema?

Italians who live abroad are fantastic, they always give the best of themselves. A lot of Italians who live outside Italy succeed beautifully in what they do, they have a little something extra! In our country all this is lost, as they sit down and don’t fight anymore. Another thing I noticed is that outside of Italy it's much easier to work in teams, to create synergies, it is normal to put together different realities in order to achieve a higher result. But in Italy there are often envies and resentments that undermine the final outcome.

Tell me about your experience working with Massimo Troisi on "Il Postino."

In 1994, Massimo Troisi chose me as his partner in "Il Postino." That was the turning point in my life. That film, so beautifully poetic, was a huge hit abroad. It was an experience of life as well as work. Massimo is a person who will live forever in people's minds, there will be no others like him, and I had the good fortune and privilege of knowing him. The legacy that he left me is to believe in beginners: he chose me for the role of Beatrice, and I was an actress at the beginning of my career, not very famous. I try to carry this message, like him, and I try to help more young talented newcomers. Young people will allow me, thanks to their enthusiasm and their creative ideas, to be part of their dreams!

How has your Sicilian culture influenced your work as an actress, and also just in life?

It influenced my life a lot. I grew up in a place where nothing was given, everything was a conquest, day after day. All this has made me strong and gave me the strength to go on and achieve my dreams. What I have today undoubtedly is the result of my being Sicilian.

What is your impression of the Italian American culture in the United States? Italian Americans are very proud of their origins and we feel a connection with Italy and like Italians, we have strong family values. Do you sense this when you are in America?

Each of the two peoples, Italians and Americans, have enriched each other, mixing culture, civilization and humanity. To be proud of their origins is a fundamental value, people become more proud when they live abroad for so long, because they notice the differences and qualities of our country. When I’m in America, I’m so proud of my origins!

Comments

Golden Age Masterpiece: Luchino Visconti’s 1957 “White Nights”

Photo Credit: Archivio Luce Cinecittà Luchino Visconti’s 1957 film, “White Nights” (“Le notti bianche”), offers a thoughtful and poignant exploration of themes such as loneliness, desire and emotional vulnerability. Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novella of the same name, it transports the tale from 19th-century St. Petersburg to a dreamy mid-20th-century Italian setting. While Visconti remains largely faithful to Dostoevsky’s narrative, his characteristic style infuses the film with emotional depth, striking visuals, and a focus on class and societal constraints. The story follows a young man named Matteo, played by Marcello Mastroianni, who lives a solitary life in a small Italian town. One evening, he encounters a beautiful young woman named Natalia, portrayed by Austrian-Swiss actress Maria Schell, who is also feeling isolated. Although she is initially reluctant, Natalia eventually confides in Matteo about her love for a man who has promised to return and marry her, but he ha...

Alberto Sordi Like You've Never Seen Him..

Twenty two-year-old Alberto Sordi on the set of "I tre aquilotti" Directed by Mario Mattoli, the 1942 film"I tre aquilotti" (The Three Pilots) is set at the Royal Air Force Academy of Caserta where three students– Mario (Carlo Minello), Marco (Leonardo Cortese) and Filippo (Alberto Sordi) become close friends. Towards the end of his studies, Marco casually meets and falls in love with Mario's sister, Adriana (Michela Belmonte). Mario shows his opposition to Marco and this causes the end of their friendship. Due to an accident during a training flight, Marco is demoted from the sailors role to the service role, thus not getting the military pilot's license. After the end of the course, the three friends split up for various destinations but all three find themselves in Russia, with Mario and Filippo already decorated with medals of merit, while Marco is in charge of logistics services. During a war action Mario is hit in flight and is forced to land in en...

Ornella Muti: Five decades of Acting and Still Going Strong

Ornella Muti was born Francesca Romana Rivelli in Rome in 1955 to a Neapolitan father and an Estonian mother. She began her career as a model during her teenage years and made her film debut in 1970 with “La Moglie più bella” (The Most Beautiful Wife). Her follow-up role was in the 1971 film, “Sole nella pelle” (Sun on the Skin), in which she played the daughter of wealthy parents who runs off with a hippie they don’t approve of. The film offers a telling journey through Italian society in the seventies, with its political climate, breathtaking seaside, and the styles and cars of that time. Much of the film is set amid the sunny Italian seaside and captures the innocence and beauty of first love. Muti made her American film debut in 1980 with "Flash Gordon." She played the role of Princess Aura. She’s appeared in two other American films, including “Oscar,” directed by John Landis and starring Don Ameche, Chazz Palminteri, and Sylvester Stallone. In 1992, she w...

Pierfrancesco Favino on his Portrayal of Tommaso Buscetta

Actor Pierfrancesco Favino is no stranger to American audiences. In addition to the Italian blockbusters that have made it to our shores, including Gabriele Muccino’s The Last Kiss , Roberto Ando’s The Confessions , and Ferzan Ozpetek’s Saturn in Opposition , he’s had significant parts in numerous American productions. Among them are Ron Howard’s Angels and Demons , Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna and a stint as Christopher Columbus in Night at the Museum . He even gave us a tour of Rome via his Vespa for CBS This Morning during the papal conclave of 2013. In every character that he becomes, Favino brings his signature humility and grace making his characters vulnerable yet strong in their convictions and above all, unforgettable. His latest film made its American premiere at the 57thNew York Film Festival in October and is Italy’s entry for the Academy Awards. Directed by Marco Bellocchio Il Traditore (The Traitor...

The Extraordinary Career and Legacy of Dino De Laurentiis

Producer Dino De Laurentiis was one of the most prolific filmmakers ever, having produced or co-produced more than 600 films during a career that spanned seven decades. His legacy continues not only through the work of his children and grandchildren but also through a new generation of filmmakers in his Italian hometown. De Laurentiis was born in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius on Aug. 8, 1919, in the city of Torre Annunziata, located just minutes from the ruins of Pompeii. As a child, he worked at a local pasta factory owned and operated by his father. That experience had a profound effect on him, shaping a lifelong passion for food and an appreciation for business. At the age of 17, he decided to leave home for the big city. He arrived in Rome and enrolled in the prestigious film school, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. After attending the school for about a year, he managed to produce one film in 1940, The Last Combat , before having to leave Rome temporarily for m...

Italian Cinema Today

Search This Blog