Interview: Arianna Chirico

Photography: Erica Fava 

Styling: Sara Paolucci @ MAKING BEAUTY MANAGEMENT ROMA

Grooming: Iman El Feshawy @ MAKING BEAUTY MANAGEMENT ROMA

Photo assistance: Carolina Smolec 

Styling assistance: Carolina Contu, Federica Russo

Shot at Studio Ventuno Roma

Would you like to tell me a little about yourself? 

Lately I live constantly on set, so my daily reality mixes with acting. We are currently shooting the second season of the TV series "Luce dei tuoi occhi" with Anna Valle and Giuseppe Zeno and a group of friends to share our days with. I am a 23 year old boy: I am experiencing this adventure on television, but after high school I was very unsure which path I wanted to pursue for the future. I tried to go to university, but I realized it was not the right choice.

The first project happened by chance, completely unexpected but totally surprising. I immediately loved this job and how it made me feel: I didn't attend an Academy, but I started working hard to improve, through as many workshops as possible and with the help of acting coaches to learn more and more.

I am very sporty and I love to spend my free time practicing the most different sports. I love fashion, for which I always do constant research and I have been taking singing lessons since I was 15. Writing is also a passion, in fact for some years I have been working on a teen-fantasy book, which I wish could become the scenography of a TV series or a film. I am very passionate about the genre and I would like to experiment from this point of view as well.

So acting just happened by accident? 

It wasn't immediately clear to me. My mother has always taken me from an early age, since I was 4, to Milan for advertisement campaigns. It worked for a long time and it allowed me to gain experience. Then at the age of 14, my agency at the time started offering me auditions for TV series, especially for Disney Channel. During one of them, my mother, who came with me since I was a minor, socialized with another mother who suggested an agency for actors in Rome: we sent the credentials to this one and everything else is history. It is currently still my agency and this choice started it all. There was already something special in what I was doing.

Surely my mother was fundamental in this process: she saw that for a long time and she already knew since then that I was made for this world.

You made her very proud

Yes, absolutely. She is truly happy since I moved, not because I left home, but because she knows I am living what I have come to love and I think it is one of the best feelings a parent can experience.

How do you deal with anxiety on the set? What's the best thing about your job?

Anxiety is part of my daily reality, but I imagine that everyone faces these adrenaline-pumping emotions on set. Now that I have more experience, I begin to appreciate it, because it is part of the acting process, or at least of mine. When I am under pressure, I feel I do better than other times and my performances are much better. If I'm more annoyed, the result I get is completely different.

I love the thoroughness of all the experts for every little detail; the dedication and the importance of each individual role in the total realization of a project. Most of all, I love the relationships that can be established with other colleagues. Now on the set of "Luce dei tuoi occhi", I feel I am back in the family. There was a real connection between us and I am deeply grateful for that. We help and support each other, we love what we do all together.

Did it happen to you to come across some criticism? How do you deal with it?

I was just reflecting on this a few days ago: sometimes the microphone player I work with for this last project criticizes me, but it is clear that his references have a positive purpose, that they are constructive criticisms. He gives tips to help me do better and to me they are valuable.

Generally I get demoralized very easily and I am working on this in order to experience in a less negative way the fact that not everyone can have the same ideas and opinions. I am learning to incorporate them and turn them into lessons, whether they are positive or negative. I think I treasure them and absorb them as my strength, to give and do more and more.

For some time, the most recurring criticisms were about my northern accent and this helped me to work hard on it and make it as neutral as possible. It worked and the compliments came immediately. But I don't change myself because of criticism that doesn't help me to improve. In this case I was aware that I had to do more for my diction and the judgments of others helped me to make it happen. It is right to always improve, but you should always keep your unique peculiarities.

You worked alongside artists like Luca Argentero and Alessandro Preziosi, who work on different projects also in theater. Have you always done only TV? Would you like to have different experiences?

Absolutely yes. I would like to participate in a theatrical musical, because it allows you to combine different disciplines, all the ones I love: singing, dancing and acting. I can't wait, it would be a dream come true!

The last musical I saw was "Everybody's Talking About Jamie", and it was an all-encompassing experience. The first thing I thought when it finished was: I want to do it too, now!

How do you feel about becoming famous? 

I love how I feel thinking about my fans. It is very nice when people recognize you on the street, stop you and talk to you. And I'm always happy when it happens and I like to meet and chat with my fans, to get to know them. I don't think I have changed from who I was: all the projects I have worked on are very important to me, but no one has given me that peak of fame that would not allow me to leave the house or would damage the protection of my privacy.

You are very popular on social media

Yes, I get a lot of affection and I like that people see me as a good person, that they can recognize this about me. I receive many messages and this gratifies me enormously. What I post on my Instagram does not exactly correspond to reality, in the sense that I like to show myself in a certain way and I am attentive to the appearance of my profile, which I take care of so that it can appear aesthetically tidy. But hearing the support of people, who manage to go beyond beautiful pictures and empathically perceive the more human aspect, makes me very happy.

What about haters?

I don't care much about them. I have learned to care less about those who speak out for gratuitous malice towards others, without real and plausible reasons. So now I let everything that is not constructive or sensible slip off me, because for a long time it influenced me, affecting my mood and ruining my days and it is not fair that a stranger can have so much value in your life, especially when it only brings negativity.

What are your dreams for the future?

I want to travel as much as possible and experience different cultures. I would like to discover Asia, which is a continent with an immense cultural heritage, with the most several traditions and the most ancient civilizations. I would like to see Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and India.

I started reading this book, which is titled "The Third Eye", which tells the life of a man from his childhood, spent in a Tibetan monastery, to his initiation into the mysteries of life in a world ruled by millennial beliefs and centuries-old rites. Those places really fascinated me and I would like to see them soon.

From a professional point of view, however, I dream of an international career.

This year I was on my first international set for a small part in a Dutch movie. My dream, however, would be to be the protagonist of a great international project. I would like to study in America and gain experience there, because I know they have a completely different way of making cinema. Americans are hard workers, they are a source of inspiration and they suffer from this idea of ​​the American dream precisely, because they are able to make possible aspirations that in another country would be very difficult and sometimes not impossible to achieve or even think about.

If you had to think about the dream actor or director to work with, who would he/she be?

The actress I would undoubtedly like to work with is Olivia Colman. Her British humor always makes me smile and I would love to do a comedy with her.

A few days ago I was watching the Avatar movie, because the sequel will be out soon and analyzing it, I realized how brilliant that movie was. James Cameron would be my dream director. I think it is important to aspire to realize big dreams for yourself, to work hard, to be strong. Often it can happen to run into difficult moments, but staying determined and persevering will undoubtedly lead you to the realization of many satisfactions. All this can only be achieved by acting with profound humility and absolute respect for others.

From a humanistic point of view, are there any issues you would fight for or would like to do more for?

Surely we should be more attentive to climate change and all the disastrous consequences that come with it. I am very concerned about it, because our planet is collapsing and as its inhabitants we fail to understand how crucial it is to take care of it.

I am very careful to cause as little damage as possible, choosing a diet that involves a very limited consumption of meat, because we know that it represents 70% of the worldwide pollution.

Another issue that is close to my heart is that relating to the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community. I always have an indisputable resentment towards those who make it so difficult to accept normality, that is to say that all human beings should have the same rights, whatever gender they decide to belong to or not  and whoever person they choose to love. 

It is inconceivable that in 2022 it is still necessary to fight against those who cannot overcome stereotypes and obsolete beliefs. I feel very lucky, because I grew up with two parents who have always had a surprising open-mindedness.