Pbears an adult and important name into which she has grown little by little, leaving behind the diminutive, Nina, to become the conscious young woman we find ourselves in front of: hands folded, gaze clear and direct. Antonia Fotaras is only 24 years old but an old soulperhaps thanks to her father’s Greek roots to which she attributes her composure, behind which, however, a restless nature can be perceived: that “fire within” which she refers to when she talks about her vocation as an actress.
Antonia Fotaras is Arianna in A summer ago
The same one that emerges from his interpretation of Arianna, the missing girl at the center of the series Sky Original A summer ago. To build the background of her character Antonia, she compiled endless notes, which she shows us on her mobile phone: «I’m a Virgo: precise, perfectionist, nerd as hell!». It is easy to imagine a world behind Arianna – like behind the young actress who plays her. «Arianna has developed a complex personality: she cares a lot about others, to the point of losing herself. Above all, she has never felt safe enough to be able to say: this is me.”
Do you recognize yourself in any of these descriptions?
In a small percentage yes, because they are human characteristics that are part of everyone. But at the root of her Arianna is also a combative person, with a great need for recognition: I easily find myself in her combativeness.
And in need of recognition?
(laughs) Absolutely yes, otherwise I wouldn’t do this job.
How did your passion for acting begin?
As a child I said I wanted to be a doctor, but in the meantime I put on shows and ballets at home. When I was seven I met an actress who came to do a workshop at school, who said to me: “Are you sure you don’t want to act instead?”. I told my parents and they didn’t take it very well… But I insisted, and at 16 I threatened them that I would go to London alone to study acting. My mother has always secretly supported me, but the turning point came when I appeared in the Don Matteo series. Dad came with me to the set, as I was a minor, and he realized that that environment wasn’t that bad. From that moment on he accompanied me to all the auditions.
Tell us something about your family.
I have a two year older brother who studies video making and animation. Dad was an engineer director on ships and now works in Fiumicino, my mother was employed at Telecom and is now retired, free to dedicate herself to her passions, including painting: she is a strong woman, she raised me and my brother from alone for the first years of my life because dad was always at sea. I think I took my strength from her and from my paternal grandmother, who was the pillar of the family and managed to keep us all together. Grandma was a great example, and I miss her so much: she left when I was 15.
Antonia Fotaras, between Italy and Greece
The cast of “Un’esate fa”, in the part set in the 90s. (Press Office)
Greece seems to be very present in his life.
Yes, I speak Greek with my father, which I studied every Saturday, and in the summer I return to Symi, the island where my father was born and where my mother and I plan to move when he retires. Symi is a refuge for me too, to prepare to interpret One summer I was there two months ago: I went to the beach with my computer, without an Internet connection, to analyze the text in total peace. I feel both Italian and Greek. On the positive side, it is a great cultural enrichment; on the negative side, I often feel like a stranger, and I ask myself: “Who am I? Who do I belong to?”.
What was she like as a child?
I didn’t stay still for a minute! (laughs) I practiced many sports: horse riding, skating, synchronized swimming at a competitive level… And that’s not all: today I added yoga, traditional Greek dance and flamenco. I studied ballet and violin, and sing in an all-female choir. Maybe it’s a reaction to the fact that I suffered from asthma as a child and I spent the first few years at home, being very bored.
No doll games?
I had many Barbies, from the “stereotypical” Barbie to the strange Barbie, whose hair I cut and then colored with green or orange marker. It was already a way of bringing out many different parts of me. And she was already beautiful? I really hated my curls: today even in Italy there are products for afro hair like mine and you can give them a shape, but when I was little no one knew how to manage them. At school, with that hair going all its own, the other kids made fun of me. For a long time I felt eyes on me, but if you grew up not seeing yourself as beautiful you have another interpretation of why people stare at you. Beauty, however, for me is not an absolute value. My values are connection with others and authenticity.
What relationship does he have with his body?
It’s my tool, my means of expression. And I try to take care of him because I love him so much, even with all my insecurities.
What did you study?
I graduated from linguistic high school, I was enrolled in Bioinformatics in English but I left it because I asked myself: what do you really want to do? And I decided to invest all my time and resources in training as an actress. During the pandemic I took online courses at HB studio and the Stella Adler school, and last June I went to lessons in America with Susan Batson.
From the age of 17 she never stopped: she appeared in series The first kingThe Name of The rose, Skam, While I was gone, Luna nerto, and to the cinema in Hen party, The great silence And The first rule. You even acted for the legendary Terrence Malick in The Way of the Wind, not yet released in theaters.
An experience that changed my way of understanding acting: I only had three days of filming, but Malick had the sensitivity to realize how much I wanted to participate in his film and even included me in scenes where I shouldn’t have been expected according to the script. be there. It was a great guide: it was all about improvisation, about listening to each other and waiting for that magical moment when things miraculously happen. Being on that set was one of the greatest gifts life gave me.
She has often played roles of unusual women, twice – in The Name of the Rose and Black Moon – even accused of being witches.
I take it as a compliment, because the “witches” were free, autonomous and independent women, capable of caring and able to feel pleasure even without anyone around: uncontrollable precisely because they were enough for themselves. If when people look at me it occurs to them that I am a free person, who has a good relationship with the universe and who knows how to take care of herself and others, I am really pleased.
Antonia Fotaras is Arianna, Filippo Scotti is Elio in “Un’estate fa”. (Press Office)
On Instagram he put some photos of his partner in A summer ago, Filippo Scotti. Is there anything tender?
(laughs) No, but we are very good friends. At the moment I’m only engaged to myself! When we are attracted to someone we must be careful, because sometimes attraction is a meeting of wounds. So I look around without closing myself off, but without even obsessively looking for someone to have next to me. It’s also okay to be alone and live it peacefully.
What do you ask of love?
Sincerity, complicity, intimacy and, now that I’ve grown up a bit, planning.
On his Instagram there is a motto: be kind and courageous.
When I wrote that sentence it was referring to others, but as I grew up I learned to refer it to myself too. Because being kind to yourself requires infinite courage.
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