Dright? Is saudade, nostalgia a constant state of mind? At his age? “Yes. When I experience something beautiful, at the same time I know that – inevitably – one day the memory will make me melancholy… A feeling that has always accompanied me, the only difference is that now I manage it better”. Celeste Dalla Porta – Paolo Sorrentino’s Parthenope – she is a very aware girl. Of himself, of the facets of personality, of the chiaroscuro of life.
Therefore perfect as an interpreter of our short film, which focuses not only on exuberance but also on a dilemma of today’s thirty-year-olds: should or not freeze the eggs in view of a pregnancy, which at the moment cannot be planned? «It’s an age where you have to make some choices and, unfortunately, one is not supported either economically or socially: not everyone would have the means for such a decision” he observes. Granddaughter and daughter of an artist (her grandfather was the celebrated photographer Ugo Mulas, her father is the double bass player and jazz composer Paolino Dalla Porta), she does not approach her thirtieth birthday with an enthusiastic attitude (“Wow!” she defines it): “The words of a song by Motta are perfect: “Late twenties / It’s a bit like being late / You mustn’t go the wrong way”» he smiles.
Do you have any doubts that you have taken the wrong path?
No, not this. I’m exactly where I hoped to be (I’m an actress who supports myself with my job) and I’m filming Costanera. I waited a long time for the project to start, I really wanted it to be my second film: the direction is by Mauro Diéz Concari, a very dear friend for whom I have boundless respect. The story of Camilla, who meets Diego, a musician obsessed with notes, in Buenos Aires, is her first work: how wonderful when one manages to transform the dream into reality!
Celeste Dalla Porta in Freeze, the short film by Officine IED.
Does it happen even less than usual in your generation?
Everything is more difficult than it used to be, including winning the job you studied for and even more, perhaps up to a master’s degree. If I think that at the same age my parents already had children… Now how can you imagine having a child, with rents that force you to stay in your parents’ house or live with three roommates? Banality, perhaps. But it’s the truth. This is why addressing the topic of egg freezing is more appropriate than ever.
There will be downsides (positives) to being thirty today.
Certain! Those who manage to start a family, for example, are super attentive parents. The father figure is different: I see my male friends very present, tender. They question how much – as ours is still a patriarchal society – this leads them to a giant crisis. I notice a great desire to change the language, to reprogram the attitude towards women and to do it together with them: our mothers were alone in this battle. And then there is empathy for collective issues, from ecology to conflicts: we Millennials are pacifists. When things go well, we also know how to use Instagram for this purpose.
And when does it go bad?
(smiles) There’s no denying that scrolling, scrolling through social media, is part of our everyday life: it comes as naturally to us as drinking a glass of water. A useless passive activity that pushes us to procrastinate on important commitments. We are the generation that was overwhelmed by the internet during adolescence: those who come after us will – hopefully – have a more balanced relationship.
Changes in the private sector?
We accept different ways of loving, we feel free to choose relationships without conforming to standards. The effort to stay “centered”, self-acceptance, orienting yourself on what makes you feel good, starting from food and physical activity up to relationships, seems quite common to me. There’s a lot of talk about toxic relationships, finally: damn, how nice, how lucky to be able to open up and discuss the experiences of others!
Disappointed in relationships?
A little yes, but also aware that – to achieve a healthy bond – you must have built your own identity.
Celeste Dalla Porta on the cover above I Woman. Photo by Andrea Gandini. Stylist: Alessandra Corvasce. Total look: Gucci. Makeup: Cosetta Giorgetti@Blend using Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream Hair: Erisson Musella@Blend using Paul Mitchell.
Do you think you built it?
I definitely feel more confident than before: I was still very much “researching”. I know myself better, I know my limits and I respect myself, I don’t try to like the things that others like. It’s a great achievement because I live more lightly.
What “weighed her down”?
Premise: my parents left me free, they trusted me, they understood me and raised me in an atmosphere of serenity. I remember the fun of playing with Barbie – too late we discovered that it would influence our imagination (laughs) – and the magic of the moments when I drew like crazy – wasting paper – while dad played. Yet there was no shortage of torment. Perhaps the explanation is the one given by a Jungian psychologist, James Hillman, in a book that I discovered years ago and that I reread every now and then: The Code of the Soul.
With the “acorn theory”, according to which everyone is born with a nature and an innate vocation that is independent of the environment and events? Just like the acorn, which already contains the nucleus of the oak that will be.
Well, I like the discussion about the Daimon, this inner strength that guides us not towards what we want but towards what we are called to be. It reassures me to think that a part of you already knows what your direction is: your job is to identify it and stay in touch with it.
Was the passion for acting there, latent?
Like any child, I loved dressing up in mom or dad’s clothes and pretending to be another person. In elementary and middle school I loved plays… But they are not significant clues. What is certain is that in high school (I attended the artistic high school) I had already developed the conviction: I would enroll in an acting school. And when at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, in the second selection phase, they didn’t accept me…
Celeste Dalla Porta on the cover above I Woman. Photo by Andrea Gandini. Stylist: Alessandra Corvasce. Total look: Gucci. Makeup: Cosetta Giorgetti@Blend using Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream Hair: Erisson Musella@Blend using Paul Mitchell.
Didn’t they take it?
No, it wasn’t a drama anyway: I was sure I wanted to attend him and I took the opportunity to take a sabbatical. I moved to Paris and enrolled in Jacques Lecoq’s theater courses, who sees the heart of acting in the body – not in words: I met peers who came from every corner of the world, it was an incredible experience. The following year I tried the exam again and was admitted.
PARTHENOPE 2024 by Paolo Sorrentino Peppe Lanzetta Celeste Dalla Porta. Prod DB © The Apartment – Pathe – Issue 10 – PiperFilm – Saint Laurent
And, shortly after, Sorrentino arrived with the proposal of Parthenope: absolute protagonist in the first film. Is the joy or fear greater? «More tears are shed for prayers answered than for those that are not accepted» Saint Teresa of Avila apparently said…
(smiles) A middle ground: an absurd joy (the dream came true!) and an absurd fear (ah, the impostor syndrome…).
Celeste Dalla Posta in the film she is shooting, “Costanera”, by debutant Mauro Diéz Concari. Photo by Giulia Rosco
Did the character, a sort of incarnation of Naples, resemble you with his mysteriousness, his restlessness?
Everyone is so three-dimensional! I have a Parthenope side in me and a side completely opposite to her. Saudade is what I particularly recognize myself in.
The film was selected for Cannes, an international acclaim. Why has it remained still until now, until Costanera?
There was a very long promotion – between participation in other festivals, special screenings, meetings with the public in various cities in Italy – and I dedicated myself completely to it: it’s a different commitment, an unknown land that I intended to cross.
