F.rancesco Di Leva is in the car with the moglie Carmela and with her children, Morena and Mario: is driving towards the ZooSafari of Fasano, in the province of Brindisi. And – coincidence – we have to talk about Puglia. Not of amusement parks and animals, however: of human beasts, rather. His new movie I eat your heart – directed by Pippo Mezzapesa and in the race at the Venice Film Festival in the Orizzonti section (in theaters September 22 and January on Paramount +) – is inspired by the story of the first repentant of the Gargano mafia (played by Elodie)as told in the investigative book by Carlo Bonini and Giuliano Foschini (Feltrinelli).
Francesco Di Leva (photo Gianfranco Ferraro).
Francesco Di Leva and the fourth mafia
“The so-called” fourth mafia “is a little-known criminal phenomenon in Italy, despite the 400 murders from the 1970s to today (80 percent unpunished) and the three municipalities (including Foggia) dissolved for infiltration. Only in the days of our arrival for the shooting there were two shootings and the attack on a shop … I impersonated many criminals, I am the one who brought Gomorrah at the theater when the book had not even been published: I am interested in the events of the clans coming to light so that the time for redemption can arrive ».
Aren’t you afraid of being trapped in these roles?
No, I seem to be able to compensate. Since 2021 I have been a priest in Nostalgiaa family man in One more worlda drag queen in Until they are happya physician in The cure from The plague by Camus, a boxer in Like beforean officer of the Guardia di Finanza in Mixed by Errya policeman in The last night of love.
You kiss on tour for 13 years
At the theater his interpretation of the gay dishwasher in 12 kisses on the mouth it was poignant.
Eh, that show is a piece of my life! He’s been on tour for 13 years and I’d like to take him back… In the fall I’ll be the right hand man of a boss in Vincenzo Malinconico, Failure lawyer (the Rai1 series with Massimiliano Gallo, ed), however the tone is comedy, crackling and very funny: for once we make fun of the Camorra by portraying them as clowns, clowns. But inevitably we end up talking more about the films in which I play the villain … What can I say? It is my karma.
Why do they often call her for that kind of part?
I was born in a very particular neighborhood, San Giovanni a Teduccio, in East Naples: in the 1980s there were two murders a week. Those faces, that arrogance, the things I saw (and when you see them you are no longer the same boy as before) are a little marked on my face.
Francesco Di Leva with his wife Carmela Esposito in Giffoni (Getty Images).
The meeting with Martone
What childhood was it?
I come from a family of workers: my father is a truck driver, my mother an employee of a bakery and I myself, at sixteen, have become a baker. I was a street urchin and art… No, I don’t want to say: “he saved me”, because I didn’t risk anything, my parents have always been there. Art has allowed me to improve myself as a man, yes. I had a wealth of explosive emotions and, at one point, they were channeled thanks to people who saw possibilities in me.
Who was the first?
At age 14, in the eighth grade, a teacher who held the afternoon theater workshops. At first I annoyed the comrades who were preparing the essay, little by little he conquered me … And it made me realize that, in reality, I just wanted to be the protagonist of my life and attract the attention of others.
So acting was the perfect medium. The next turns?
I attended a three-year course in Dramatic Art promoted free of charge by Eti (Italian Theater Organization, ed), continuing to work at the bakery (I stayed there up to 32 years). A few details, then the meeting with Mario Martone: in 2002 I took part in his workshop in Ischia sul Don Giovanni (only 15 places for hundreds of requests!). We haven’t lost sight of each other since then, until The mayor of the Rione Sanità (earned him the special Pasinetti Award at the 2019 Venice Film Festival, ed) it’s at Nostalgia. After I joined the company of Luca De Filippo (at the time the direction was entrusted to Francesco Rosi), which I left for Gomorrah. I was afraid of his reaction and instead Luca reassured me: “I don’t worry about who goes away to look for something else, I worry about who stays”.
Francesco Di Leva with Elodie in “I eat your heart” (photo Sara Sabatino).
New graduate (for children)
Lessons learned by many teachers?
The main one: I understood that I have value for what I am, for authenticity. At the beginning I had problems with the voice: “too hoarse”, “Go to a phoniatrist”. As soon as Rosi heard me she exclaimed: “Your voice is magnificent!”. I thought he was making fun of me.
He mentioned that Gomorrah was staged before the book became a bestseller.
The director Mario Gelardi had read the draft and asked Saviano for the rights for the stage: Roberto gave them to him by writing on a bar napkin! At the end of the performances, people would ask us about toxic waste, about white-collar workers… This is why I prefer a type of cinema or theater that creates awareness: when you know, you have no more excuses, you cannot pretend. If someone offers you a coffee for twenty cents, you have to ask yourself where it is coming from since the average is one euro … Now, with I eat your heart, we will all have to open our eyes to the Gargano mafia. With Salvatore Giuliano or Hands on the city, how many consciences has Francesco Rosi awakened? Not that this is the only purpose of art, but it is a task that it can accomplish together with the creation of beauty.
And “beauty will save us”?
We expect beauty from others, and instead we have to make ourselves “producers”: are there no flower beds in the avenue of my house? I cry them. It is true, it would be up to the state, but I am the state too, the initiatives can start with me.
Francesco Di Leva blonde version with Massimiliano Gallo in “Vincenzo Malinconico, Failed Lawyer”.
A random example?
No, we really planted the flower beds! With the Nest (Naples East Theater, ed) we are trying to build a small beauty in San Giovanni a Teduccio (my wife and I will never leave the neighborhood). The idea came to me when I heard Emma Dante talking about her space at the Vucciria: going around, I found my middle school, now abandoned, where I had started acting… Everything comes back to life. With friends and colleagues we rolled up our sleeves, we improvised as well as unskilled workers, and today there is a theater there that offers free acting courses to children aged 16 to 25.
He has now added awards for social commitment to the film awards. Who is Francesco Di Leva today?
Before I wanted to be an actor at any cost, now I want to be a good family man at any cost, an example for my children.
Is it true that you have just graduated in Marketing and Communication for them?
Yup! I think the study is fundamental, but how could I be credible not having finished high school? The coup, however, I will do it with the degree: in September I enroll at the university!
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