Noor, as a child she did not impose on her parents his impromptu shows. And no, she did not dream of becoming an actress. “I was ashamed of everything. If I had to ask for a glass of water, I would cry… In the future I imagined myself in a supermarket: I had a plastic case and my favorite game was to hit the keys and “release” the receipts given to me by the lady at the shop next door ». Gaia Girace he talks about himself on a video call from London, where he is perfecting his English with great care (“Single lessons in the morning, various courses in the afternoon – cooking, sewing – to converse and expand vocabulary”).
The magic of the set
But that little girl today – not yet twenty years old – is an established interpreter, who in July he will receive the Thinking Green Award Next Generation al Nations Award of Taormina. You gave the face to the intense Lila in three seasons of The brilliant friend, from the novel by Elena Ferrante; to the suffering daughter of Lea Garofalo in The Good Mothers (awarded with the Series Award at the last Berlin Film Festival).
And to the fearsome Caterina de’ Medici in the French miniseries Diana de Poitiers, with Isabelle Adjani in the title role and Gérard Depardieu as Nostradamus. “What an experience! I have played the queen at various stages of life and have even gone horse riding (laughs)! We shot in castles, with sumptuous dresses».
Does the swimsuit help?
Of course! Together with makeup and hairstyle, it makes you acquire the appropriate posture. It’s on the set that I really get into the characters: I study them in depth for months, but during rehearsals I feel like I’m pretending. The magic of identification occurs with the “ciak”.
Was it chosen after an audition?
No. The director (Josée Dayan, ed) had seen me in The brilliant friend and had decreed: “I want her”.
And for the short by Wim Wenders, A Future Together?
There too, no audition.
From the service for iO Donna. Fendi jacket, Swarovski necklace. Photo Andrea Gandini. Styling: Alessandra Corvasce. Makeup: Martina Bolis@Greenappleitaly using Mac Cosmetics. Hair: Francesco Avolio @WM using Mr. Smith Hair.
Praised by Adjani
Do you know that Isabelle Adjani – interviewed by iO Woman – did you call her a “wonderful colleague”?
Mamma mia, how beautiful! I felt the pressure to be part of that very important cast, it was my first time acting in a foreign language. Instead they were nice, they supported me a lot.
Adjani added that she admires the mental toughness you girls have to show to take this path.
Certainly it takes strength, almost hardness. On the one hand there is the competition, the competition; on the other, the judgment lurking. On social networks, anyone considers himself authorized to say anything. Yes, I’m on Instagram – it’s necessary now – but I don’t use it regularly. You have to have character to endure and keep the right distance. Luckily, I have an advantage.
From the service for iO Donna. Fendi T-shirt, Atelier VM long necklace, Flotadora Aliita necklace. Photo Andrea Gandini. Styling: Alex
“I skipped the steps”
In what sense?
Having started at the age of thirteen with an important project such as the stories of Ferrante (extraordinary and very rare event!), I already experienced the emotional ups and downs at the time. There were periods of enthusiasm and periods of fogginess: I wasn’t sure what I was doing, I didn’t know if it was right. I concluded: “I’ll stop”. My life was a hundred when I was on the set every day and it was zero when I stayed at home, without goals: filming didn’t allow me to attend high school regularly (I had opted for linguistics), to get to know my classmates… Now I can balance .
How?
I understood that I want to continue with this profession, but that I need – perhaps more than anything else – my private dimension. Which means not working all the time and, when I work, coming home as soon as possible, maybe for the weekend. The entertainment world – full of glitz, full of people – can suck you in, but as soon as the spotlights go out you’re alone. Empty. Having skipped the stages, there are parts of me that are a bit more childish, not having faced them as a teenager. I accept them, amen.
How was the passion born?
At first it wasn’t “passion”. Being withdrawn, shy (one who never talks), I felt the need to express myself and had the intuition to try it through acting. I enrolled in a school – La Ribalta, in Castellamare di Stabia – and I started attending it as a hobby. Tryouts are coming soon The brilliant friend: it was the production coaches who trained me for months and months. Performance frees me: it’s my way of getting things out. Even today I am not able to let off steam and that is my decompression valve.
“My meatballs with gravy!”
Isn’t a shy actress a contradiction?
I know it sounds absurd, but I can’t be the center of attention: if three people look at me at the same time, I turn purple and start stammering (laughs embarrassed). In the role of another, instead, I automatically become her. The set is a safe place: I feel understood, not judged, after all we are working towards a common result. Out of the comfort zone, alas, I remain the most shy in the world.
Gaia Girace in Sunflowers, directorial debut of Catrinel Marlon, in theaters soon. She plays a schizophrenic girl.
All Gaia by name, not in fact?
No no, I’m sunny! Open, affectionate with friends, I love having them for dinner with me (as soon as I turned 18, I decided to go and live alone).
Kitchen?
Yessss! I like experimenting with oriental recipes but, if I have guests, I go for the traditional one: meatballs with gravy! I choose dishes that don’t force me to cook, let me enjoy the company.
How do you imagine yourself in twenty years time?
Mother, first of all, and always in this field. I don’t know if I will continue to live in Naples or if I will live outside.
2023. A scene from The Good Mothers. Gaia Girace with Micaela Ramazzotti.
In the future, directing
When will we see her on screen again?
I have to go out Sunflowers by Catrinel Marlon, set in a psychiatric hospital: I am a schizophrenic who falls in love with a girl. To find the figure of the character, recommended by my coach, I was inspired by an animal.
Which?
A tarantula (smiles). Because there is a reference to anthropologist Ernesto De Martino’s research on “tarantolates”: women diagnosed as insane “because of a spider bite”, in reality very healthy.
Marlon is a debut actress behind the camera. Do you ever think about directing?
It’s a bit early, however I wouldn’t mind: already now I don’t limit myself to following the directions, I love constructing the scenes together with the director.
His role models?
Vanessa Scalera and Pierfrancesco Favino, for their crazy study of the body, of diction. How do you do it? I say. teach me! Abroad, I would mention Anya Taylor-Joy. These names are a guarantee of quality.
Neapolitan fatalism
Since you began, have you said more yes or more no?
No more! (laughs) I am selective, I prefer different roles that make me grow, improve, that offer me new experiences. I have to be pushed, challenged. But there are also the “no” that I receive, eh.
And how does he react to a failed hearing?
Depends. In some cases it ended up that I breathed a sigh of relief: “Fiuuu, thank goodness they didn’t catch me!” (laughs). If they observe: “The language is not perfect”, it is ok: I know what I have to improve. If they conclude (and it often happens): “Very good, unfortunately too young”… Well, I can’t help it there, there’s no growth serum to inject! Patience, there will be other opportunities. This is how I see it: everything happens for a reason. Or rather: everything that happens can be an occasion.
Neapolitan fatalism?
Maybe yes… Neapolitanness certainly manifests itself in being superstitious. When I audition, for example, nobody has to know anything.
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