THEno Sea outside 3 Giovanna Sannino interprets Carmella Valestro, girlfriend of Edoardo Conte (Matteo Paolillo), chief of the IPM of Nisida. Born in Naples, she has been fascinated by acting since she was a child. Ending up on stage at just 5 years old thanks to the passion of the parents, that Eduardo De Filippo read them like other children you read fairy tales. After so much theater (the actual debut took place at 12 with Gigi Savoia) and the first role in the cinema in And it’s soon evening by Claudio Insegno (2019), with Sea out – unencrypted on Rai 2 and streaming on Rai Play – a pleasant – and well-deserved – notoriety has come for Giovanna.
Giovanna Sannino: «Carmela has a broken soul, but she still remains pure»
In the third season Carmela has grown up, she is more mature, but also more stuck in a wrong story.
The more we go on with the episodes the more she will be entangled in a huge spider web from which she will not be able to get out. We always wanted to keep her humanity. Now inevitably she gets dirty, but because she lives a reality that leaves you no choice. Despite the bad things that happened in the past – which we will see – she never loses her great love for life and respect for that of others.
Several times he shows uncertainty and emotional breakdowns, which he manages without getting overwhelmed. Out of love or out of fear of the consequences?
Both things. She lives imprisoned in a house that is not hers, with a love that belongs to her, but how much? The story with Edoardo is not very linear. Her only hope is her son, her reason for living. She presents herself as a bad character, but she was educated, even by her future husband, to say and behave in a certain way. The aftermath of her worries her because she is aware of what can happen. The psychological breakdown comes, but she has no choice. She is a pawn.
During the meeting with Pirucchio (Nicolò Galasso) a lot of humanity shines through and seems to be about to falter.
It’s my favorite scene. We’ve shot it many times. Initially I had read it in another key, I hadn’t discovered its strong human side yet. And I made her glacial, because she says things that maybe she doesn’t think, but that she has to say in order to defend herself. Instead, speaking with Ivan Silvestrini (the director, editor’s note), a much more interesting aspect emerged. She and Pirucchio are trapped in another type of prison. There is no distance between them.
Giovanna Sannino in a scene from “Mare fuori 3”. (Sabrina Cyril)
Carmela, the love for Edoardo and the friendship with Rosa
Does being a mother push her to accept Edoardo’s betrayals or will she have the strength to rebel?
Carmela accepts everything as long as her suffering does not reach her son. It’s a message of hope, but even if this child hadn’t been born, she would have stayed with Edoardo because it’s a code that is followed. Once you move into your boyfriend’s house, in certain situations it’s hard to go back. They are bound together by a relationship of passive acceptance of their reality. He knows no other perspectives. Edoardo refuses to change to pursue a purer, more platonic love with Teresa (Ludovica Coscione, nda). He should question himself and change too much about himself. They are destined to be together for life precisely because their life offers no other perspectives.
The relationship with Rosa, played by Maria Esposito, will be very important.
Rosa is Carmela’s family. She binds them a visceral relationship, they are each other’s shoulder, as seen in the episode A friendship is forever. The third season of Sea out it is the season of love, but also of friendship, a little more feminine. We will find out the details of their life together. So many difficulties and so many scars that both carry with them. The love one can feel for a friend goes beyond anything.
What struck you about Carmela when you first met her and what fascinates you today?
Today I am struck by the world inside. He has many scars. In Japanese culture, when something breaks, gold is added. Carmella is like that. She hasn’t let herself be scratched by the ugliness that has happened to her, but she has remained faithful to her principles even if she has no possibility of exposing them as she would like. She’s got a broken, broken soul, but she’s still pure. At first, however, I saw her as an abandoned girl. Her only goal was to make her partner happy and be a perfect soldier. She was more immature, more immature.
“Change starts with us”
Nonlinear relationships can also depend on the context in which they arise. Are there wrong lives in which the escape route is not foreseen?
Yes, some of those told in Sea out I’m this way. The counterweight is done by Carmine (Massimiliano Caiazzo, nda). In his case, there are no escape routes because the rot starts from the family. Her mother wants her to follow in her father’s and brother’s footsteps, in her underworld. Instead, although she has never known different paths, she rebels and launches a hymn to life and hope. There are realities where unfortunately we remain trapped, but I think that the change starts from us. Even if we don’t know it and we don’t know where to start.
The series has always been good, but now it has become a real phenomenon. How do you explain it?
The great participation of young people – new faces, clean and even inexperienced at certain times – alongside the veterans did a lot. And then we talk about a Naples that has already been represented many times, but we do it with carefree eyes. Sea out it shows you another side of the coin. On the set we have a common goal: the excellent result of the product. There is a lot of dedication, because we love what we do.
At 15 she entered the IPM of Nisida for a school project. Was she predestined?
Absolutely yes. It’s like an angel took me by the hand and walked me through that period of my life. It was a succession of events all linked together.
Giovanna Sannino. (Imma Petricciuoli)
Giovanna Sannino’s career, from her debut at the age of 12 to today
Did that experience help you approach the character?
When I was taken for Sea out after 5 auditions, I fished out all the stories, words and experiences of the guys I met. I put them at the service of the character. The more intense the character becomes, the more complicated it becomes to approach me and I recover from there. Nisida was the first drawer I opened when I had to build Carmela. Those guys gave me so many emotions and telling them in the best possible way is a responsibility.
When did you get into acting?
I do not remember. I grew up going to the theater and studying all the plays by Eduardo De Filippo. Gradually it became a job. At the age of 12 I made my theater debut with Gigi Savoia. At 16 at the cinema in the film And it’s soon evening, with Franco Nero and directed by Claudio Insegno. It’s as if I hadn’t chosen this path, or rather, I chose it when it had already begun.
The meeting with Sea out after 5 tryouts
When it arrives Sea out?
I attended a film school in Naples. They sent me to audition. One of many, I was very skeptical. Instead, one became five. On the evening of the fifth they called me telling me that I had been chosen for a character that I had never played until then: Carmela.
Having no expectations is the secret to being surprised by life?
Yes, absolutely.
Sea out will continue until at least the sixth season. In the meantime, is it coming out with other projects?
In November I finished shooting a short film with Nunzia Schiano, directed by Maria Diletta Cocco, entitled Shanghai. It is a thriller that focuses its core on empathy. It can help you, but it can also kill you if given to the wrong person or at the wrong time. It was very interesting work.
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