«I have carried out these transformations for about ten years and twenty-six have passed since the beginning of this “madness”», when he passed himself off as Nicolas Cage, first at San Siro and then in Madrid, to see Roma, or Marilyn Manson. The dialogue with Paolo Calabresi starts immediately from a central point of one’s life path, as well as professional one. After writing an autobiographical novel, All the men who are not (ed. Salani), the actor talks about himself in the show of the same name (produced by Nuovo Teatro), which he directs and stars in, still on stage on 2 and 3 May at the Teatro ABC in Catania and from 6 to 17 May at the Ambra Jovinelli in Rome.
Paolo, tell us more…
«The book tells about all the transformations. I arrived to pick up my son Arturo from the triathlon dressed as an African leader.”
Was there a wake-up call?
«I began to feel nauseated by these transformative madnesses, which are increasingly difficult to carry out as they have become popular. After a long time and with great effort I freed myself.”
Can this constant pretending to be someone else cause an identity crisis?
«Yes, even if the actors always know what they are doing, even those who make you believe they have “entered the character”, a phrase that makes no sense. For example, being able to make Cardinal Maradiaga’s presence at Gigi D’Alessio’s concert credible meant that I had to keep control of the situation, so if a given phone rang, a given person had to answer. There was a doubling, a tripling of the personality (laughs), but always within the dimension of my profession as I had been taught”.
In particular by Giorgio Strehler…
«Yes (he trained at the Piccolo under his guidance and continued until his death in ’97, ed.). He had the idea that our work is a very serious game, just as children are serious when they play, that they have precise rules, and if you deviate from those rules, they no longer play with you. I have never lost my personality; contact with reality yes.”
Until he realized he had to take matters into his own hands…
«The first time was casual: I just wanted to go to see the Roma match, I asked for tickets in Cage’s name, but without wanting to pretend to be him. The conditions that the host team, Milan, had created by announcing its presence led me to create a whole staging. I was transported into this thing, which is why I define it as a gift that I received from someone who was no longer here (he lost his mother, father and Strehler, a teacher for him, ed.) within a short distance of being able to do my job completely for one day. I played the part of Cage, but I didn’t have other performers around me pretending to be AC Milan staff. I, however, was not that man, so I was obliged to practice my profession without making mistakes, as children require when you play with them.”
How did your wife Fiamma (played by Carolina Di Domenico in the show) react?
“Not only did she play along, but also when everyone, from friends to her parents, said to her: ‘What is Paolo doing? You have four children, you have to be careful’, she replied: ‘I know, but if Paolo thinks he has to do this thing, you have to let him do it’.”
A true declaration of love.
«The show is a love story. After laughing for more than an hour at all that game I played, what’s left is me and Fiamma. The strength of the family, loving each other seriously, even when you act “crazy”.
Speaking of love, it’s in Giampaolo Morelli’s film Love looks good on everything (in theaters from May 6th).
«I play Manlio, who tries to make ends meet for two people who broke up many years before, but in reality he finds himself very involved. It’s a delicate film.”
What kind of man is Paolo today?
«I feel like answering like the cursed bitch (from the Boris series which made him popular, ed.): I’m as old as I am. I live on simple things, I would like to direct. I am an attentive father, as a legacy we will leave this sense of communion even on the few things we have. I will soon become a grandfather, it makes an impression on me because I don’t feel adequate and it seems incredible to me to be 61 years old.”
