L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 4 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS O n e o f G i a n - carlo Gian- nini's favorite memories was meeting Billy W i l d e r i n a L o s A n g e l e s r e s t a u r a n t b y c h a n c e . Intimidated by a director he considered legendary, Gian- nini wanted to talk to him but shyness and self-con- sciousness made him desist. Later, a waiter let him know that Wilder himself wanted to invite him to his table and meet him, as he was an admirer of his films. Giancarlo Giannini's love affair with the United States a n d A m e r i c a n c i n e m a i s long: "I shot my first Holly- wood films in Italy. The first one in Taranto, in '68, was A n z i o , w i t h R o b e r t Mitchum and Peter Falk. I was the only Italian, so tiny compared to the others," he recalled. T h e f i r s t c i n e m a r o l e s came in the 1960s, with I C r i m i n a l i d e l l a M e t r o p o l i ( 1 9 6 5 ) , t h e already-mentioned Anzio, and The Secret of Santa Vit- toria. But it truly was his a r t i s t i c a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h L i n a Wertmuller that marked his break. It is to honor his career that the Italian actor, d i r e c t o r , a n d v o i c e a c t o r came to Los Angeles this week when his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled, on March 6. He is the second Italian actor to receive this recogni- t i o n a f t e r R o d o l f o Valentino, a recognition Giannini, who was born in L a S p e z i a b u t l i v e d i n Naples since the age of 10, wanted to dedicate to Lina Wertmuller. Wertmuller led him to success with movies such as Swept Away (1974), Seven Beauties (1975), Love a n d A n a r c h y ( 1 9 7 3 ) , a n d T h e S e d u c t i o n o f M i m i (1972). For Love and Anar- chy, he won the Cannes Film F e s t i v a l A w a r d f o r B e s t Actor and he was nominated at the Academy Awards for Seven Beauties. He also won f o u r D a v i d d i D o n a t e l l o A w a r d s f o r B e s t A c t o r . Internationally, he is known f o r h i s r o l e i n H a n n i b a l , where he played Inspector P a z z i - h e ' l l t e l l u s m o r e about the curious way he was cast for the role in our interview - as well as for being French agent René Mathis in two James Bond m o v i e s , C a s i n o R o y a l e ( 2 0 0 6 ) a n d Q u a n t u m o f Solace (2008), along with Daniel Craig. Giannini is also an estab- lished voice actor, known for being the "official" voice of great American icons, such a s A l P a c i n o ; i n f a c t , h e shared duties in this role Continued to page 6 H o l l y w o o d W a l k o f F a m e : a s t a r f o r Giancarlo Giannini Giannini (above) began his acting career on the theater stage (Photo: GIOLE/Dreamstime) SILVIA NITTOLI with Ferruccio Amendola until the latter's death in 2001, when he fully took o v e r . H e a l s o f a m o u s l y dubbed Jack Nicholson in the Italian versions of The Shining. Among other great i n t e r n a t i o n a l a c t o r s w h o have, in Italy, Giannini's voice, we should remember Jeremy Irons, Tim Allen, Mel Gibson, Gérard Depar- dieu, Dustin Hoffman, and Ian McKellen. Animation lovers watching Up in Ital- ian will recognize him as the voice of Carl Fredericksen. "I do this job by accident and I was lucky," Giannini recounts tracing the begin- nings of his career, which started on theater stages." I studied for one year at the Silvio D'Amico Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome and I w a s n o t i c e d b y d i r e c t o r Beppe Menegatti, who cast m e f o r A M i d s u m m e r Night's Dream. I was danc- ing with Gianmaria Volonté and Carla Fracci! It was an adventure for me, I played Puck, which was a role that women usually played. It was at that very moment I decided to be an actor. Up to then, actually, I had kept my job as an electronics techni- cian in Brazil." Curiously, Giannini never truly quit his passion for technology and electronics and he still enjoys experi- menting and creating new things, including cinematic props: he was, for instance, the mind behind the talking j a c k e t w o r n b y R o b i n Williams in Barry Levin- s o n ' s T o y s ( 1 9 9 2 ) . I n a n interview he gave to the Ital- ian daily Il Messaggero in 2021, he said he used to cre- a t e t o y s f o r h i s c h i l d r e n when they were young and that making things relaxes him and keeps him in touch

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