The year 2013 was very important for Italian cinema, but also for the career of beautiful Sicilian actress Marianna Di Martino. At the young age of twenty-four she went on the red carpet for the first time with the movie “La Santa” (The Saint), and now obtained a role in Guy Ritchie’s The man from U.N.C.L.E, starring Hugh Grant. Actually, Marianna had other projects for her future, which didn’t include the show business world at all. Her studies in New York made her change her mind and she is now dreaming of Tarantino’s and Scorsese’s international cinema. Born and raised between sea and volcano, she doesn’t hide her passionate character reflected in the features of the Mediterranean beauty.
At the early age of twenty-four, you can vaunt an international set. A great opportunity for having studied at Anna Strasberg’s Actor Studio in New York or you simply were in the right place at the right time?
I fell in love with acting at the Strasberg Institute, where I assimilated the very first tools to be able to express myself as an actress; but it’s also true that it would not have been possible without a good dose of luck!
Golden moments for Italian cinema, thanks to Oscar-winning Sorrentino. If you had to choose between a career in Italy or in the US, where would your heart lead you?
Considering that I started to study overseas, I believe I already took this decision by coming back to Italy. I felt the urge to live and build my dream starting from home, in order to project myself in any other direction. Now I’m daydreaming to go back to the place I fell in love with acting one day.
And what role plays Sicily?
Sicily is the place of my heart, the nest I go back to every time I can, a bit like my “natural charger”. Being born between a volcano and the sea, growing up running on lava stone and sand, among jasmine and orange blossom scent leaves an indelible, unique mark on your skin.
Your passion for the theatre and show business world is in your DNA. How much did it affect your choice in starting this career?
Actually not in the least. My mother has always supported my choices, free from influences. Until I was 19, I was sure I would not become an actress, in order to detach myself from my parents’ identity. Then, I was struck at New York’s Strasberg Institute, and from that moment on I changed my whole life to be able to act. My mother shared my choice; she is my great reference point and strongly supports me.
You also walked on international runways of Fendi and Armani. How important is beauty for being successful?
Physical beauty is one of the most evanescent things of life; real beauty lies in people’s souls and is shown through their eyes when they laugh – this difference counts a lot in acting. Eyes talk, beauty doesn’t. Moreover, success is something else: you build it up with time and work without ever stopping to learn. Matthew McCauneghy said something that affected me a lot when he received the Academy Award “as a child I was my own hero in 10 years’ time, but after 10 years I wasn’t my hero yet, so I postponed to other 10 years and kept on for my whole life, pushed to be always the best of me”. This is the real recipe for success.
Who is the director you would like to work with in your dream drawer?
I would go crazy in working with Tarantino. I believe he forms his actors in characters with genius shapes, going through a thin line between genius and insanity. Going through such a psychological transformation is stimulating for an actor. Winner spot also for Scorsese (I don’t think we need to explain why). My list would also include Steve McQueen and Spike Jonze for the sensitivity, delicacy, the shades and details their characters depict. However, even in my dreams I hardly hope (she smiles)
It’s a drawer full of dreams we wish you to fulfil. And now Marianna and coffee.
Long with cold milk when I have time for my favourite breakfast (eggs, bacon and cheese), or espresso at the bar, nearly always in a hurry.
Recommended song for the reading of the present article: Tu vuò fa l’americano – The Ray Gelato Giants
