Origins of your relationship with the genre – What was your first encounter with horror cinema, either as a viewer or an actor, and what impression did it leave on you?

I remember the terrible lightness I felt around the age of 12 or 13 when, one afternoon, I decided to watch the VHS of the famous The Shining on my own — a film I knew had the reputation of being a “real” horror movie. To be honest, I couldn't even get through it in one sitting; I had to take a break at some point, and my sleep quality in the following days was dramatically ruined. I also remember the old IT as one of the first horror films I saw that did exactly what it was supposed to do — scare me to death. Tim Curry caused me several problems I thought I had resolved, until this very moment when the memories came back. Damn him...

Personal fears – Is there a type of horror that genuinely scares you in real life (psychological, supernatural, gore, slasher…) or are you the kind of viewer who doesn’t get easily shaken?

I think the most effective mechanism to scare me is the one that works through unease, through an ever-lurking threat that operates by absence. That tension created by the sense of an imminent, overwhelming, and mysterious aggression — which never actually comes to fruition. Only towards the end of the film, or at least in the second half, after the designated victims — the characters and we, the viewers — have been thoroughly “cooked,” the horrible monster of the moment is revealed. And then comes the sound. Sound is crucial to achieve the desired effect. I think this is a general principle of the genre, but for me, it’s particularly decisive — more so than the image, generally speaking, though of course there are many exceptions and nuances.

Acting experience – Acting in a horror film means working a lot with extreme emotions. What are the main challenges in making fear or terror feel authentic in front of the camera?

Well, in my opinion, it can be summed up in what Kusturica once said to me while we were shooting the scene where we were fighting at the end of The Ice Forest. Annoyed by my excessive intensity — which I justified as an effort to make the scene work — he replied: “Rage is easy.” I think what he meant was that primal emotions, like fear, are simpler to act than more complex emotional states, which can be just as authentic but more subtle and sophisticated. Also, he wanted me to fake it because I was actually hurting him — stupid me. But that’s another story. The use of language — I mean lines — is almost unnecessary when it comes to acting fear, and fear alone. It’s an instinctive experience, clearly recognizable from before the invention of spoken language, unmistakable even without words, like all primal emotions. Plus, fear has a "bonus" feature: self-defense. It arises in the presence of a threat and is meant to protect whoever feels it. It has no connection to rationality (in fact, fear and thinking rarely make a good team). Speaking of acting, I’ve said it before — but it fits much better here — I really enjoy dying. That is, acting out death. Shot, heart attack, throat slit with a knife, suffocated, after a long agony with final lines like a dying man’s last words... I’ve performed all of these, both on screen and on stage. In film, it’s tougher because there are many takes. On stage, you do it once, so even if it’s physically demanding — like asphyxiation or drowning (haven’t done that one yet) — you only do it once until the next night. On a film set, you might get shot and drop dead 15 times… and your hips are sore the next day. When I say this, people usually laugh — but it’s true. Dying on camera is usually very tiring.

Cinematic influences – Are there horror films or directors you consider references, either as a viewer or as an actor?

Sam Raimi in the first two Evil Dead films — for me, he’s a hero and a master of analog effects (I love Army of Darkness, though it’s more funny than scary). Nosferatu by Murnau — pure magic even after 105 years. Among more recent films, I stumbled across Get Out one night — really good; 28 Days Later and various zombie films (I’ve seen a couple of Romero’s early ones), though they don’t scare me that much. I also really liked REC — Spanish or maybe Latin American, I don’t remember — done in a very original way, and yes, I got scared. Truth be told, I’m not a big horror fan, because, unless I’m watching with friends, I don’t exactly look forward to getting scared. 

Future roles – Would you like to play an iconic character in the genre, like a victim, a survivor, or even a monster/antagonist?

Of course! I already had an experience with a role in the Manetti Bros. film "Paura", a horror movie released about twelve years ago. With the usual naturalistic style — including my character’s Roman accent — the stylistic choices, both for the characters and their world, as well as the plot, reflected a comic book-like imagery. Very simple, a few clear and sharp features — just by looking at us, you could tell us apart immediately. My main horror moment as an actor was (SPOILER) when I die near the end. It was a gore/splatter horror (effects by Stivaletti — a legend in both American and European horror). It was a blast to shoot that scene. During the agony before dying from fatal wounds I won’t spoil, I acted out Ale’s — that was my character’s name — final twitches using just my hand, and the result is one of the details I’m proudest of in that film. As for the idea of playing a monster? That would be fantastic. Ideally, I’d love to be completely hidden under a heavy mask, totally unrecognizable. That kind of costume would help immensely with posture and body language, and also give me the extra freedom to really push the limits. I remember I was amazing at scaring my little sister — she was five years younger than me — when we were kids, chasing her around playing the monster.

Audience perception – In Italy, horror has always had a particular relationship with its audience. What do you think is needed today to make an Italian horror film truly work and be competitive internationally?

Well, well, well… I have no idea. But I think with a bit of luck, what I’m about to say could have some international market relevance. Horror is the most “genre” of all genre films — it’s a space where you can make a masterpiece with a tiny budget. It’s a paradise for ideas. It works purely through suggestion. Since it’s all about fear and its offshoots (anxiety, unease, tension, disturbance, etc.), it uses cinema as a means of survival — literally. Of course, if you also throw in CGI (according to the bad habit — a terrible one for a cinephile but normal for general audiences — of thinking CGI and its hyper-realistic rendering are a value in themselves), plus the related budget to afford major stars and top-level professionals across every technical and creative field, the chances of being internationally competitive increase a lot. And let’s face it, anyone capable of launching such a production won’t accept anything less than topping the box office in at least a quarter of all available theaters. But again, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room to do something special. And when it comes to horror — that’s truer than ever.

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