Italian Superstar Pierfrancesco Favino on Smashing “Mafia Stereotypes”

In Italy, Pierfrancesco Favino needs no introduction. At this year’s David di Donatello awards ceremony — Italy’s equivalent of the Oscars — a Favino film was nominated in every major category. A shortlist of the directors he’s worked with — Gabriele Salvatores, Giuseppe Tornatore, Marco Bellocchio, Gianni Amelio, Gabriele Muccino, Ferzan Ozpetek, Mario Martone — reads like a who’s who of Italian cinema.

Internationally, Favino has carved out a second career as a supporting player in Hollywood productions. In Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna, Ron Howard’s Rush and Angels and Demons, or Mark Forster’s World War Z. But his most recent U.S. visit — to this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York — was for an Italian film: Andrea Di Stefano’s Last Night of Amore, which screened in competition.

In the gritty police drama, Favino plays the titular Franco Amore, a good cop called out on the night before his retirement to investigate the murder of his best friend and long-time partner killed during a diamond heist. It’s the Italian-language debut of actor-turned-director Di Stefano (Eat Pray Love, The Life of Pi) who first made his name behind the camera with U.S. indie thrillers Escobar: Paradise Lost starring Benicio del Toro, and The Informer with Joel Kinnaman and Rosamund Pike. Shot on 35 mm but set in modern-day Milan, the film updates the classic Italian thrillers of the 1970s and 1980s for a contemporary audience.

“It is always so exciting to come to New York, a city where I now have several fond memories,” Favino tells THR Roma, in an interview at New York’s West Village Hotel shortly after the Last Night of Amore premiere. “I was talking about this with friends. I was telling them how strange it is to become familiar with a city so far away from your own.”

What what the audience like at the premiere?

We had a Q&A at the end with some very interesting questions asked, showing a really high level of attention. There seemed to be a lot of enjoyment, in the sense that they also picked up on what might have been the more Italian aspects of the film. I have to say that it has been received in the same way everywhere, here, in France, in Berlin. This is really rewarding.

You have been a Tribeca guest before. Did you notice differences between then and now?

The first time I came was a long time ago with Romanzo Criminale in 2006. Since then, Americans have gotten to see me in other work and have become more familiar with me. The reception at Tribeca has been very warm, especially from the festival director and the people who selected the films. I feel that they’re familiar with the work I’ve done over the years.

Is it because of the many American productions you have been in?

Yes, but I was also lucky enough to have starred in two films that were Italy’s submissions for the Oscars: Marco Bellocchio’s The Traitor and Mario Martone’s Nostalgia and films that were screened in international festivals like Toronto, Cannes and Berlin. In general, there is a vitality in our cinema that is enthusiastically received abroad that maybe we, as Italians, are unaware of or don’t fully grasp.

How much did it matter that the film in competition is a thriller, a genre that is very popular in the States?

A crime thriller is always a very vital genre. In recent years we are perhaps more used to seeing this genre thanks to Asian or American cinema. Italian cinema often gets stereotyped as being all mafia movies. I noticed that with Nostalgia. It’s basically a love story, but it was understood [internationally] as a mafia film. There is this tendency abroad to typecast these films as organized crime stories, which honestly we don’t even think about while making them. I think It would be interesting to actually explore what these films really offer.

There was a time when I was often being offered roles [in American films] with a very stereotypical Italian-ness that I didn’t feel like representing. I would like to be able to debunk this cliché that Italy is all about pizza, mandolins and the mafia.

The discussion of diversity and inclusion in roles is an interesting one. Personally, I think an actor should be able to play a giraffe if he chooses to. But it does seem bizarre to me that Italian roles, often leading roles, are regularly given to American actors. I don’t understand why inclusion stops the moment an Italian actor crosses the Alps. The careers of non-American actors very often are transformed when they win an Oscar with a film from their native country, or when they are lucky enough to be cast to play roles of their own nationality in films that end up being very successful. I think of Christoph Waltz or Javier Bardem. For Italian actors, I see it is becoming more and more difficult and I don’t understand why.

You also worked a lot in Hollywood. What memories do you have of these experiences?

Very very good, mainly because of the quality of the people I worked with. I was fortunate to work early on with Ben Stiller, Ron Howard, Tom Hanks, Spike Lee, and Andrew Adamson. You have to remember when we talk about filmmaking [in the U.S.] it is a huge industry. In Italy, it’s a much smaller business. In America, they have the luxury of being able to experiment more, to do more takes, to shoot different scenes, to make mistakes along the way. That’s a luxury that Italian cinema usually doesn’t have. A big-budget film for Italy is a low-budget indie movie in America. I did Ron Howard’s Rush, which was an independent movie, but with a $45 million budget. In Italy, our major films cost, at the most, $12 million-$15 million, which is a huge budget by Italian standards.

What do you like about the American film industry?

One thing I like very much is the respect for the work, to and from everyone. The fact that it is a major industry means that everyone’s work is protected and valued enormously. Regardless of the role, whether we’re talking about the prop maker or the actor. I also really like the very high level of preparation and professionalism.

The striking screenwriters might disagree with you that they are valued in Hollywood…

I think screenwriting is sacred. At a time when the specifics of each profession are in danger of being stepped on, or limited, going on strike is necessary. We have to be careful not to be caught unprepared, especially in times when there is a lot of talk about artificial intelligence. And we have to begin right now to put a limit on possible issues that could emerge tomorrow. We are dealing with an industry that creates a lot of money with huge investments involved. It’s only fair that workers protect themselves.

While you’re in New York, will you take the opportunity to see some of your American colleagues? Who have you stayed in touch with?

With all of them. I do everything, from Christmas greetings to arranged or chance meetings. Right now I am working on Gabriele Salvatores’ new film with Omar Benson Miller, who was one of the soldiers in Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna. I keep in regular contact with Ron Howard. In Cannes, I saw [Angels and Demons co-star] Tom Hanks again. I try to keep on very good and friendly terms with colleagues, not necessarily related to work, but because of our shared experiences together and the affection that has remained.

You are currently shooting Gabriele Salvatores’ Naples to New York. What can you tell us about this new role?

More than my role I can tell you about the film: I really like the tone. It’s based on a script written by four hands: By Federico Fellini and Tullio Pinelli [Salvatores shares a co-screenwriting credit], and both of them knew how to treat certain themes with an almost fantastic lightness. One thing I find extraordinary is that neither of them had ever been to New York. When I read the script I was captivated by it. I’m very happy to be working with the two lead children, who are very good, and I’m sure it’s going to be an exciting, fun film. You know those sorts of films that reconnect you with the meaning of cinema, not just as a form of entertainment, but emotionally? I think this film goes in that direction.

The film tells the story of two children who, in order to escape the misery of post-war Naples, face a challenging boat crossing to America, as was the case for so many Italian emigrants at the time. Do you remember your first trip to New York? 

The first time was the classic fulfillment of the dream because you feel like you’ve known it forever because you’ve learned about it in the movies. You get here and you see that it is exactly as you imagined it. New York can still surprise you every single day with the energy it has. It is a city that I love, it is a city that I come to often and I have also watched it change a great deal.

What’s your fondest memory of New York? 

When I came here together with my partner and our oldest daughter, who was just two years old. We were supposed to stay a week and ended up staying a month.

This interview, translated from Italian, was edited for length and clarity.