Beatrice Grannò: “I believe in kindness”

At one point, the girl with the hunched shoulders, uncomfortable in the too skimpy dress, gets up from the bar and takes a seat at the piano. She straightens her back, sticks out her neck, a chilling voice and a beauty she didn’t know she had. In one scene Beatrice Grannò, actress with the ambitions of a songwriter, has granted one of her wishes: to sing on a film set. And what a set! The 29-year-old Roman, who became famous as the daughter of Luca Argentero in fiction Doc – In your handsshe just got back from Los Angeles where they presented The White Lotus 2 (from 7 November exclusively Sky and Now), tragicomic series set in Sicily with an almost exclusively American cast (among others, Jennifer Coolidge and Aubrey Plaza). Here, Beatrice plays Mia, a catanese with a provincial manner who, to realize her musical ambitions, is ready for anything. She also sells her body.

How far are you willing to go to establish yourself as a songwriter?
“Not as deep as Mia! Although, from a certain point of view, I respect her for her: she is a girl who is sure of her talent. When they say “good”, she replies “I know” ».

What do you answer instead?
“I always feel the need to justify myself, to explain.”

Let’s give it a try: what if I told you that in the series she is very good at reproducing a Sicilian accent?
“I’d like to point out that it’s not all my doing: an actress friend, Selene Caramazza, helped me. I sent her my lines, she sent me vowels with the right pronunciation. Then, while we were filming, I tainted the local extras from whom I constantly asked for confirmation. I share the compliment with all of them ».

To the praise on how he sang, however, how do you react?
“I really appreciate it, but I always keep my head on the ground.”

Do you mean “down to earth”?
«No no, I just keep my head on the ground. You see, after the screening of the first episode in Los Angeles, I started receiving messages, emails, requests for appointments. It is a moment to get lost. It doesn’t happen to me, precisely because my head is stuck to the ground ».

What about the feet?
“I leave them in the clouds: I want to fly away.”

Where is it? It is rumored in Sanremo.

«I would be very happy, it would be a nice springboard. Even if I think there are other ways to make yourself known ».

For instance?
«Last summer I did some concerts, I just signed with a music label and I’m working on my first Ep. I’d like it to come out next year. ‘

What are your songs about?
“Anything that makes me vulnerable. I write to give voice to thoughts that I cannot express in any other way. Like, I’m having dinner with some friends, I notice something wrong with one of them, but I don’t feel like telling them in that situation. I go home and write a song about her, and about me. In which I get naked. In music I expose myself much more than in acting where I quickly turn my face to tell other people’s stories “

In which area do you feel you have the most talent?
“I don’t know if I’m talented, I know I have a lot of willpower. I’ve never been the child prodigy, I’ve never had a moment where everyone turned around and said, “Oh my God, this is a phenomenon.” In fact, I’ve always been the least good. But one of the most determined ».

Is it thanks to this determination that he did not give up after his rejection at the Experimental Center of Cinematography?
“Yes, it was very sad at first. I thought I would never become an actress. Instead then, together with four other “discarded” ones, I started touring Italy and attending every seminar that interested me. The following year they took me to a theater academy in London. ‘

I guess her parents weren’t exactly thrilled to know she was a wanderer without a reference school.
“But they didn’t oppose me. Of course, my mother would have been happy to see me attend Lettere alla Sapienza. But I knew it was going to be a tragedy. ‘

Wasn’t she a diligent student?
“For nothing. In fact, I was a mess. I was studying, but I was too distracted to get good grades. I was being promoted with a lot of debt. For years I made everyone suffer: my parents and my friends because I went to do my homework at their house, and then I distracted them too ».

What did he get distracted from?
“In those years I was looking for myself, I only cared about pleasing others. I was different: I wanted to act, play the piano, all uncommon things that made me feel “that strange” at a time when homologation was strong ».

Have things changed today?
“I have changed, but I still find a bit of homologation.”

In what context?
“Even in my working environment. Let’s take the way in which cinema tells about women in Italy. Before they were only fragile, incapable and pitying figures. Now it seems there is only room for virago with a military and outspoken attitude. I wonder, but why can’t we tell the female strength in a more multifaceted way? Take me: I think I have character, but because I am soft, kind and helpful, I am automatically labeled as “not strong” ».

And instead is it?
“I recently found out. During my teens, I collided with my mother. She is a blatantly strong, self-confident woman who has struggled to get what she wanted. As a girl, I never felt like her. Now, however, I have understood that I am very similar to her ».

What relationship do you have with your father?
“Different but beautiful. It is thanks to him, I think, that I became passionate about music. She made me listen to the rhythm and blues since childhood. She had a room all to herself, the “music room”, soundproofed with blankets and pillows, where we listened to records for hours ».

Her parents separated that she was very small. Did she suffer?
“I would not say. I was five, I don’t even remember what life was like before. I quickly got used to celebrating Christmas and birthday twice, in an extended and chaotic family ».

How many are you in all?
“Five brothers, I’m the penultimate, the only girl.”

A chaotic memory from his childhood?
«My mother told me: she could hear us fighting over cartoons. I wanted to watch snow-whitethem something gory like Predators. Deadlift. After ten minutes we were all silent in front of snow-white. As a child I was very determined, the insecurities came later ».

Did she take care of it?
“I’ve been in analysis for two years. I think it is very important, especially for those who do my job because we actors have a fragile heart: we get involved and are always exposed to the judgment of others. It should be a normalized practice, but there is still fear ».

About what?
“To face what hurts. Many think that if you do not see the cause of the pain, it means that it does not exist ».

What do you feel pain for?
«I suffer when I feel invisible. When I say something and I am not heard. It will be a legacy of being the only female in a male family ».

Do you think you have been treated differently as a woman?
“No, not that. But surely the generation of our parents has a less marked sensitivity in terms of gender equality. I occasionally get angry with my mother if she makes a superficial comment about another woman. But I understand that she grew up in a different era and that certain themes do not belong to her culture. For me the important thing is to establish a dialogue ».

An example?
“The butcher downstairs gave me a discount the other day. He told me: “I do it to you because you are beautiful”. I smiled and thanked. He was pleasantly surprised: “See, she smiles!” She exclaimed. “Not like yesterday’s client, who reacted with anger. What’s wrong with that? I wonder. I am a married man, I have no aim, I just wanted to say something nice ”. I explained to him that, even if his intentions were noble, maybe that other girl didn’t want to receive a compliment and that this too must be respected. The result was a pleasant, constructive conversation. It doesn’t happen often ».

Men are probably scared now because, after the MeToo, the line between flattery and harassment has blurred.
“Surely we women make mistakes when, to defend ourselves, we instill fear. But it is inevitable: we have suffered for too long and it is obvious that we are now reacting with a closed attitude. To protect ourselves, we had to become cold, suspicious, sometimes aggressive. A bit like the suffragettes ».

Explain.
“At the time they were criticized for raising their voices. But it is thanks to them that we can vote today. Returning to contemporary feminism, I think it is important to make one thing understood: by breaking down gender stereotypes, we are not just doing women a favor. We also free men from having to be manly hunters ».

Is she engaged?
“Rather not answer”.

If he were single he would have no problem declaring it …
“Let’s say I know what love is, that I’m in love.”

Does he usually fall in love with alpha males or more accommodating figures?
“The alpha male is not really my gender. Maybe, even if it doesn’t seem like it, I am the alpha one ».