This article is published in number 21 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until May 24, 2022
“This Sunday is nothing like a Sunday,” complains Margherita Buy, rubbing her face still reddened by the cotton of the pillow, with the dog Matteo crawling between her feet and almost making her stumble as she goes to open the door. Basically she would like to be alone, taking her walk in the park of Villa Ada, in Rome, which since she was a child she considers the garden of her house: “Basically I am a forest inspector”, she says, with her spontaneous humor always accompanied by sighs tangled and smiles that light up and go out, «I check the health of the trees and I am indignant if I see neglect. And basically, the less I talk to people, the better off I am ».
In the metaverse of her life (at the age of sixty in January and with the medal table of the most awarded Italian actress ever), all the architectures of her existence change constantly but she always remains the same, walking fragile without saying too much, strong without even caring about whether or not they really are: important loves, daughter Caterina De Angelis became a woman and actress, the set of The sun of the future by Nanni Moretti from already tomorrow early in the morning (it is his fifth film with the director), the new film by Paolo Genovese The first day of my life out this year as well as an American project. But above all there is Night exteriorthe six-part series signed by Marco Bellocchio where she plays the wife of Aldo Moro, kidnapped and killed by the Red Brigades in 1978, which will be presented on May 18 at the Cannes Film Festival.
Damn the day I met you, the film that gave her both stardom and a “neurotic” label that makes her suffer a lot, came out thirty years ago. In a metaverse now very distant.
On the red carpet in Cannes he goes there with curiosity or with a sense of déjà vu?
«Well, this time I’m going there without the anguish and the nocturnal awakenings that accompany me every time I’m in the race. Having been invited is already a nice recognition, come on. And then we are out of competition and therefore we don’t have to prove who knows, just bring a beautiful story onto a horrible page of the Italian affair, in front of an international audience ».
What woman do you shape in Bellocchio’s film?
“To a woman full of dignity, who for almost two months lived locked up at home with her family, with telephones under control and in fact held prisoner, as she will say in a heartbreaking phone call with the Brigadier Mario Moretti who announces the death sentence of Moro. She tells of a desperate woman who greeted her husband one morning and then never saw him again. Somehow seized. Just like him ».
Sessions were also attempted to find the lair. What relationship does it have with the aura of someone who is no longer there?
“I happened to hear it, at least once. In a moment of despair in which I had lost a loved one and that pain had put me in a psychological state of openness, in which I felt her thoughts coming to me. A presence in the mind. A presence that touched me ».
What do you find unbearably repetitive in your life and work?
«In my work, the fact that he is lonely, all to do with oneself, in comparison with one’s own abilities and incapacity, in a challenge where no one can come to save you. Privately, on the other hand, I find my character repetitive, which always winds around the same ways of doing and seeing, while I would love to be more casual, have a less obsessive rigor, be simpler. And instead, for lack of lightheartedness and mental freedom, in the end I never succeed. And this is really boring and even a bit paradoxical: wanting to change, even if you are not a person who asks others to do it “.
A heavy weight with herself but not with the neighbor, therefore.
“Two opposite aspects coexist in me. On the one hand there is the little girl, who is looking for a truly childish type of fun, very basic, and which makes me very caciarona especially near people who are not very twisted. Then instead there is my whole closed, solitary and uncompromising side. These two aspects interfere badly and criticize each other in an ongoing confrontation. In a search for balance impossible for me to find ».
It is said that with the years the lightness becomes lighter.
«And instead, with age, the dark part takes over in me. Instead of lightness, a sense of responsibility that grows more and more ».
Psychologists say to beware of personifications. And they give the example of Ulysses who, in front of Polyphemus’s question, saved himself by answering “I am Nobody”.
“But that’s a trick, a cunning that can save you for a moment but cannot make you what you are not. I can also be brainwashed by a thousand psychologists, but my nature, unfortunately or fortunately, remains that, very far from lightness ».
Was there a time when he could have changed his life and didn’t?
«The crossroads in front of me is always there. I would like to change my life every day ».
With what fantasies do you rock?
“I dream of a place in the country to retire to, which by the way I couldn’t even afford to do. On the contrary, I also dream of being an explorer who travels in search of something, one that she knows how to get lost. Which I have never been able to do out of fear. They are like Salgari. I dream of my adventures lying on the sofa ».
If one were to grasp all the petals of her name, Margherita, would the last one to remain between her fingers say “I love me” or “I don’t love me”?
«He would say ‘I love myself every now and then’. But never madly eh, of course. Let’s say that I can stand myself ».
She is the most awarded actress of Italian cinema. And she said: “The only way not to feel the envy of colleagues is not to hang out with anyone.” Is it really that drastic?
“It’s true, I don’t frequent my colleagues. Among other things, making a mistake, and of this I am more and more convinced. But it is as if towards my work I cultivate a sort of detachment. When I finish work, I need that part of me not to enter real life. “
For those who have loved each other for 50 years, for example, and walk the streets hand in hand, is a bit of envy proof?
“I simply consider them to be good people at managing their relationship. But I have to say that I don’t know people like that: a compromise that takes into account misunderstanding, for me, is the best one can aspire to in love. I have never met really happy couples. “Fairly happy” couples, few ».
The most awarded actress in Italy but little known abroad. Now, however, here’s an American series that could change everything.
«It is an adaptation of Mr. Ripley’s talent directed by Steven Zaillian, Academy Award winner for the screenplay of Schindler’s List. But what do I have to tell you. The casting directors asked me if I wanted to audition, and so I did. Then they said to me: they took you, are you interested in making the film? And I said yes, come on, maybe it’s funny ».
And instead?
“But for nothing. Okay, it was interesting. But it’s not like I guess now I’m throwing myself into Hollywood or anything like that: they have millions of actors and actresses, and they can just as well go on without me. “
There are no longer any age limits to be a Bond girl.
«I am perfectly aware that I do not embody any stereotype of beauty. Therefore, it will never happen ».
In the chance to make it abroad, did it self-boycott?
“Maybe he did, yes. I could do some things and open up another kind of career, but I have to tell you, I didn’t make it. I remember a film in Montenegro with Jeremy Irons for example. Then one in France. Another in Mexico. But in the end, out of fear, I didn’t go there. Fear of finding myself alone. Fear of traveling. Fear of the plane. I would have lived it all very badly. That’s okay ».
The first time I saw her on the big screen she was from behind, in a rather risque scene by Extraordinary performance, directed by her ex-husband Sergio Rubini. Then the eroticism disappeared from her characters, why?
“Is this a criticism? Here, if it is a criticism, I accept it. That time I did it because Sergio was there, and maybe the sequence was needed, I don’t know. But I know that already in those days it was a type of storytelling that embarrassed me a lot and then I didn’t want to find myself in such situations anymore. Perhaps wrongly, I settled into a comfort zone that made me feel good, and I always managed to convince directors to cut certain sequences from the scripts. Maybe, at some point, I’ll start making hard films for the third age. We’ll see”.
Even Nanni Moretti lent himself to a rather strong scene, in Calm chaos.
“And in fact, seeing her, we were all quite shocked. But I think there was something functional in her decision that went beyond the needs of the film. For Nanni, it was first of all a transgression to himself ».
Do you allow yourself?
“Few. The only true transgression is to be a child, to abandon myself to the most total stupidity ».
What does her skin smell like?
«Maybe someone in the past must have also told me … Well … yes. He smells good. “
When a man loves her, is he amazed and retracts or can he breathe love deeply?
“Honestly, I’m a little surprised. And I think: but he looks at this poor fellow, how the hell he comes to mind. I am very suspicious. I try to understand the reasons why someone like me could be interesting. And in the end, I don’t understand them ».
What role does inconclusiveness play in your life?
“Huge. I would like to do more things, and be more engaged in social issues for example. But I don’t have enough energy. I have a laziness that works against me ».
Which social sphere?
“I would like to commit myself to the environmental cause”.
Do you suffer from eco-anxiety?
“Do you want to tie me up with this pathology as well?” No come on. But in short, the general scenario worries me a lot and seeing our world raped has always made me suffer. I realize that there are equally serious problems right now, but they come to block a phase in which important decisions were being made and I would not want it to be a way to divert attention. The more time passes, the more I don’t know how much margin we have left to recover ».
Among so many uncertainties, in which segment of life is she barbarously resolute?
“At work. And on certain values ​​that I have tried to convey to my daughter ».
The greatest gift he has given her?
«Caterina is a free person, who knows how to be with people, a citizen of the world. The greatest gift I gave her was to preserve her. So that she doesn’t become like me ».
Photo JOSEPH CARDO
Gaia Fraschini service
Greta Tedeschi collaborated. Make-up Irene Legramandi using Westman Atelier. Hair Franco Curletto. Manicure Noemi Zanchini @ Simone Belli Agency. Dressmaker Gisa Rinaldi. Set designer Chiara Giordani. Producer on set For Production.
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1/2Long dress, Fendi. Earrings, Tiffany & Co.
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2/2Dress and sandals, Loewe.
Source: Vanity Fair
