The actress Irene Maiorino, who takes on the role of Raffaella Cerullo (or Lila) in the fourth and final season of “My Brilliant Friend”, revealed that he had lived an experience similar to that of his character during his childhood.
Maiorino stars in the final episodes of the series alongside Alba Rohrwacher, who gives life to Elena Grecco (or Lenu), during the adult phase of the characters adapted from the books of the Neapolitan Tetralogy by the writer Elena Ferrante.
In an interview, the actress said she feels a very strong connection with her character Lila, with whom she shares a similar childhood experience: Maiorino lived a scene similar to the moment when Lila defends Lenu from the boys at her school by attacking them by throwing stones.
“My best friend’s name is Alessia. She gave me my first book [no qual as personagens são crianças] and I remember she looked at me and said, ‘This child named Lila reminds me of you when you were a child.’ And in fact, I defended Alessia against the boys throwing stones,” she explained to CNN .
After reading Ferrante’s books, it was Alessia who encouraged her friend to try out for a role in the series “My Brilliant Friend.” “I kept going thanks to Alessia, because sometimes I felt discouraged, because the casting process took me two or three years. But she told me to keep going, maybe like Elena and Lila do in their relationship. When someone believes in you more than you believe in yourself,” said the actress.
Maiorino also said he learned a lot from his character: “[Lila] “It teaches me a lot and reminds me how brave I can be. I work a lot with my childhood, because it’s very similar. So now I’m very grateful to have it to remind me of the woman I want to be.”
4th season of “My Brilliant Friend”
The first three episodes of fourth and final season of “My Brilliant Friend” are now available on the Max streaming platform. The following episodes will arrive on the platform weekly, every Monday.
Voted the best book of the 21st century by The New York Times, “My Brilliant Friend” was released in 2011 and the Neapolitan Tetralogy book series became a series in 2018. Since then, each season has covered one of the books in the saga — the fourth is based on the last book, “The Story of the Lost Girl”.
The plot is set in the 20th century in Naples, Italy, and follows the six decades of friendship between two women who met as children — Raffaella Cerullo and Elena Grecco (or Lila and Lenu).
At each stage of life, the protagonists are played by different actresses. In childhood, Ludovica Nasti and Elisa Del Genio play Lila and Elena, respectively. In their youth, Gaia Girace and Margherita Mazzucco assume the roles.
Already in adulthood, which will be addressed in the fourth season, Irene Maiorino and Alba Rohrwacher, bring the characters to life.
This season is directed by Laura Bispuri and executive produced by Saverio Costanzo, Paolo Sorrentino, Jennifer Schuur, Elena Recchia, Laura Paolucci and Guido De Laurentiis. The story and scripts are by Elena Ferrante, Francesco Piccolo, Laura Paolucci and Saverio Costanzo.
Who is Elena Ferrante? Mysterious author has book voted best of the century
This content was originally published in “A Amiga Genial”: actress says she had an experience like Lila’s in childhood on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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