Meet Matilda De Angelis, the Italian Actress Poised to Take Over Your Screens in 'Dracula'
De Angelis defines herself as cautious in expressing her wishes, because she is lucky and they come true... like working with Luc Besson, whose cult film Léon with Natalie Portman is who she owes her name to.
Photography LEONARDO FAST
Styling ENRICA LAMONACA
For those in the know, she's been one to keep an eye on since the days of Veloce come il vento by Matteo Rovere, where she acted alongside Stefano Accorsi. Then there was the intense media frenzy before the broadcast of The Undoing, the HBO series by Susanne Bier, where she was the only Italian in an international cast, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. In between her various series and films she was also in the delightful and award-winning L'incredibile storia dell'Isola delle Rose by Sydney Sibilia, alongside a magnificent Elio Germano. Born in Bologna in '95, Matilda De Angelis is set to be in Dracula directed by Luc Besson with Christoph Waltz, and is currently on the set of Martone's film about Goliarda Sapienza with Elodie and Valeria Golino. This fall, we will see her in the second season of La legge di Lidia Poët on Netflix and in the Italian Original series Citadel: Diana on Prime Video.
L'OFFICIEL ITALIA: You are the protagonist of Citadel: Diana.
MATILDA DE ANGELIS: The world is a multiverse created by the Russo brothers in the first American season (with Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra, ed.), followed by the Italian one. The basic idea is that sooner or later these stories influence each other and it's an ambitious project. My character investigates the death of her parents in a plane crash, discovers that those responsible are part of a secret organization that wanted to eliminate other agents, is recruited into the good faction and infiltrated among the bad guys; in short, I become a secret agent who plays a double game. I committed to fundamental physical preparation for myself as I wanted to be able to do 90% of the scenes without stunts and I spent months training. My role model? Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde. I dreamed of reaching her level of credibility also in the type of wickedness she manages to put into acting. I was very sporty–I did 12 years of artistic gymnastics—and my body evidently retains good muscle memory. I also learned to slide and change cartridges like a pro.
LOI: I'm curious about the film you're making with Martone about Goliarda Sapienza.
MDA: The plot is taken from two of his books, L'università di Rebibbia and Le certezze del dubbio, the latter focusing on his relationship with Roberta, the character I play. I didn’t know his work very well, but I had read L'arte della gioia and Io, Jean Gabin, I was struck by his wonderful, spine-chilling poetic syntheses. And the fact that he was ahead of modernity itself, a point that is still valid today because his writing was not affected by the political correctness that pervades today’s authors. Let’s be clear, I have nothing against the right political correctness, I have it in for the hypocritical one.
LOI: Valeria Golino recently directed the series The Art of Joy, she was a natural choice to embody the writer. What relationship has established between the two of you?
MDA: She is a great woman, a great actress, and a great director. We found ourselves much more similar than we could have imagined. We look into each other's eyes and we mirror each other.
"Now I live between Rome and Milan, but I feel good everywhere. In every city there is a part of me and a piece that I'm missing, I'm a nomad and I like the idea"
LOI: Which directors do you dream of working with?
MDA: I have learned to be very careful in expressing my desires because I am lucky and things do come true… But Besson was already a dream, my name is Matilda because my mother saw Léon (with a very young Nathalie Portman in the role of Mathilda, ed.) when she was pregnant. I hope to work abroad as much as possible and I am not just talking about America. But as an actress I choose very little, I have to be chosen, it is part of the game. What I try to do is to be as passive as possible, I always try to stay connected to my fantasies, to my inner world, in a job that is 90% out of my control.
LOI: Which character has remained closest to you?
MDA: All the characters I've played have appealed to something inside me. For me, the most fun thing is to look as little like the person I play as possible. I try to live my job as if I were eight years old and we were playing the game: I am this and you are that... Characters that are far from me have forced me, in a good way, to be interested in things I wouldn't have thought of.
LOI: The global cover of this issue of L'OFFICIEL is Nicole Kidman, how do you remember the time you worked together?
MDA: I was very excited before meeting her because growing up she had been a cult actress of mine. And then when I was little my mother had fiery red curly hair and I always told her that she looked like her in Moulin Rouge. She is an extremely sweet, sensitive person, very attentive to everything, who makes you feel immediately welcomed. She wrote me a beautiful letter when we finished shooting, and at Christmas she sent me a beautiful gift: a sweetness kit with scented candles and a blanket.
LOI: Do you have the same way of relating to others?
MDA: I was raised with the idea of always being very attentive to others. I always try to put myself in a situation of humility even if this obviously does not mean not being aware of one's own value. I think it's the right attitude: on set we are all worth the same, if the electrician makes a mistake in putting in a socket you can do the best monologue in the world but if the light is not right you have to do it all over again.
LOI: Where do you feel at home now?
MDA: Now I live between Rome and Milan, but I feel good everywhere. In Bologna, where I was born, I played on the streets. I moved to Rome ten years ago, I didn't know anyone, at first it was difficult, I ended up in Milan for love (of Alessandro De Santis, of Santi Francesi, ed.). In every city there is a part of me and a piece that I'm missing, I'm a nomad and I like the idea.
LOI: Do you miss music? Do you think you’ll ever make music again?
MDA: One day if I want to breathe a different air I could return to music, not necessarily living it as a mainstream project, rather to indulge in the desire to experiment. I'm an actress, I feel like an actress, I want to be an actress and I want to do what I do well.
LOI: Fashion, and in particular affiliation with certain fashion brands, has become a fundamental step in the career of actors and actresses, for visibility or for meeting opportunities. What is your relationship with fashion?
MDA: I appreciate it, but for me it's more of a disguise than something that identifies me as a person. If I hadn't done this job I wouldn't have been so interested in it.
LOI: You are a self-taught filmmaker, through speaking with many of your colleagues, for many academic study, for example at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, was fundamental. Is this an aspect you miss?
MDA: I don't feel like a self-taught actor: I stole from all the actors I acted with, Accorsi, Golino, Licia Maglietta... I'm convinced that an acting school can't completely change an actor's possibilities, you have to be born with something. If we talk about theater it's another thing, you have to learn how to manage your body and space. I look at theater actors with alien admiration, but for cinema I've learned enough!
LOI: So you’d like to do theater? And have you ever thought about directing?
MDA: I would like to do theater, it's the same job but with another register and other mobility. I thought about directing because I believe I have directorial relationships when I interface with the characters I have to play. Maybe in many years I could think about it.
LOI: When you're not working, what do you like to do?
MDA: I like being with my dog, I have a huge passion for animals. I like being in nature, walking, I like the mountains, doing sports, I love being in as less of a toxic dimension as possible, away from traffic, noise, social media, stress.
LOI: The ideal vacation?
MDA: Any place a stone's throw from the sea with no telephone and nothing to do.
LOI: You are an ambassador for Tiffany & Co.
MDA: Tiffany fascinates me, they are a power. They've been there since the creation of the world, and theirs is a true art of jewelry and, of course, I love the close connection of the brand with the world of cinema.
Team credits:
HAIR Vincenzo Panico;
MAKE UP Nicoletta Pinna @ SIMONE BELLI AGENCY;
PHOTO ASSISTANT Brando Gramazio.
