Protagonist of the film “One Hundred Sundays” alongside Antonio Albanese, Liliana button She tells TheWom.it exclusively about her character, but also about her journey as a woman in continuous learning. With disarming honesty and transparency.
For Liliana buttonThis is a particularly happy moment for the young Neapolitan actress. We just saw her in the TV series “The Bastards of Pizzofalcone” and in the movie “Born for you”. We will also soon see her in Deception, the TV series that Pappi Corsicato made for Netflix with Monica Guerritore and Giacomo Giannotti. And from Thursday, November 22nd Liliana button He will be seen in the cinema alongside Antonio Albanese in the beautiful film A hundred Sundaysproduced by Palomar and Leo, in collaboration with Vision Distribution, Prime Video and Sky.
On a hundred Sundays, Liliana button She plays the character of Emilia, the daughter of the protagonist Antonio Riva, played by Albanese himself, who is also the director and screenwriter of the film (along with Piero Guerrera). A former shipyard worker, Antonio leads a humble and peaceful life, consisting of friends with whom he plays bowling, an elderly mother to care for, an ex-wife with whom he maintains excellent relations, and a daughter, Emilia, who gives him something he announces her intention to marry her boyfriend.
Antonio couldn’t be happier. But the condition is a must: to give her daughter the reception she has always dreamed of, she wants to draw on her savings in the bank. A simple action that becomes Kafkaesque when all the employees and the head of his agency himself begin to fear a thousand obstacles in front of him. “Imagine that from one day to the next everything that you have sacrificed throughout your life is taken away from you,” explained Albanese. “And may your composure and your ability to face the future with confidence disappear along with your fortune. Imagine that at this point the affection and comfort of those you love are no longer enough to withstand the shockwave of shame. Because you also wrongly feel responsible for this monstrous fraud. This is what happens to Antonio Riva.
In our interview with we talked about One Hundred Sundays, Emilia’s character, but also dreams, trust and betrayal Liliana button. An unexpected conversation emerged about the life of a young woman called to overcome her own insecurities to find her place in the world. A conversation whose key word is sincerity, sometimes even disarming. For example, her story of a youth in which she devoted herself only to learning and missed the life or relationships she had missed in the meantime is sincere. But also the one in which he traces how his relationship with his parents has changed.
Liliana button (Photo: Alessandro Cantarini; Hair & Make-up: Cinzia Carletti).
Exclusive interview with Liliana Bottone
When I hear Liliana button The episode of the television series I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone 4 in which he appeared will be broadcast soon. “It’s strange because it always takes a long time to finish taking photos: the anticipation is huge, but little by little you try to calm down and calm down. Then when it comes time to see it on TV or in the cinema, you have to try to reconnect with what you felt on set: it’s like you’re living in an uncertain space-time dimension would. I’m afraid that I’ll come across something I’m not happy with, or notice that something’s wrong, which will make me decide I need to do better. Additionally, I also ask for feedback from people I know, from friends to family, to find out what they think.”
Are you overly critical of yourself?
Yes, but in a thoughtful way: they are also on a personal level and not just professionally.
Have you already seen yourself in One Hundred Sundays, the film by Antonio Albanese that hits theaters on Thursday 22nd?
Only once, during the Rome Film Festival: Antonio Albanese didn’t want to do private previews for the actors. So we all saw it in the room with him and it was very exciting: the audience was there with us too. Even in this case, the waiting time was very long, over a year and a half. As the opening credits rolled, I wondered if this was really happening. And once again my worry was the same: during this entire absurd day at the festival, the only thing that bothered me was seeing myself on the screen.
Well, it’s still weird. You should now be comfortable with your work…
But it’s always different: the stories change, the directors change and you change too. I feel like I’m constantly evolving professionally: I’ve changed and I’m still changing a lot because I’m still learning. This makes me perceive myself as different as an actress and it makes me question how I worked before.
Between you and me, it seems to me that you did a great job for Cento Domeniche. Firstly, because you were part of a story that we all could experience, so urgent and necessary, without even perceiving or understanding its signs.
It is the scariest aspect of the film: it tells a story that can suddenly and devastatingly affect those who, with their eyes closed, trust and rely on someone else and then find themselves completely betrayed.
In “One Hundred Sundays” you play Emilia, the daughter of Antonio Albanese. Who is Emilia?
Emilia is a young girl who works in a clothing store in the town of Lecco. He is a very simple person and is very attached to his affections, perhaps a little more to his father than his mother. Her parents are separated (or divorced, it’s never explained) and she expresses her desire to marry her boyfriend, enacting a number of dynamics in the process. Emilia is a very linear, clear and clear character who does not hide any particular internal dramas, despite being the daughter of separated parents: this is not her drama, also because not all children of separated parents experience trauma… they can also be peaceful , if the parents can cope well with the end of their relationship.
You can also say this consciously, because you definitely have some experience with children and young people, even if you are not a mother.
The two-year period 2018-2019 was a complete change for me, as I decided to return to Caserta after four and a half years in Rome. I felt the need to return to theater, where I trained between the ages of 14 and 18 and began teaching middle school children. We met one day a week for a three-hour workshop, but I had to prepare for these meetings and first learn how to approach, lead or follow the children. However, it was only through contact with them that I realized that everything was more spontaneous: by including their input, I didn’t need anything else to do beautiful things together
It was a super fun but also educational experience on a psychological level. I wanted to understand whether teaching could be a career turning point for me. I still didn’t have a very clear idea of my path, but it was those two years that made me realize that I wanted to get back into acting.
For an actress in continuous training, it seems almost ironic to find herself in the role of trainer: a doubling in all respects.
Yes, but it all happened randomly and suddenly. I returned to Caserta with the idea of working in my city again, which is why I reconnected with “my” theater. I started following the lessons as a listener again and found that, almost without even realizing it, I was taking on the role of my adult teacher’s assistant for basic things (technique, breathing, diction) that I was covering throughout the course had learned very well for years. When they asked me to teach children, I didn’t feel ready: I relied on the trust that the theater placed in me.
Liliana button (Photo: Alessandro Cantarini; Hair & Make-up: Cinzia Carletti) .
When that experience was over, you started acting again without ever stopping. For example, in Cento Domeniche, Emilia is a very fundamental character in the film: her intention to marry is the driving force that brings her father Antonio into a situation that to describe as Kafkaesque would be an understatement. What did you bring from Liliana to Emilia and what did Emilia leave behind in Liliana?
It’s true, you always put a lot of yourself into the character, at least that’s how I work. I always start from myself: for me there are no characters, but identification exists… I am always the one you see on stage, but in many different situations and with different names. Each time I bring out my sides and my emotions to put them at the service of something greater.
When we talked to Albanese about my character, Antonio asked me to explain to Emilia the relationship I have with my father: “Think about when you are with him.” And I was impressed by how the dynamic between Parents and children as they grow up are reversed: the moment comes when you, as a child, take care of your parents. You can’t just be a son, you have to start taking more responsibility. Strangely, I experienced the same situation from a personal perspective and began to accept the idea that our parents are also limited.
When we are little, we all think that our parents are better than us at everything, that they are smarter and that they are there to calm us down. However, as you get older you realize that they too have limitations and fears, that they also need help and that we are there for them. You become a full-fledged adult when you stop thinking of your parents in terms of the social function they perform and start seeing them as people, individuals, human beings. It seems like a very stupid step, but it is basic and not everyone can do it all the time. There are those who insist not to do it so as not to destroy the idea they have had of their parents over the years, just because it can also be painful.
I understand that this has not been a source of pain for you.
No. For some time now, I began to appreciate my parents as people who go beyond the bond that binds us. After I left home, I laid the groundwork for a change in perspective. I still remember the moment when I decided the time had come for me to start auditioning. I was very young, I was 18, I was graduating and I told home what my intentions were. I wasn’t yet well informed about the procedure and my father’s initial reaction was a categorical no.
Given my determination, he changed his mind. I will never forget it: only when he saw what I was ready for did he understand my need. He witnessed the sacrifices I was capable of: I slept literally everywhere and did absurd things with some people I found in the city to prepare for Rome. “Damn, then you really want to do it … I can’t tell you anymore: do whatever you want, it’s okay”: in this sentence was all the change that took place.
It’s like he’s given up your self-determination.
This poor man had to accept the path I had set for myself. But also just the idea that if we left home to live far away from here, we would only see each other very rarely. There were so many changes happening at the same time.
Antonio Albanese And Liliana button in the movie A hundred Sundays.
Speaking of changes, there have been no troubling changes at One Hundred Sundays. She and Albanese had known each other for some time: they had met on the set of Like a cat on the ring road 2 and had also starred together in Grazie Ragazzi. Is he a bit like your foster father?
Partially yes. He is one of the characters who have taught me a lot on a cinematic level so far. I’m grateful to him for trusting me with One Hundred Sundays, even though he didn’t know me well enough. However, he took the risk of calling me directly without me even wanting to audition for the role of Emilia. Instinctively he wanted me: “If you accept, good. Otherwise, goodbye,” were his words. This was an unprecedented show of trust: in our field it never happens to give such a big opportunity to a young actress with her eyes closed, we usually err on the side of caution. I think what brought us together was theater and the years of experience I brought from the stage. In his opinion, I already knew how this world worked: “If you didn’t want to be an actress, you would have already backed out.”
Did Antonio know about your versatility? For example, have you ever told him that you also composed a soundtrack for a short film? What does art mean to you if it’s not just about acting for you?
He knows it (laughs, editor’s note). The first feeling that acting or playing the piano gave me was being able to be myself in peace: a thought that surprised me when I was 13 or 14 and made me think about how magical it was. For me, art is magic, a magic in which there is no place for fiction. It is the means through which I reveal myself and bring out what is inside me, an opportunity to have my say through the words of others and to inspire together with someone, be it on stage with me or an audience member.
Have you ever received feedback from anyone who noticed how you’ve grown as an actress?
I happened. People who saw one of my shows when I was sixteen have recently seen me again and written to me to highlight how much I have grown together through my work. But for me the most important feedback is always that of the people you love. Unfortunately, we live in a time where everyone feels the need to tell you their opinion and we have to be prepared for any judgment. In a way, I’m glad I started working late: at twenty-one, one negative comment would have ruined me. However, now I know how to defend myself, and I know how to recognize the value of a comment and which one to give weight to. I have changed a lot not only as an actress but also as a person.
In what sense?
After graduating from high school with top grades, I moved to Rome. I had just returned from five years of intensive study: all I did in my life was study, including theater and music. I didn’t have any good friends, I didn’t go out much, and I had few relationships. When I arrived in Rome, this form of isolation also increased: I was in the academy every day (sometimes on public holidays) for up to ten hours a day.
When I graduated from the academy, I experienced a year of complete confusion and realized that I had to regain what I had lost over time, from social relationships to friendships. I questioned myself again and it was not easy to see that I had done something wrong, just as it was not easy to restore relationships that were fundamental to me. But I’m glad I opened my eyes.
It was also paradoxical not to experience relationships in real life when on stage you are called upon to form extreme relationships with the people around you. If we think about it, especially in the theater, we share everything with others: from the wardrobe to the room we sleep in. In my case, I had to find a middle ground between the two extremes.
Have you managed to find the balance?
I definitely feel like I’m in a different position. Finally, as I recently said on the occasion of my birthday, I am happy to be in a good group of friends and surrounded by the people I love. I feel more calm and it seems like everything has more value. My life as a teenager consisted of sleepovers at school, philosophy and biology with a friend, piano lessons once a week and theater lessons. Between piano and theater, the latter then took over during my senior year of high school, which led to me focusing more on acting.
Did something special happen that led you to this choice?
Yes, we took a Greek theater course at school. And so I studied theater at school and theater on my own. And I liked it, it was perhaps what I needed to do and what I was wired to do. As you can see, I was what today would be called a “good girl”… even if I don’t actually qualify for that label, I would rather define myself as a good girl with many skeletons, even ordinary ones, in the cupboard.
One of the themes that Cento Domeniche addresses directly is betrayal, not in the emotional sense. What is treason to you?
Lack of understanding and isolation. Such betrayal arises from a lack of empathy and understanding for the other: you do not put yourself in the other person’s shoes and only see the world from one perspective. It is a completely selfish act that also leads to the isolation of the other person: if a person does not feel understood, they will also stop talking to you or referring to you. Betrayal is doubly cruel because it involves selfishness and alienation.
Have you ever felt betrayed in this sense?
Yes. But I think I cheated too.
Liliana button (Photo: Alessandro Cantarini; Hair & Make-up: Cinzia Carletti).
Those who guard treasures do not always guard dreams: that is the great lesson we learn from One Hundred Sundays. What are Liliana’s dreams?
Right now they are tied to their careers and the ability to move forward. I try to do it slowly every day, without fear and without rushing. I want to continue on this path and continue to improve as a person. My biggest goal in life is to become the best version of what I can be as a human being. I want to strengthen my affection more and more and I want to do something for my parents when I earn some money: I also want to help them achieve their dreams.
And then I would like to work abroad. Last year I began following classes in Rome with a teacher from New York. It continues the Meisner method, which takes a very different approach than what is taught in Italy. This is not an assessment of judgment, to be clear, but I would like to one day work on a set where everyone, from the director to the actors, uses the same method and not like in Italy where we all use different methods and Teaching and Sometimes we forget to listen to each other when we are on stage.
What would you say to yourself in a powerful way when listening to yourself?
“Have more courage, trust yourself more.”
See you soon in the TV series Inganno, directed by Pappi Corsicato, which put you back in touch with your Neapolitan spirit.
It was a very fun experience. I was the only Neapolitan on set and shared with Pappi a certain way of communication thanks to a language that others did not know for obvious reasons. It was an experience different from all others: Corsicato is an all-round artist with a great sense of aesthetics, paying great attention to the visual part of the scene construction. We filmed in incredible locations that, even though I’m originally from the area, I’ve never seen before… Compared to cinema, I like the possibility that seriality offers more deeply, thanks to the large amount of time available to immerse yourself in the characters.
One Hundred Sundays: Photos from the film
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