The world of Filippo Timi. An actor born into poverty who, as in Totò's films, really suffered from hunger and discrimination. Philip is cultured, he quotes a beautiful maxim from Nietzsche: “Dancing stars are born out of chaos”. He sings, dances, paints, writes, plays. Here it is told with great sincerity and courage. He returned to Sky and Now in the new series of I delitti del BarLume directed by Roan Johnson. Filippo is the semi-investigator bartender, fake harsh, sarcastic and shady.
A bit like her…
“My Umbrian origins helped, being a wild boar is already part of my voice.” And it fits well with the story and with this kind of Cetra quartet, which are old men who, in their own way, support the investigation in Pineto , the imaginary city where crimes take place, but in a comedic atmosphere. Taboos are touched upon, death is played with. And it's already Goldoni. My semi-investigator bartender is a bit of a loser, his fragility triggering touchpoints with people. A great actor is due to difficulties, bad luck is the treasure. We have Orietta Berti as a guest star. A cube of life, there was a trill in the hotel in the morning.
How do you embrace and embody both of your physical weaknesses on set?
“For Stargardt's disease, where I only see the outline, I can't make up pictures, but it is a topic.” As for the stuttering, it's less severe, but it's still there, sometimes I know on the Stage doesn't matter whether the sentence comes out. It forces me to do extra work. I'm also self-deprecating. Life teaches you that you either give in or try to exploit your weaknesses and find value in them. A flower on a stone looks the same. And the stone is life itself.
He has never hidden his homosexuality. Was he one in Perugia as a young man?
“I left the province when I was 21. The gay world is important to give the possibility of choice and create freedom. Homosexuality remains taboo. It's a word that devours the rest, for the sexual that draws everything into the bedroom. I want to keep it closed, even my mother's. In the past, people didn't see two men kissing; people told stories about what might have happened, but only in secret. Even identifying with something that was supposed to be secret scared me. When they called me “brother” it was strange, it was a word that was spat at me with guilt and blame. It gave me strength in my identity, even when it was difficult and painful.
He is at home?
“I didn't feel protected by my parents, they are wonderful. They didn't feel entitled to defend me. They didn't make it. At the table there was silence between the three of us on the subject. They were homophobic and racist without meaning to. My father made a joke about Renato Zero and then added that he was good anyway. There’s a lot to that “anyway”. Do you know when you will receive the toy but without batteries? I didn't have any batteries.
Has anything changed as a result of success?
“It's easier, I can't explain it. Nothing has changed internally. The same thing happens in families in Milan with maximum opportunities, I know people who had to leave their homes. I cultivate the idea of crossing the line. I did it, and my mother did it too. Born in the countryside, in a place that doesn't even have a name, she climbed Everest by becoming a nurse. A few days ago I also felt certain mocking looks at me in a butcher's shop. Subconsciously you don't want to see a grin like that. This has happened to me since I was figure skating as a child. My cousin has a sealed skull: it made me less afraid of what was different.
What does poverty leave behind?
“A feeling of insecurity. There's no one behind me. I remember being amazed at a cashmere coat. Even today at some auditions they still compliment me and maybe they don't take me. But I work hard, I don't complain.
He will bring “Dostoyevsky” to the Berlinale.
“Another Sky series. It was six months full of emotions. I am a brilliant detective with a painful past who investigates a serial killer nicknamed Dostoyevsky because of the letters full of macabre details he leaves behind at crime scenes. It is directed by the D'innocenzo brothers, they wrote it with great poetic invention, there is a caption that says: In the sky a violent storm like a quarrel between brothers. A sentence of extraordinary power.”
Would Mussolini do it again in today's Italy?
“It’s a great role for an interpreter. It depends on who the director is. If it were a propaganda piece, I would think about it a thousand times. In winning! I had Looker.
Do you re-watch your films?
“Never. Impossible. I look down. I don't know why. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't see anything.
He will be 50 years old in February.
«I feel at the center, in the middle. Let's see what the other half will be. It’s like my cashmere coat has turned a little white, but brightened.”