The memories now line up one after the other. Like a puzzle. Now he thinks of all the times when someone said to him when he was talking about that family friend with the same green eyes: “How similar you are,” “You are exactly identical.” Because Giampaolo Morelli has been alive for 49 years , one of the most popular Neapolitan actors of recent years, in a lie: the man who raised him – Francesco Morelli, a former Neapolitan judge, now 90 years old – is in fact not his real father. In fact, it would have been another man who gave birth to him, a well-known lawyer from the Naples Bar Association who died in 2013 without ever having married or had children. For this reason, on December 20 last year, Morelli, with the support of the lawyer Yuri Picciotti, decided to initiate the legal procedure for the recognition of paternity before the ordinary court of North Naples and asked the designated judge Fulvio Mastro to order the DNA test on relatives of his alleged biological father. A few days after the first hearing, Morelli speaks about the day that changed his life in his office in Rome, where he is working as a director on his latest film “Love and Other Mental Wanks.”
How did he find out the truth?
“On January 19, 2023, a few days before her death, my mother gave me a letter. It said that my real father was another man who was very close to my family and had always known the truth. I added that my biological father suspected I was not his son, but was never sure.”
What was his relationship with this man?
“He was a family friend, a man who was often at my house. He would have had many opportunities to manifest, but he never did. But now I understand why he was present in some moments of my life and that hurts me even more.
Is it true that you looked alike?
“Same green eyes, same facial features. I'm just telling you that one of your nephews, who is also one of my dearest friends, said to me when he found out about this, “I have no doubts.”
He died in 2013, his biological father is still alive, has he spoken to us?
“He is 90 years old and has had severe memory lapses recently. I feel great tenderness for him, whom he preferred not to see all his life, even if I now realize that his behavior was that of a person who always knew.”
What does it refer to?
“I’ve always missed a father figure. Mine was never a loving father. There has always been a great distance between us. This discovery was very painful, but I finally understand my insecurities. I always felt like something was missing, now I know why.”
How was your childhood?
“I grew up in a complicated family and had to find my identity very late. I have always felt a sense of disorientation. Two fathers didn't give me a father. A father is not just made up of material things. I always felt very alone.
Why did you choose the legal route?
“I was deprived of my father out of pure selfishness.” My biological father never had children. Knowing that you have been rejected by the man who brought you into the world is an indescribable pain. Now I have to rediscover my origins.
Do you think your alleged biological father's family knew the truth?
“I don't know. I just know that there are many uncles and cousins, that they are my story and I don't want to withhold that story. For this reason, I hope that the judge will order the DNA test on March 18 will order. And above all, that they accept it. For me, a no from them would be another rejection.”
Did you know it can take years?
“I will continue this fight for the rest of my life and I will ask my two children, ages 7 and 10, to continue.” Justice must prevail. I want to use my notoriety to highlight those in my situation. There are many children born out of wedlock. In most cases, testing takes years just because someone doesn't want to undergo a DNA test. Beyond the harm, the ridicule.”
This story could become a film.
“I confess something to you. This story is indirectly present in all my films as a director. In fact, in every person there is always a scene where you can see the small lights of a house in the distance. In these little lights I have searched all my life for a familiar warmth that I have never found.
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on Il Messaggero