Jasmine Trinca: “I like to look for different ways of telling femininity”

She was crowned best Italian actress 2020 for her once again remarkable inventive composition in Forever by Ferzan Özpetek. Encounter.

Since its first appearance in 2001 in The Son’s Room, Palme d’Or at Cannes that year, Jasmine Trinca never ceased to dazzle us on the big screen through roles and films that leave a lasting impression on you. Of Romanzo criminale at The Apollonidof Fortunate by Sergio Castellito (who won him the Best Actress Award at Un Certain Regard at Cannes and then the Donatello for Best Actress) to Another life of Emmanuel Mouret, of Caiman from Moretti to honey by Valeria Golino, each of her interpretations hits the mark, with a perfect blend of precision and extreme freedom. This faultless is confirmed with For all time which marks the return to great form of Ferzan Özpetek (Hammam, Harem…). She embodies the best friend of a homosexual couple on the verge of breaking up, a young woman herself breaking up with her grand bourgeois mother and who entrusts her two children to them on the eve of a serious hospitalization. A seemingly secondary role but which she brings to life so intensely that it earned her her second Donatello for Best Actress. By Zoom from Rome, she returns for First on this adventure

This is your first time working with Ferzan Özpetek. Did you know each other before he offered you his new film?

Jasmine Trinca: I first knew Ferzan through his cinema and his first feature films, Hammam, Harem and Family table, which I had adored as it evolves like a fish in water in the universe of melodrama. He is a filmmaker who counts in Italy because many of his films have participated in the evolution of mentalities and even inspired laws. I met him for the first time in 2001, the year of my debut with The Son’s Room as he was leaving Family table because we then did a lot of festivals together. He is an extremely warm, enthusiastic man who has a reputation – not usurped, I assure you – of being a marvelous director of actors. He started as an assistant director to many masters of the golden age of Italian cinema. Every Italian actor I know loves or dreams of working with him.

What attracted you to his proposal for For all time ?

The opportunity to be able to embody a type of character that I love like the heroine of Fortunate of Sergio Castellito for example. An imperfect mother who refuses to submit to the dictates of society. It’s always fascinating to look for different ways of telling femininity. To release such powerful clichés on this subject in Italy. With also here a challenge to take up: to make it very present, including when it disappears. Make sure that we never forget Annamaria during her hospital stays, for example.

And it’s successful because you won the prize for best actress at the equivalent of the Italian Césars and not that of the supporting role!

Honestly, I was the first surprise when I was nominated in this category but it’s obviously very flattering for my work

How did you build this Annamaria?

By relying first on the connections I can have with her. Or that I may have had, more precisely, because I’ve grown and matured since then (laughs). This ability to hide an inner malaise behind a joyful appearance. Annamaria is a strong woman whose weaknesses are hard to see. I also share with her, even though I love my daughter and my mother, the fact of not putting motherhood on a pedestal. These proximities helped me find the way to her. But I was also able to rely on my experience as an actress under the direction of Valeria Golino and Sergio Castellito who were the first to offer me roles which were not simply the hero’s daughter or lover but heroines in their own right with singular points of view on the feminine. And such characters seem essential to me because I am firmly convinced that the collective imagination passes through cinema and its incarnations.

What references did Ferzan Özpetek tell you about for Annamaria?

Ferzan indeed uses a lot of references, in particular to build the look of his characters. And the costumes held an essential place at Annamaria. We spent three good weeks there. Her obsession was beauty! He wanted her to wear very colorful, very festive outfits to cut through the tragedy of what she is about to experience. And to achieve this, he was as if possessed by Mina, the greatest Italian singer of the 60s who is still extremely popular, even if she said goodbye to the scene in 1978 in full glory. I even sing one of his titles! And it turns out that she composed a song especially for the film. It was the Holy Grail for Ferzan!

How does he behave on set?

It sets the tone for the film and our characters. He could play them all! Every morning, on the set, he rewrites scenes to go even further than his script. He considers a film as a material in perpetual evolution. And, on my side, I had the feeling that he was sewing a dress to measure on me. Ferzan has nothing to do with the director who overlooks his actors: he wants to be surprised by them, to discover things with them. This explains why when I first saw the film, I myself rediscovered a lot of things in relation to the script I had read and even the scenes I had shot. I left deeply disturbed. Ferzan has this talent for making your imagination work both as an actor and as a spectator.

Will we see you again soon in France where your last appearance dates back to 2014 with the Saint Laurent by Bertrand Bonello?

I will love it because I feel so welcome every time in your home. And I love this link that I have had for years with French cinema and those who make it. I have a project but nothing is signed yet. Right now, I’m finishing post-production on the first feature film I’ve made. marcel. I crossed the line! I extend the short that I had signed in 2020, Being my mom. And I find there the same interpreters Alba Rohrwacher and the young Maayane Conti. The story of a mother and a daughter walking around with a suitcase… It’s mysterious, isn’t it? I can’t wait to show it off.