Do you think "Malena" is about jealousy?
Yes, but also envy. Envy is human nature. Everything in this film is not just a portrait of a Sicilian village during the 1940s or a portrait of beauty, but I think it's a portrait of envy and how envy can destroy relations between human beings. In this case, it was beauty, but it could've been anything else. To be beautiful was just a metaphor here.
Has beauty ever been a handicap for you?
It is a handicap if you're stupid, but not if you are intelligent and know how to use your beauty. I feel fine and comfortable with myself, but not because I'm beautiful. I know many beautiful people and their lives are just so terrible. They feel so uncomfortable with themselves. Being comfortable is not about what you look like, but how you feel. I'm a lucky person because I've been loved a lot. I have a great family.
What was the challenge in making "Malena" for you, bearing in mind you have few words in the film?
The idea of the film was a challenge. I wanted to see if I could make this part exist just by a body. It was possible to do it. There's so many things that come out of "Malena". I learned how a body could speak. Acting is not words. Holly Hunter didn't speak in "The Piano", and she won an Oscar. It's the film that Guiseppe Tornatore wanted to direct. You just contribute the performance.
