Interviewing actress Diana Dell'Erba

1-. How was your childhood? 

My childhood memories are divided into two diverse worlds. One was a wonderful and light imaginary world in a village immersed in nature while in the other lived an angry father who scared me and both my parents argued heavily like a blazing fire. Looking back, my childhood held interesting but profound contrasts: the first great demonstration of the world’s duality.

2. - From what age did you decide to be an actress and how did you know you had the skills to go on TV? 

Since I was a child I loved acting and pretending to be somewhere else. I often had to escape from the reality that surrounded me and so I succeeded. But it took me a long time to understand that the pain I experienced could become fuel for such a wonderful, artistic calling.

3. - Did your parents support you in the decision you made to be an actress?

My father started showing support only after I achieved important results. My mother has always been very close to me and happy with all my successes. She is an artist, herself so she sometimes worries about this life choice although she supports me.

4. - What was your first appearance on the screens?

The first audition I won was a short, horror movie with a well known theater actress. I still remember the emotion I felt during the call when they told me the part would be mine! And I will never forget the happiness mixed with embarrassment and pride of the first time I saw my face on a movie theatre screen.

5. - What was the role you liked the most? 

Every role I have played has been of vital importance to me. As if every role, small or big, represented a step on a ladder: a ladder that I would call personal growth. At the same time, right now I am fond of the last important role I played: a wise woman in the film, “Milarepa” by Louis Nero where I co-starred with the amazing actor Harvey Keitel. It was the most cathartic experience of my life, thanks to the film that talks about a path of enlightenment through the path of Buddhism and thanks to the extraordinary and powerful land of Sardinia where we shot the film.

6.- What do you think led you to fame? 

I think fame is a great illusion. But I can say that what brought me this far is definitely the great and innate inner drive to improve and to understand the world more and more deeply and to be better.

 

7-. What types of characters you would like to interpret? 

I would like to continue to take part in inspirational films that offer journeys of personal improvement and transformation. 

 

8-. What actresses and actors do you feel comfortable working with? 

I love working with wise and kind souls, willing to go through the most transformative aspects of the profession: the only aspects that you really take home. Because acting is a sacred profession, capable of triggering profound changes and helping you a lot in understanding the world.

9-. In what other genres of art would you like to participate? (Works of theater, music, among others) 

My first great love is film acting. I love playing with everything that is invisible, unsaid or not explicit in a character. But in recent years I have also discovered the world of performing arts and their ability to impact people's lives.

 

10.- Do you have any anecdotes that have marked you in your life and as a person?

I have had a very full life. 

The absence of a father figure in my formative years allowed me to seek and find great masters, before men and then women. The last of which was my daughter, who manifested herself as my greatest initiation. 

I understood that we must never be hasty in judging what happens to us because everything, even what makes us suffer the most, happens for very specific reasons!

11.- What has been your greatest achievement? 

Without a doubt, the ability to recognize, breathe and honor happiness. 

Since I was a child my biggest dream was to be happy. I fought so hard for this. I have travelled many paths of knowledge and today, over 40 years old, I am very proud of the work done and the innate perseverance that I have had. It is not easy to always focus on the positive side of life... It’s a daily work with yourself. But it’s possible!

12.- What projects will you make next and which ones do you have in mind?

My first big goal is to improve the communication between idea and action. I have great ease in dreaming and conceiving projects but I have to work on letting them flow so that they can become reality.

 

13.- Would you like to make a movie in Spain?

It would be a great dream for me because the Spanish language has opened my golden age in which I feel now. J

14.- Do you like Spanish cinema? 

Very much. I think it’s an explosion of vitality and energy.