Alessandro Gassmann returns in the first evening on Rai with Guerrieri, the new series from the novels of Gianrico Carofiglio. The actor interprets lawyer Guido Guerrieri, a central character of the books of the Barese writer: an ironic and melancholic criminalist, brilliant but fragile, crossed by doubts and contradictions. We met him to talk about the character, his commitment to the environment and the next projects between theater and television.
In his characters he often says to take refuge. Now he brings the lawyer Guerrieri, ironic figure, melancholic and sometimes contradictory. How much does she look like her and what left her?
I’d say I was already a Carofiglio reader before starting this series, so I had an idea of Warriors as a simple reader. When I was offered the part, I tried to recover the emotions that those novels had transmitted to me and put them in my body. Obviously, not knowing that one day I would have interpreted it, I had imagined it different. Thanks to a very well written adaptation and the research work of the director Gianluca Tavarelli, we managed to get closer to the feelings I had tried reading. Guerrieri fascinates me the many aspects: defects, extraordinary legal skills, fragility, continuous search for personal improvement. He is a character full of contradictions, representative of so many human beings. And above all it is someone who pursues the truth: he wants the truth to prevail.
On a lighter note: Warriors is fond of boxing. We know you practice sports and keep fit. His son told that he is a sort of “engineer of sand castles”. Is there any other hidden talent?
I don’t actually do castles, but sand monsters. I build imaginary creatures and have a lot of fun. It is also a great exercise: digging and moving large amounts of sand is very tiring. Let’s say this is my passion. Then, as a hobby, I also do the actor, the director and sometimes the dubbing. But, thank you, I’m not singing. The other branch of the family is much better than me in this sense. I already know who I will vote in Sanremo, and I suggest you do the same. Beyond jokes, I am a great lover of nature. I like to relate to nature as a human being and as an animal. When I can, I go to isolated places, where there are no other people, and I observe what surrounds me. It’s a passion I have since I was a kid. Looking at the trees, the landscape, questioning me how to contribute to their protection: this is also why I committed myself to the “green” world to seek concrete solutions to climate change. I really hope that in the future we can find more effective answers than those put in the field so far, in order to allow the new generations to live on a still habitable planet.
Her commitment to Green Heroes also led her to the European Parliament. At this time Europe seems to favour defence spending on ecological transition. Why is it important to keep the focus on a green economy?
For many reasons. First of all, because we have no alternative. Europe does not have great fossil resources and must develop what it owns: wind, sun, sea. The new technologies allow to produce sufficient energy without further aggravating the heating of the planet. Investing in renewables would mean creating new jobs and reducing energy costs. It is a compulsory road, not so much for my generation — which has consumed and exploited a lot — but for that of my son and for the next, that they will face a planet already strongly damaged by human activity.
In the spring he will take care of the direction of a text by Stefano Massini. Can you anticipate something?
It is a state against Nolan, a text of Massini never represented before. It tells a trial in the United States in the mid-1950s. The central theme is the manipulation of information. As often happens with Massini, it is a topic of great relevance, while being set in another time and in another place. It is a powerful text and I hope to be able to return, through the direction, all the strength of his writing.
Will you make a fourth season of A Professor? Will we see you next to Claudio Pandolfi?
We actors are always the last to know things, but they say yes. I know that writing is in progress, and that of Warriors is in progress. They’re two characters I care about. A professor gave me so much. Professor Balestra is a useful character to society, and I look forward to returning to doing his lessons. I thank the Rai for this opportunity. Similarly, Guerrieri was born from the extraordinary pen of Gianrico Carofiglio. When you start from such a solid writing, the basics to do well there are all.
L’articolo Alessandro Gassman tells Guerrieri, the new Rai series comes from IlNewyorkese.
