By James Mottram
Filippo Scotti is the 21-year-old newcomer starring in Paolo Sorrentino’s latest film, the autobiographical The Hand Of God. Set in the mid-eighties in Naples, just as Argentinean football legend Diego Maradona joined Napoli and sent the folk of this southern Italian city crazy with joy, Scotti plays Fabietto, an adolescent experiencing the trials and tribulations of growing up. Inspired by Sorrentino, the director behind The Great Beauty, Youth and The Young Pope, Scotti’s performance captivated audiences when the film premiered at The Venice Film Festival earlier this year. Winning the movie the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, it also saw Scotti given the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor, a prize previously given out to Jennifer Lawrence and Diego Luna. FilmInk sat down with the young Italian to unpack what’s been an incredible beginning to his career.
How was the audition process with Paolo?
“Initially, I did a scene showing the relationship between Fabietto and his Auntie Patrizia. Paolo was interested and then he opened the book of photos of all the people going for Fabietto’s role. He said, ‘What are you doing tomorrow?’ I was like, ‘Nothing. I mean, it’s June. I have nothing to do.’ And he was like, ‘Okay, you’ll study for tomorrow’s audition.’ And then it started. I had such an energy…and anxiety! I didn’t sleep for three days. And the casting director called me saying, ‘You know what? Paulo wants you to prepare for three scenes. There is one scene, the Capuano scene [where Fabietto meets a famous director], that he would love to see.’ It was 7:00pm and it was ten pages and what a scene! I was like, ‘Wow! This is a long scene. He wants to see me and see how I can act under pressure.’ And until 10:30pm, I tried to do my best to learn it. Then at 8:00am the next day, I was already there – me, Paulo and the casting director and assistant. And we did this scene in a Neapolitan palace!”
How easy was it to play considering Fabietto as a character, rather than as Paolo Sorrentino?
“Really, I didn’t think about it. I mean, I thought about it in the month of August, when I knew already that I would be in the movie.”
This was August 2020?
“Yes. Before the beginning of the shooting. We started September 7. And I remember that in August, I was texting Paolo asking him for a recommendation about music tastes or film tastes. I wasn’t asking him about his teenage tastes. I was asking about Fabietto. And so from that message, I thought, ‘Okay, probably this is the key. Just the character.’ I kinda look like Paolo, but you can see that I’m not like Paolo. In the process, I was like, ‘I’m not looking like him.’ I was just lying to myself probably! It was an important thing – to go on set. When we met each other for the first reading, the first and the last reading, I was like, ‘Paolo, are you sure that you want me?’ It was August 1. After all that work during the audition, I had the courage to ask him something like that! And he was like, ‘Don’t think about it.’ Because it’s kind of strange…especially if you are a fan of the director.”
Were you a big football fan before you started?
“I’m not a fan of football. But I read some books about Maradona. I don’t remember the titles of these books. Just for interest. The point was not to prepare. I had just to turn on a fire. I had to have an interest in Madonna, naturally. So I just started reading. And there is that beautiful clip of Maradona, warming up…just dancing. I learned a lot more and I turned on that fire. I tried to do it naturally because, of course, Fabietto loves him. So you can’t explain by words. It’s just in the eyes and that’s a difficult thing.”
What is Maradona to Naples when he arrives? A symbol of hope?
“Let me think. It is perfectly described by [his brother] Marchino’s line…we’re looking at Maradona doing the free kicks, and he is telling me, ‘Did you see what Maradona did?’ And I’m like, ‘Free kicks.’ And he says, ‘No. Perseverance.’”
So you must practice too?
“Yeah, yeah…the goal is to practice, practice, practice. When I am 50, and hopefully I’ll still be in the industry, I could say ‘Okay, I practice and practice and practice.’”
There are many great moments in The Hand Of God, not least when Fabietto is riding a Vespa with his parents through the night. Were you a confident rider beforehand?
“Actually, not at all. During the auditions, I received this message…someone told me, ‘Do you know how to ride a Vespa?’ So I was like, ‘Of course!’ I didn’t even have a license. I’m very good with a bicycle. I’ve been riding it since I was three without the support wheels. But I remember before Paolo chose me, I called my father, and he helped me a lot…it’s a funny story because my father found a friend that had the exact same Vesper, even the same colour. And then I did two days of pretty intense riding.”
So you were steering your co-stars once on set?
“That was a big responsibility. The day after that shooting, I woke up and I was like, ‘Oh, I did it!’ But when I was on set, and I had to do the scene, I was just thinking about nothing. I was kind of empty. I had an empty mind. I don’t know – I tried to defend myself from emotion!”
What does the scene symbolise?
“It’s like the mother, father, son…are melting together. I remember this sensation. I was sitting just on the saddle. But it was difficult because my knees were crushed…and I was scared. We were all close together.”
How did you react when you first saw the film?
“The first time that I saw the movie, it was one month before the screening in Venice, in a small screening room in Rome. I was with Paolo and Marlon [Joubert, who plays Marchino]. I focused just on myself. I was just seeing me. It was an egoistic thing. When the movie starts, everything is so beautiful, but then – boom! – I saw myself and I was like, ‘No way!’ And then I was scared, scared, scared…and I basically didn’t watch it.”
Still, the reception in Venice was wonderful. Were you surprised when you got the call to come back to collect a prize at the festival?
“Actually, I got a call and they were like, ‘You won something!’ I was like, ‘Okay. Probably it’s the prize for the newcomer.’ But suddenly, I delete this from my mind. And I was like, ‘No, Filippo, I won something because I’m the main character of the movie. So probably the movie won something. So I won something.’ In a part of my mind. I was like, ‘Yeah, but probably it’s that one’, but I was pretty scared. I was like, ‘Better not think about it.’”
Had you thought about the possibility of winning this before you first got to Venice?
“A couple of months before, I was talking with my one of my best friends. I said, ‘Probably, this will be a great movie. I mean, I really want to see it.’ And he was like, ‘Do you know that in Venice, there is a prize for the newcomer actor – the Marcello Mastroianni award?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, but come on! What are you trying to say?’ And he said, ‘Think about it, because I think that you could win.’ Then I received a message from him, and he was like, ‘You see?’ It was strange.”
Where did you learn your English? It’s excellent…
“I learned it one year ago. My girlfriend is Russian. And we speak to each other in English! It wasn’t just this, though. Also, I studied with a teacher for three months.”
Do you want to act in English-language roles?
“I would love to. Right now, I really must practice and practice – the diction – to hide my Italian accent. This is very important if I want to play American roles or English roles, and not the Italian that is going to America or to England and is playing the Italian that is English-speaking!”
The Hand Of God is streaming on Netflix now.
