DATE : 14TH OF NOVEMBER 2020
We are pleased to host another guest who is of Italian Descent and is here to talk about his series Into The Night, which also makes the first Belgian produced show from Netflix.
Our guest, Stefano Cassetti who is an Italian film and television actor. He is frequently cast as “bad guy” roles in Europe. His first part was the lead role in French feature film Roberto Succo (director Cedric Kahn, Cannes Festival 2001). Recently he is one of the lead role of Netflix TV series “Into the Night”, released in May 2020.Let’s dive into the interview:
Greetings Mr.Cassetti, we at The Movie Culture are thrilled to have you. We certainly hope that during times like these you and your family are doing well.
Stefano Cassetti: Thank you and I hope you are all doing well, too. I am actually in Fuerteventura. I hope that when all this will end, we will remember also the good sides of these times, we should learn from them to build a better future.
Q. To start this interview we have to ask you about Into The Night, do tell us about the show and how you first got involved with an amazing premise such as Into The Night?
Stefano Cassetti: It was a very classic approach, I was cast through my French agency. As simple as that.
Q. Terenzio as a character is very grey, some would argue that he is irredeemable. How do you access a character and as an actor make him appear human in front of the audience?
Stefano Cassetti: In every character there is a bit of truth you can agree with, like almost every point of view, or at least I push myself to find it. When you find that path, even very narrow, you can bring yourself in and it is easier to make it human. Terenzio is a very interesting character because his behaviour contains some paradox: he is a soldier in a time of crisis, he has a weapon but he pushes for democracy and for sharing any decision; his only aim is to save his life but he is able to turn his instinct for self-preservation into the more attractive role of saviour of everybody. Contradicting behaviours can be a very powerful fuel for actors.
Q. Into The Night debuted on Netflix May of 2020, so we couldn’t help but ask you if you have any clue whether Season 2 is in the works?
Stefano Cassetti: Very soon, work in progress. Can’t say more.
Q. Whilst researching for the interview, we also found out that you have been in a movie called The Collini Case and it’s full of Nazi Symbolism, could you tell us more about approaching a subject material such as that?
Stefano Cassetti: TCC is a movie I hold close to my heart. Since I was a kid, the WWII times always fascinated me. My grandpa Aristide was in a concentration camp and he came back weighing just 40 kg. He was 25 years old. As you can imagine, in this case it was somehow easier for me to find a way to dive in my character, Collini’s father. Personally it was very powerful, and painful, but I would do it tomorrow morning exactly the same way.
Q. Into The Night sits at 88% Rotten Tomatoes Score, do the reviews affect you going forward?
Stefano Cassetti: I am very happy about that. I have learnt to be waterproof to reviews and critics and at the same time I have learnt to say Thanks. Not so easy as it would appear. On the other hand everything affects us, constantly and persistently no matter what we try to do to avoid it. Anyway I am quite stubborn somehow, that saves me.
Q. Is there a cast member from the show with whom you bonded well, maybe BFF status?
Stefano Cassetti: We were a great team, I must confess that that group of colleagues was especially robust. I have found more then one BFF.
Q. Speaking of acting, in your days as an upcoming actor is there any actor who you looked upto as an idol? Was there a favourite movie which you saw and that made you fall in love with the artform
Stefano Cassetti: There are several but I think the Iranian movies in 2000s affected me a lot. I can also mention The Barber and Interstellar. I love science fiction movies and westerns.
Q. Netflix has transformed the way we see films and series, the streaming service is backing stories from countries like Germany, Spain and India which really give the filmmakers from these countries a bigger platform which was something only English films backed by Hollywood studios were able to do in the past. What are your thoughts on that as you yourself are starring in Netflix produced Belgian Original?
Stefano Cassetti: That is a revolution. It is a sort of democratization of filming, of storytelling. Because the content is also from another perspective. I think now it is becoming more relevant to everyone: before it was so boring… ahaha.
Q. The Movie Culture is situated in India and we also noticed your filmography includes The Extraordinary Journey of The Fakir which stars Dhanush, a big name in India. How was that experience? Did you two have any moments of admiration?
Stefano Cassetti: It was for me the first time in Bollywood, I loved it. Working with Dhanush was very easy and professional, as if we had known each other for ages. It is a pity we didn’t find the time to eat together. I had so many questions about Indian food: I am a very curious person.
Q. We hope to see you in many movies and series to come ahead, but is there a Director working today with whom you’d like to work?
Stefano Cassetti: Plenty of them of course: Tarantino, Terrence Malik, Lars von Trier, etc.. but certainly not with Roman Polanski.
Q. You have been working in Belgian Production for a long time but is there a difference between A Netflix production and a normal one? If so, how?
Stefano Cassetti: ITN was my second experience with Netflix. I felt that the main logistical difference is the structure you work within: it is quite relaxing feeling part of a mechanism so robust and tested. Second plus is for sure the fact that the actor is expected to arrive on stage with his own vision of the scene, ready to play with it. And that is welcome. Otherwise, in normal productions, that isn’t so well perceived because the director wants to give actors his own pattern.
Q. Which format serves you better as an actor, will you say it is the Movies or a TV Series?
Stefano Cassetti: Of course tvseries: with more time and plot you have more possibilities; so you can play the nuances of your character, changing directions again and again: a dream.
Q. Into The Night made you play a very grey character, do you intend on taking up more roles such as that or you kinda wish for a more straightforward nice humans role to offer?
Stefano Cassetti: Funny, I am used to play much more grey characters than Terenzio. So I am quite happy with that, I’ll keep it… smile. Straightforward nice human roles, again and again, sounds quite boring at the end.
Q. Acting is a serious artform and we clearly think you are a capable actor from what we saw in Into The Night, we wanted to ask you whether you think the artform might be in a bad space due to Online Space such as YouTube making anyone an ‘actor’ overnight?
Stefano Cassetti: It is a totally different field, I wouldn’t worry about that. I think our art form has never been so alive and diffuse, literally in the hand of everyone every moment. It’s good.
Q. Do you have any future projects lined up which you’d like to share with us and your fans ?
Stefano Cassetti: We are shooting a great French tvseries called Germinal, from the novel of Emile Zola: an impressive portrait of the working class fight at the end of 19th century. History, politics and daily life of coal miners: it is so important to know where we all come from. Secondly, I am preparing a wonderful role in an Italian project called Welcome Venice by Andrea Segre, a close up on the dark side of tourism nowadays. I am also starring in a Swedish movie by two young directors. And of course Into The Night season 2, somehow I am still there.
Q. Being a great actor such as yourself, is there a key advice which you give to actors and actresses trying to make it big? Given the vast competition in the media field, how does one cope with rejection, any words?
Stefano Cassetti: Frankly I could write nice words on the subject.. but I don’t really feel like it. I know I am a lucky guy and I know that is also a matter of luck, just luck yes. Maybe sounds silly but that’s it. Which maybe is a good point to get when you have to deal with rejection.
Q.With this we would like to wrap up with the interview questions. The Movie Culture would indeed like to thank Mr. Stefano CaSsetti for agreeing to this wonderful interview and giving your valuable time to us.
Stefano Cassetti: Thanks folks ! See you next time
The Movie Culture Synopsis
Stefano Cassetti offers very nuanced take on a bad guy who he plays in Into The Night. The Series is very thought provoking and has an exceptional storyline which further helps Casetti portray his character into the over arching storyline.
We are stoked to have interviewed this underrated talent and agree with every word he said in his interview. Many thanks and regards to Mr. Cassetti and his team which made this interview a reality. Into the Nigh is available on Netflix.
