“He is a particularly charismatic, fascinating, multifaceted character and in the way of managing relationships within the high spheres linked to the world football organization he plays a leading role”. Gaetano Bruno is among the protagonists of the new series “The Net – Gioco di Squadra”, broadcast on Rai 2 in absolute premiere from 20 December at 21.20, co-produced by Cross Productions and Das Netz GmbH, distributed by Beta Film, with the directed by Volfango De Biasi and Lorenzo Sportiello.
The multifaceted actor plays Maurizio Corridoni, a powerful and mysterious individual, an eminence of football, who is willing to do anything to conquer the football club both for the affection he feels for the Toscana Football Club and for his personal interests. For this he makes a pact with Vincenzo (Alberto Paradossi) who, in exchange for a role of power in the management of the team, has promised to betray his father, bribing some players to ensure that they lose the last game. Releasing, the team could be sold at a bargain price and end up in the hands of Corridoni.
Gaetano Bruno in “The Net – Teamwork”
Gaetano, in the series “The Net – Team Game” plays Maurizio Corridoni. What is the characteristic of this character that you most loved to play?
“I was chosen for the German series of “The Net” and then I was also called for the Italian version which was part of an international project. This character struck me because he is particularly charismatic, fascinating, multifaceted and in the way of managing relationships within the high spheres linked to the world football organization Corridoni played a leading role. In the German series there are major clashes between Maurizio and Jean Leco, who will also be present in the Italian one, because they have different ideas on how to conceive the concept of football, a game as entertainment but also as a business. Corridoni, like a cat, would like to change but in the end he remains particularly attached to an idea of the purity of football that clashes with many other interests that are at stake. He is not a saint, he has his own vision of this sporting discipline and he will make sure that things go in the direction he deems most appropriate ”.
A determined man, ready to do anything to achieve his goal but who also hides a human side…
“Unlike what we might think being a wealthy man, accustomed to leading a high-sounding lifestyle, Corridoni also has a sort of spiritual flash when he comes across a Franciscan convent led by Friar Mario, played by Massimo Wertmuller, which will be decisive for starting to live differently”.
What is your relationship with football?
“The first shots at the ball were at the Don Bosco Ranchibile oratory in Palermo, I was one of the poorest players and it’s not like my teammates were competing to have me in the team (he smiles). It’s a game that I like, I’m passionate about, I support Palermo but I’m not a rowdy fan”.
How did you find yourself on set working with actors of various nationalities?
“It was a beautiful experience. The first day in Berlin for the German series was exciting, for the first time I found myself alone on an international set while in “Fargo” there were other Italian colleagues. I was very well received by everyone. I had to play a complex scene giving a speech in front of sixty people, but it went well and I found the same atmosphere that reigns when you are dealing with great professionals”.
Gaetano Bruno and Alberto Paradossi in “The Net – Teamwork”
Corridoni in the first episode of the series states “today, as in the Renaissance, we need heroes”. Who are the heroes in today’s society for you?
“The concept of a hero is an exception to the rule. They are people who manage to confront their own human and spiritual limits, as far as I’m concerned they are between heaven and earth, they go against their own destiny, even aware of the consequences they may come across if they continue to go their own way. The hero is a character out of the ordinary, who has an intellectual and spiritual strength, sometimes even physical, out of the ordinary. He is an example and a model to inspire us. But I also believe that each of us in his own small way, in his work should give his best, doing his part, whether he is an actor, a plumber, a parliamentarian, he must operate in a correct, loyal, respectful manner. In any case, there are many people who have acted as heroes throughout history, from Jesus Christ to Gandhi to Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Falcone and Borsellino to Judge Terranova, whom I had the privilege of being able to tell in this film by Pasquale Scimeca which I finished shooting two weeks ago. They are characters endowed with a granite temper and will that go on despite everything and everyone”.
How important is teamwork to you?
“It’s fundamental, I come from the theater, which taught me the wonderful effort, the difficulty and the extraordinary gratification that can be had when you are part of a project that represents you, but also the need to support yourself with other companions on stage to try to all go in the same direction. I’m very bored with actors who have to get noticed, those players who have to go and score the goal by themselves. Clearly there are people who are by nature free hitters who have that extra talent to ensure that they can go where they want, but these are rare cases, such as Maradona, Pele, Picasso, Raphael, Caravaggio. Team play is fundamental in football, in work and in life in order to participate, share the pains and sacrifices and also rejoice in the joys”.
He graduated from the acting school of the Teatro Biondo Stabile in Palermo and then worked as an actor in the theater company directed by Emma Dante. What do you remember from those years?
“I have a very decisive memory, at the Teatro Biondo I began to ask myself the meaning of this possibility of being an actor. I had never had theater experience or attended any courses, and I had only been to the theater a few times, so I didn’t come in with a background or an idea of what it meant to be in this profession. I took the first step towards this extraordinary artistic discipline and within this company of which I belonged in Palermo I understood the beauty of acting, how difficult it was to even say a joke and how necessary teamwork and I listen on stage to ensure that the whole show goes in the same direction”.
In your career you have taken part in many successful films and series and theatrical performances, is there one in particular that has given you the greatest satisfaction?
“There are characters who have certainly given me more from a human and artistic point of view. For example, the first experience on an international set with Fargo, the film debut with Paolo Sorrentino in ” where I met Toni Servillo, but also “Baarìa” with Tornatore. On that set, I was struck by a scene in which he directed an actor, asking him for very specific and particular things and showing him what he wanted, demonstrating great acting skills as well. I also fondly remember the shows with the company directed by Emma Dante, the places we worked, the endless rehearsals in this occupied prison where we took our first steps, the tours in Venezuela, Colombia, Moscow, Italy, in Europe, the places where we were hosted by friends and relatives who offered us a bed. I carry in my heart the beauty and the privilege of meeting and getting in touch with my limits and my possibilities, which this job that I continue to do and with which I am in love has given me”.
Gaetano Bruno in “Doc – In your hands 2”
What did the character of Edoardo Valenti who played in the beloved series “DOC – Nelle tue mani” leave you instead?
“It’s a series that I accepted to do with great joy. I had been chosen to play a different character during the first season but then had to turn it down because I had left for America to film Fargo. They offered me another role for the second season and I was happy to participate. There was a good atmosphere on the set and we were able to portray a character like Edoardo Valenti, who could be angular, making him more human, despite the fact that by vocation and choice he was a person used to operating and therefore not coming into contact with his part emotional”.
What projects will you be involved in in the near future?
“I finished as I said before shooting the film on Judge Terranova, I am in the cast of the Carmine Elia series “We are legend” and this week I started shooting M. The child of the century, directed by Joe Wright Sky, centered on rise to power of Benito Mussolini and based on the novel by Antonio Scurati. I’m very happy to be part of it, the first few days on set were extraordinary. This profession gives you the possibility of collaborating not only with directors with whom you have established a partnership for some time, such as Carmine Elia, but also with exceptional characters such as Joe Wright who open up worlds to you, who make you reflect on certain dramaturgical events and give micro-scene prompts all the more powerful when they ask you things you didn’t think about when you first started studying scripts.”
What was the experience of participating in the special project “Così è (o mi pare)”, a rewriting for virtual reality of Luigi Pirandello’s work, adapted and directed by Elio Germano, and staged at Argot Studio from 16 to 18 December?
“It was a beautiful experience. I was shooting the series “The hunter” for Rai 2, Elio Germano called me to tell me about the project and I was thrilled. I didn’t know anything about virtual reality so he explained to me how we would work. Elio is a colleague that I respect a lot and I was happy to be part of this group of actors. It was a work halfway between cinema and theatre. We worked on this show in the form of theatrical rehearsals and when we set it up we replicated it without an audience in a stupendous villa in Tuscany in Pontassieve, where we interfaced with a machine that filmed the room at 360 degrees. This has meant that people who go to the theater to see the show wearing a headset will see all of us who have taken part in this work, different from a purely theatrical approach. The theater feeds on the energy and strength of the audience, but in this case it is a bit as if we were acting for ourselves, to bring to life the strength of this text by Pirandello night after night and enjoy those words and that setting. The place dedicated to the theater is the theater itself, however it was a very interesting experience and over time we will certainly come to terms with the possibility, through an optical viewer, of finding ourselves in any part of the world or in any dimension, experiencing an emotion still stronger, having developed advanced technology and making the spectator find himself in the same place where the actors put on the show”.
What do you wish for 2023?
“I hope the war in Ukraine will end. There is no right conflict and others that must stop. The war continues to cause so much pain to the people who find themselves under the rubble and bombs but also to us who watch Russia’s aggression towards that country in amazement. I hope there is more solidarity with the less fortunate people, more respect and tolerance also with those who get on a boat and find themselves in another part of the world in search of a better future. In The net I met Billo, an actor who told me his story and the way he escaped from Africa to have a new life in Italy. It is moving, heartbreaking what he had to go through to be able to land in a place that could give him what he evidently did not have access to in his own country ”.
by Francesca Monti
Thanks to Pamela Menichelli – Ni.Co Press Office and Tiziana Di Matteo