As Diane Lane’s love interest in “Under the Tuscan Sun,” Raoul Bova gets the chance to show American audiences why he’s such a hot commodity in his native country.
INTERVIEW WITH RAOUL BOVA:
Are you hoping to break into American movies?
I hope this is the first American movie. I really want to work here and I really want to work in a good movie. It's always important what are you doing; it's not important where.
Why is Hollywood a goal for so many foreign actors?
I think Hollywood is a thing because Hollywood is a story. The story of the cinema is something that you really want to try because all the actors are curious. Hollywood is the center of the cinema and you can find a lot of ways to improve yourself as an actor. I mean, action movies, romantic movies, a comedy and sometimes in Italy… I'm not saying I'm a good-looking guy, but sometimes the good-looking guys don't have a very easy life in Italy because they don't write a lot of roles for the good-looking guys. In America, you have Brad Pitt, you have Tom Cruise, you have all the beautiful actors. They are working and all the stories are written for them. You have more chance to work here. You have a million chances more for work than a little country [such] as Italy.
Do you think of your dialogue in Italian or English?
I was thinking in English because for me, working with Diane [Lane] and Audrey [Wells], it was so easy because everything I did with them, they really appreciated because it was an Italian character living in Italy. It was an Italian Neapolitan character so you move your hands and smile. The people from the south, they are more alive. They are more happy. They are full of energy. I didn't care about my English or my accent because what I was caring about was the feeling. The feeling of her. And with her, it was great. She helped me a lot. She wasn't an American Hollywood star. She was like a human being and I really appreciate that because it makes me better. I felt so at home.
Was the love scene difficult to do?
It's very different from “Unfaithful.” It's a very innocent, I think, sex scene. I'll tell you, the love scene is always very, very difficult to shoot because you have all the crew around you. When you are kissing someone, they say, "Don't put your hand on my shoulder because you're touching my hair," or something like that. And I say, “Okay, okay.” When you push the cheek, they're like, "Don't push the cheek," and I say, “Okay.” And you have to be very romantic and you say, “Okay.” How can you enjoy the love scene?
Did Diane Lane do anything to make you feel more comfortable?
Yeah, we laughed a lot. We were laughing all the time. We spent a lot of time together [and] we talked a lot about our lives. I think she is a great person, a great mother, and she helped me, [and wasn't] judging me. You can read in the eyes when an actor is judging you. "Show me what you're doing, if you are good or not." It's very bad when you feel that because you feel like, “Oh, I have to show to somebody else.” But we were helping each other. We were working in the same movie and we were very close. That's very helpful for me.
There's another thing that I want to tell you, a story about [when] we were shooting a scene. The sun was going down and we had to rush. In the middle of things, [they] change the set and shoot the scene because it was very important, so she was helping the crew to move the lights. It's very impressive for me because sometimes in Italy we used to do it because we don't have so many people like here in America, so you have to do your best. You have to be a first A.D., you have to be a Lighter, you have to be everything. But I never expected [that] from a Hollywood star [like] Diane.
Raoul Bova on Moving to America, Italian Stereotypes, and Future Roles
