Peter Lanzani: talent on several fronts

If we make lists of what we have pending, why not make one with all the things that make us happy? This is what British playwrights Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe propose wonderful thingswork with Pietro Lanzani.

But the work has a twist: the narrating protagonist prepares that list for the mother, who is going through a delicate moment of health and, while retracing her life, even those little things that are essential to sustain existence happen. .

The solo show, which has already toured several cities around the world, premiered its local version with Peter Lanzani, directed by Dalia Elnecavé (and translated by Pablo Gershanik) with shows on Mondays and Tuesdays at the Comafi Multiteatro. “One of the producers, Bruno Pedemonti, offered it to me and as soon as I read it I started to cry out loud,” says the actor.

What was the most shocking thing in history?

-He went through me, for the theme and for how it is told. It’s about finding the light in the middle of the dark and it’s interesting how through laughter you can achieve a deep connection with yourself. The boy writes that list for his mother, of what he considers all the wonderful things that exist in the world, and which connects him to his life story and all of his moods.

-This enumeration aims to help your depressed mother to remind her of everything worth living for, the simplest things and which are usually the most easily lost sight of.

That’s right, they get out of hand for the rest of the everyday life that passes through us. But we have to fall in love again with life, with work, with our partner. You can love someone, but you’re not always in love and that’s okay. The challenge is to be able to fall in love again and keep building. The further you move away from people and get into your own armor, the less you will find those reasons.

-Of this work, many versions have been made around the world, have you seen any?

-No, but I know it doesn’t change much because it deals with universal themes, except for the imprint of each country in the translation to bring it closer to the people. It is a beautiful, poetic, simple text. And he says things in no uncertain terms.

-The work needs some privacy.

-Yes, because you make people jump into the void and when that happens, you have to stop it, later. It’s like that trust game where you close your eyes and let someone else catch you. This is what we are looking for, and it is a challenge and a commitment at the same time.

-Another challenge must also be the fact of being alone on stage.

-Completely, despite interacting a lot with the public, it takes trust, because there is a hand in hand. For me this job is a meeting more than a job.

The actor says he was the one who chose Elnecavé to direct it. “With Dalia we get a staging in which we can all look each other better in the eyes, and it is ideal for this theme. It makes me happy because I chose Dalia. She is a very sensitive person and one of my great teachers. We had to do something together. and this job is ideal “.

-The show addresses the issue of mental health, something that is not very common in the theater.

-This is very interesting, it gets into a topic that is taboo, that everyone avoids, but approaches it from a relaxed, undressed way, appealing to humor and love. I think this work comes to play the role of awakening.

With the pandemic, many mental health issues that were in the background have been reinforced. Now it seems impossible to ignore it.

-It is that these are problems that we have all experienced, at some point in life. Some suffer more and others less, but no one escapes this. We tend to close ourselves off, or we don’t want to show our feelings and it’s the other way around. If we don’t get out of the shell, we don’t get empathy, and without empathy we don’t get a company. And so the feedback of communication and sensitivity is lost.

-In today’s world it seems the opposite: selfishness, narcissism, individualism …

-This is the great challenge of all humanity, I believe, because happiness, if it is not shared, does not exist. There is a lot of custom, what should be done and what not and how to do it, everything is very contaminated.

-Change takes time.

-It takes his trial to be able to be vulnerable, I think it’s only for the brave. But it is a path worth taking. You have to be optimistic to move forward. The world is divided, for me, between those who see the glass as half full or half empty. I see it half full.

From “Almost angels” to “The kingdom”

Lanzani is 31 years old and has been working since he was 15. He was part of it Almost angelsthe teenage production of Cris Morena, and over time has become a frequent figure of national cinema with works in The clan, The angel and now, as part of the cast of the Netflix miniseries, The kingdom.

-The platforms give you a lot of international visibility, how do you project yourself into your career in a few years?

-I really do not know. I’m interested in telling stories. And for now it makes no difference to me where it is. I don’t lose sleep casting in other countries, but I would have the experience of looking for a specific job, depending on the stories and projects that appear. I care that if something happens in another country, it is natural and not specifically sought after. I work very well here.

-Is it difficult for you to choose the type of characters you play?

-I choose the characters to do a lot, they have to arouse empathy in me to do them. And if I don’t understand it, I have to find the tools to say it somehow. I’m passionate about what I do, otherwise I wouldn’t do it at all because it’s so intense.

-You started your profession very young, have you ever had doubts about your vocation?

-At the beginning something like this happened to me, mainly because I started a bit by chance, but then I realized that that’s what I’m passionate about. But not just acting, but also writing, directing, working behind the camera with the technical team and learning. At this point, I don’t know if I can do anything else.

– Have you ever regretted it?

– Every now and then I see myself saying: ‘what did I choose it for?’but when you see yourself in a movie, you like it more or less, or in a comedy like wonderful thingsI confirm once again that I love it.

-The problem is to keep choosing the same, or not, over time.

-We have this possibility and at the same time the responsibility to do so. Choosing is the only superpower we humans have. But like all superpowers, it has its downside. And that’s why we’re wrong sometimes, that we have many options or very few, even though I think that’s the fun part, getting it wrong sometimes.

-What things caught your attention as a boy, before turning to acting?

-I wanted to be an athlete, something I clearly couldn’t do anymore. I have played rugby all my life, but I also enjoyed watching any sport. I also did tennis, golf, volleyball. But he didn’t have the conditions. I am passionate about watching the Olympics. In the last Olympics, I was moved by the effort of a runner. Sport, like acting, has a certain passion and emotion, to put the body.

– This solo, does it have to do with a moment of your greater maturity, professional and personal?

-It’s a little bit of everything. I have gained some experience up to this point and I also work on myself, I am always in that search, listening to myself. As an actor, this is crucial, you have to know where the anger, the anguish, the envy, the jealousy, all the emotions come from, in order to then make your characters as real as possible.

“How do you do that research? With therapy, with meditation?”

-I consider myself lived, I like doing, being, listening. I don’t do therapy, but I like to listen to myself when I’m mean or angry, I don’t let those moments pass. For my characters, my methodology is to create one character after another. You must always be ready to support yourself, for better or for worse because both extremes are bad and sooner or later the count falls on you.

Now, in addition to the theater performances on Mondays and Tuesdays at the Multiteatro, Lanzani is in the midst of filming the second season of the series The kingdomfrom Netflix.

-What interests you most about the story and your character in this second part of the series?

-It is a terrible story that requires a lot of effort not to be disrespectful. I can’t say much, but just like the first season had a lot of presentation of the characters, the atmosphere, the posed situations, now it takes a step further and delves even further into the mud, which is a lot. It goes deep.

Rather reserved (“when I’m not working I have nothing interesting to say,” he says), Peter spends most of his time writing. “I write a bit of everything, I don’t know if the part will be a screenplay or a comedy, who knows. I’m trying”.

A big consumer of films, the actor ensures he sees everything to learn. “I live with a friend who is a cinematographer and we share a lot of movies. Suddenly we find a Japanese or Korean director and we see everything. Or classic things and we find little gems.”

-As part of the younger generation, what is the best contribution, in your opinion?

-I think that every age had its good things and others not so much and some good things that were lost. Basically, we are all united by the fact that no one has chosen to come into the world, but we are here by the decision of two other people. And it is also beautiful. Then there is our role and since we are here, it is about learning and giving our best every day.

– Reach a point of convergence and balance.

-If everyone did it, it would be simpler as it is proposed in the work. That’s why I think it’s great that, from art, you can talk about these things because it always moves you. You never leave after watching a play, even if you didn’t like it, something has already moved you.

(Thanks Hotel Four Seasons for the location for the photos).

POS