Irene Maiorino discusses her role in the Ferrante adaptations most pivotal sequence.
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Thepenultimate episodeofMy Brilliant Friendbrings with it the most shocking event in Elena Ferrantes tetralogy.
Maiorino calls the characters final transformation the crack.
I felt a responsibility to give the audience permission to recognize themselves in this huge character, she says.
The crack you see in the wall is the crack of humanity.
With this fourth and final season, you took over Lila from Gaia Girace.
I took a very long journey inside Lila before shooting.
As an actress, you have to be brave and able to explore your character on set.
It changed a lot.
I know that I look like Gaia.
The casting process took about two, three years, including COVID.
I never lost Lila in those two, three years; she was always with me.
She went with me on my holidays.
I worked a lot on that crack, which at the end explodes in a very strong way.
In the books, Ferrante writes that when Lila is really focused on something, she narrows her eyes.
Theres a thread from Gaias performance to yours that shows that characteristic.
Thats very important to me, because everybody says, You look exactly like Gaia.
But its not enough.
They didnt cast me for three years!
Lila has a complicated relationship to motherhood.
Her pregnancies are painful and unpleasant, especially compared to Lenus.
And her relationship to her son, Gennaro, frays as he spirals deeper into drug abuse.
Then Tina comes along and Lila now has this perfect child.
He is a son of violence.
Lila is a real feminist.
She fights against patriarchal society.
Gennaro represents this world she doesnt want anymore.
Tina, on the other hand, is the new: the new behavior, the new hope.
She also represents Lilas destiny.
Another important thing about Tina is that she is a daughter of love.
Lila is empowered, shes strong, and she falls in love with that new dynamic.
For the first time, shes really engaged in this relationship.
You see the character climb up to the top of the hill.
Then the fall is deeper.
The moment Tina disappears, Lenu is the first to ask, Wheres Tina?
and Lila is like, You know how kids are.
She must have wandered around somewhere.
As you realize something is actually wrong, your face gradually falls.
Lila retreats into a dreamlike state, as if she were surrendering to something.
How did you come to that reaction?
you could only go with your emotional flow.
This kind of scene is about lots of workbefore,and then its about trust.
You have to trust the process because its necessary that something comes up.
In this scene, you have to see immediately that something changes in one second.
Theres no time to understand better.
Lenu says, Wheres Tina?
I worked with opposites.
Lilas very tough, but shes fragile.
There is Lilas inner behavior, and there is the public persona.
I worked on duality in this scene in a very strong way.
Alfonso and Lenu are talking, and Lila is just kind of standing there, quiet.
At the wedding, we see Lila in power in an external way.
Its only her public persona, but internally, shes fragile.
it’s possible for you to see the vibration that involves the exterior.
Its like a stone: Inside me, there were lots of emotions that I didnt want to show.
This fight creates the scene, because youre seeing the opposite.
I didnt want to hide it so that you only saw a very strong woman.
I want the two opposites.
When Tina disappeared, I completely switched off my head.
The noises around me, the people, the cars, the children, everything disappeared with Tina.
I walked around like an alien.
The earth beneath your feet is broken.
So in the wedding scene, you see a stone inside of which theres lots of emotion.
Theres one other moment besides Tinas disappearance where I think Lila is all void and emotion.
Shortly after the earthquake, she talks about her fear of the dissolving boundaries.
We only know what Lila chooses to say.
How present was the dissolving-boundaries thing for you throughout the season?
I meant with Lila, but I guess both?[Laughs.
]I have some things in common with Lila.
These are huge, immense scenes.
Elena Ferrante explains that the earthquake was an exterior thing.
It happened to everybody, but what everybody was afraid of was what they saw outside of themselves.
In Italian we sayvedente we mean someone who is blind but understands the world well.
Lilas power is to see more and see much better than everybody.
But Lila says, No,thisis the world, Lenu.
The crack you see in the wall is the crack of humanity.
You mentioned that Lila is like a witch.
She loses that sophisticated exterior, and she gives herself over to this witchiness.
To me, she is a witch.
Sheappearslike a witch, but her power is, of course, something mysterious.
Yes, shes tough.
Shes fearless, of course, in a superficial way.
Now she doesnt give a shit about anything.
Because she lost hope.
She lost her life.
So she becomes the poor child again.
Shes once again angry with Elena.
To me, shes the queen of the shadows.
She is so elusive.
She needs to be mysterious.
My casting process was a hidden process.
I worked on it for two years in my room with candles and music.
And if the actor or actress doesnt believe, the audience wont believe, right?
The child actors are taught that when they play, its a very serious game.
In this season, Lila is really empowered.
She doesnt need to be recognized, or anything like that.
The dolls are the new children that are coming.
This kindness is new, and far from what wed been in the habit of seeing Lila act like.
