Spoleto, December 1, 2021 – All the colors of “Blanca “, the Rai fiction which is the real revelation of the season, I’m in her. In its energy, in its strength, in its enthusiasm. Maria Chiara Giannetta, twenty-nine, plays the character of a blind detective – they say so, in fiction, and they do not use the euphemism “blind” – in the most colorful, youngest, most pop of Rai fiction. ‘Blanca’ landed in prime time on Raiuno, e it broke.
Almost five and a half million spectators, last Monday, for the second episode, with a share of 24 percent, after the 5 million and 672 thousand of the first episode, with a 26% share. Directed by Jan Maria Michelini with a great eye for colors, glimpses, atmospheres, rhythm, set in Genoa, the series is based on the novels of Patrizia Rinaldi which feature a visually impaired policewoman. The novels are four, all released for the publishing house and / or.
Interpreting Blanca, Maria Chiara Giannetta, twenty-nine, from Foggia. Short hair, colorful clothes, tight belt and short skirt, boots, almost a Marvel superhero costume: Blanca, in the series, is a volunteer assistant in police, with a great instinct to understand who is telling the truth and who is lying, and a great desire to solve complicated cases. In the soundtrack, Caliber 35. There is also a romantic aspect that lightens the gaze on crimes, serial killers, mortal dangers: a handsome and seductive colleague, played by Giuseppe Zeno. Blanca does not see us, but she perceives very well the chemistry that is established every time the two meet. Blanca is hyperactive, she is pop, she is beautiful, she is ironic, and rides a revolution in the Rai house with his character. We reach Maria Chiara by phone on the set of the next season of ‘Don Matteo’, in which – with her character of the captain – she is now at home.
Maria Chiara, among the consultants of the series is Andrea Bocelli, who gave her advice, starting from her experience. What did you say to each other?
“Andrea was very generous. He told me a lot about his attitude, his character. Andrea moves around places as if he sees us, he is courageous: he gave me the courage to dare, to play a blind person who is not afraid to move. “.
How did you prepare for the role?
“Some reading helped me: John M. Hull’s ‘The Dark Gift’, for example, which is the diary of a man who became blind at forty. A precise, dry, touching tale about blindness, which thrilled the neurologist Oliver Sacks “.
Have you also spoken to people who are experiencing the condition of blindness?
“Yes: six or seven people. A former athletics champion, Maria Ligorio, born blind, who was a Paralympic running record holder. Veronica Tartaglia, national champion of the blind scheme. A girl, Sara, who lost her sight in twenty years old. And Michela, who sent me videos of how she did things, and how she played football. “
What did you do in the weeks of preparation?
“I learned to cook blindfolded, and to dance. Cooking is no joke: to slice the onion without getting hurt you take ten times the ‘normal’ time, to prepare a plate of pasta it takes three hours. The blind necessarily have a relationship. different over time “.
In the series we always say “blind”, we do not use the term “blind”. A clear choice.
“They taught me that: they prefer a clear, honest term. Then, as they say in the first episode, the word ‘blind’ is not an offense.”
What do you feel you have given to the character, something absolutely yours?
“Maybe the irony. Blanca’s irony is a bit mine. Then, in the next few episodes, new aspects of the character will emerge, many facets of her personality. And also the frailties of a thirty year old girl who chases his dream “.
What was it like for you to follow your dream, to be an actress?
“It was a very clear dream, since I was a child. I followed the flow, the wave. I went to Rome, I enrolled in the Experimental Center, I started with small things at the theater, then came cinema and television. I have always lived everything with serenity: I would be happy even if tomorrow I had to change jobs. If one day acting were to become something that makes me sick, I would change “.
Some scenes in the series are set in the ‘black room’, a kind of visualization of Blanca’s mind. They are very suggestive, almost theatrical scenes.
“It was the idea of Jan, the director, to get the viewer into Blanca’s viewing mode. It was great for us to enter a huge, all-black theater where we could literally do whatever we wanted.”
What information did the director give you?
“Jan Maria Michelini is a cyclone, a bomb. I trusted him blindly, who had been working on the character for more than a year”.
How was your relationship with the costumes, with Blanca’s hyper-colored dresses?
“Ahahh! Wonderful. Jan had imagined a kind of uniform, a dress from a comic book hero, a kind of armor with a belt that becomes a protection, the symbol of Blanca. The costume designers were inspired by Berlin street art, instagrammers, and in the end they created a comic superhero costume, a continuous source of light in a dark police station. “
How was the relationship with the dog that always accompanies Blanca?
“Normally the blind use Labradors, but the dog that accompanied me is really special. It was just her – because she is a female – the right one, with those clear eyes, that intelligence. We did not use other dogs, as often happens in fiction. . I spent a month with her before shooting. “
Did he have any movie role models to draw inspiration from? There aren’t a lot of movies starring blind, but there are a couple of them.
“I was very impressed with the interpretation of Audrey Hepburn in ‘The eyes of the night’, and some moments of the first episode – whoever saw it know – is inspired by a scene from that film. interpretation of Valeria Golino in ‘The hidden color of things’ by Silvio Soldini “.
Projects?
“Now we shoot ‘Don Matteo’ until January. In February, rest: I haven’t stopped for a year. I would like to disappear for a couple of weeks, see some place in Europe that I love, maybe Paris, who knows”.
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