In the December issue of Madame Figaro Paris, actress and model Laetitia Casta talks about her latest role for the theater, portraying Sophia Loren’s Antonietta Taberi in the critically acclaimed and culturally significant to Italian cinema A Special Day. Laetitia talks discusses the parallels she shares with Sophia Loren’s Antonietta, mentioning the doors and barriers she had to overcome to become the person she is today. Laetitia also touches on her career as actress, the influence of cinema in her life, her relationship with femininity, and future roles.
“Today, I can say that it hasn’t always been easy. In fact, in my modeling career, I went through similar struggles. I didn’t fit in with the codes of the time when I started my career. Thanks to exceptional people who encouraged and pushed me, like Yves Saint Laurent on the fashion side or Raoul Ruiz and Safy Nebbou on the theater and film side, I was able to develop.”
Mais, elle, Sophia Loren, que vous inspire-t-elle ?
Elle et Marcello Mastroianni sont deux légendes, deux grandes inspirations, pas seulement dans le cinéma, dans la mode également. J’ai souvent vu Sophia Loren sur des moodboards (tout comme Brigitte Bardot ou Romy Schneider), et je me souviens d’un shooting avec Ellen von Unwerth, dont elle était l’image de référence. Mais ce qui m’inspire chez elle, c’est surtout son intelligence. Venant d’un milieu très pauvre, elle a réussi à dépasser ses origines et sa beauté pour se faire une vraie place d’actrice, en choisissant elle-même ses rôles et en obtenant même un Oscar. C’était presque impossible dans l’Italie de son époque.
But what does Sophia Loren inspire in you?
She and Marcello Mastroianni are two legends, two great inspirations, not only in cinema, but also in fashion. I’ve often seen Sophia Loren on moodboards (just like Brigitte Bardot or Romy Schneider), and I remember a shoot with Ellen von Unwerth, for which she was the reference image. But what inspires me most about her is her intelligence. Coming from a very poor background, she managed to rise above her origins and her beauty to make a real place for herself as an actress, choosing her own roles and even winning an Oscar. This was almost impossible in the Italy of her time.
“What relationship do you have today with your body and your femininity?”
A relationship of freedom! If I want to show my body, I show it, if I want to hide it, I hide it. At the same time, coming from a fashion background, I have a special relationship with my own, a desire to create beautiful images with all that a woman and her femininity can represent, but it’s never dirty or immodest, there’s never any desire for seduction or representation below the belt. Why make the body a taboo? When you look at paintings or sculptures depicting the female body, it always exudes strength and power. That’s how I see the female body. But I also have the freedom to say no. For example, in cinema, if I feel that a nude scene isn’t necessary, I refuse it. But beware, I think we have to be very careful of puritanical rhetoric, of those who want to turn back the clock for fear of shocking, disturbing… We know all too well the extent to which in some countries women don’t have the same freedom as we do, how they become invisible in the public space, how some can’t even set foot outside.
Creatives:
Interviewer @mariondupuismad
Photography @cedricbihr / @handk_officiel
Styling @barbarabaumel
Makeup @diorbeauty by @cyril.lanoir
Hair #valentinmordacq
Nails @elsadeslandes
Read more at Madame Figaro
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