Italian Star Giancarlo Giannini Talks Marlon Brando, Marcello Mastroianni, James Bond Ahead of Hollywood Walk of Fame Honor
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent Prior to becoming an actor, Giancarlo Giannini, who on March 6 will be getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, studied electronic engineering, a skill he’s been known to put to good use even on movie sets. “I was meant to start working on the first artificial satellites, or on the first computers at IBM,” the Italian film and theater thesp recalls.
But then Giannini enrolled in acting school and soon was given major roles, first by Franco Zeffirelli and then by Lina Wertmüller, with whom he went on to make nine movies that brought them both international fame. “I owe it to Lina that I will be getting the star.
The only other Italian actor who has one is Rudolph Valentino,” he notes. Before traveling to Los Angeles, Giannini spoke to Variety about his career journey and what he learned from Anna Magnani, Marlon Brando and Marcello Mastroianni. Let’s start with the present: did you enjoy working with Jane Fonda and Diane Keaton recently on “Book Club 2”? It was fun, because they are very ‘simpatiche.’ We laughed a lot.
Like me, they are of an age, of course. I was amazed that they held up so well while spending hours in their costumes in the sweltering summer heat.
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