Italian multi-hyphenate Vera Gemma, who is the daughter of iconic Spaghetti Western star Giuliano Gemma, grew up in the shadow of her father’s fame. But in “Vera” — Austria’s candidate for the best international featureOscar, directed by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel — she’s the one in the spotlight.
The moving but never maudlin portrait of the burden of being born into celebrity launched from the 2022 Venice Film Festival’s cutting-edge Horizons section, where it had the rare distinction of winning awards for both best director and actress before going on to garner more praise on the fest circuit.
Below, Gemma speaks to PvNew about how the film mirrors her real life, navigating her father’s legacy and making carbonara for Quentin Tarantino.
How did this film about you originate?
We met while they were making a doc titled “Mister Universo” about an animal tamer and I was working on a documentary about circus artists, in honor of my father, who learned all his acrobatic tricks in the circus. The first impression they had of me wasn’t very positive, let’s say, due to my slightly aggressive appearance and they way I dress, which is always a bit over the top. But their initial judgment collapsed when Tizza got to know me better and I think I can say they literally fell in love with me once they got to know me better.
That’s also what happens to the audience. The story is clearly a mix of truth and fiction. How did Tizza write the screenplay?
After we met, Tizza came to my house lots of times and we talked for hours about my life. So, after a long acquaintance in which a fairly deep friendship was struck, she told me: “Vera, we are writing a film about you.” They took inspiration from all these true life stories to then build a story that is fictional, where there is a script and almost nothing is improvised. So I really had to act, playing myself which is something that may seem easy, but it’s not. That said, obviously there are moments, like the dialogue in the scene I have with Asia Argento in front of the tomb of Goethe’s unnamed son, where Asia and I just improvised.
One feels there is a constant back and forth between the real-life Gemma and a fictionalized version of yourself. How did you navigate that?
I was actually a bit confused. I didn’t know where the film started and reality ended and vice-versa. At times, I really felt that I was living my life as the camera was rolling.
Talk to me about your friendship with Asia. You share famous fathers, of course.
Tizza said, “I need an actress to play the role of your friend in the film” and I said, “I only have one real friend and that is Asia.” We met when I was like 16 years old and she was 12, which at the time was a big age difference. But I spent time with her, even though she was younger, because I understood that she was a special little girl. We spent hours reading Hermann Hesse poems; we shared some very profound moments together and she still says today that she felt understood at a time when she was a little girl who was disliked by everyone because she was such a rebel. But with me, she immediately felt understood, just as I’ve always felt understood by her. Asia always told me that I should never give up because one day I would have my opportunity. Because whoever has a voice, sooner or later, makes it heard.
How does it feel to be in L.A. promoting an Oscar contender?
Look, I’ve had a completely different life than this in Los Angeles. When I lived here, I wasn’t chasing the dream of being an actress. I came here with very little money because my father had told me I’d spent too much and he wouldn’t give me any more. So I was looking to make it on my own and I did everything. I even became a stripper working at The Body Shop on Sunset Boulevard. Now that I’ve come back for the Oscars campaign, I walked past it the other day and saw that it’s been shuttered. It made me think that everything in life has a meaning.
There is a passing reference in the film to Quentin Tarantino, who I believe you met in L.A. How did that happen?
It’s a crazy story. I was in Rome, sitting in Trastevere having breakfast, and I read an interview in Corriere della Sera with Quentin who says that without actors like Giuliano Gemma and Franco Nero, Hollywood just wouldn’t be the same. I was very, very moved by this. At the time, Asia was going out with Eli Roth, whom I knew was a friend of Quentin’s. So I emailed Eli and I said, “Tell Quentin Tarantino that I want to cook an Italian dinner for him.” After a month, I got a message saying, “Dinner date. Quentin can’t wait to meet you.” So I leave Rome for L.A. with vacuum-packed pancetta [a type of Italian bacon] in my suitcase to cook this carbonara for Quentin, who welcomes me into his home. After dinner, he tells me, “You’ve made me realize how badly I’ve been eating until today.” He loves my carbonara and then takes me into his private movie theater to watch two of my father’s films, back to back – one about Robin Hood [“Long Live Robin Hood”] and the other one with Kirk Douglas [“The Master Touch”]. It was like 2 p.m. when we started, and I had seen both movies like 100 times. But it was very exciting and he held my hand.
Back to you. What’s on the horizon?
It’s clear that some things are happening after this film, especially from outside Italy. I have a proposal from David Wagner, the Austrian director who made a very beautiful film called “Eismayer.” He is writing a movie for me that is a Western set in the future. And there is also a project with Abel Ferrara. Let’s see.
This interviewhas been edited and condensed for clarity.
