Why the two young girls in Foxtel’s My Brilliant Friend are the best child actors of 2018
Elisa Del Genio and Ludovica Nasti have the toughest acting job of 2018 — anchoring the early episodes of the TV version of Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend — and they are stunning.
Elisa Del Genio and Ludovica Nasti have the weight of the television and literary worlds on their shoulders.
The two child actors have to carry the initial two hours of My Brilliant Friend.
The ten-hour miniseries is based on the novel by Elena Ferrante which caused a literary sensation when it was published in 2012.
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Ferrante’s book and its three sequels — The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child — have sold over 10 million copies worldwide.
Adding to the hoopla is the fact that Ferrante is a pseudonym. The author has kept her true identity a secret.
Set in Naples and filmed in Italy, My Brilliant Friend tells the story of Elena Greco, an elderly woman who learns that the most important friend in her life, Raffaella ‘Lila’ Cerullo has disappeared.
Greco is triggered to write about the pair’s complicated relationship, which has lasted more than 60 years and began in 1950 in their first year of school.
The casting for the series took eight months with newcomers Del Genio and Nasti picked from more than 8000 children.
A different pair of actors — Margherita Mazzucco and Gaia Girace — play Elena and Lila as teenagers. Elisabeth De Pala is the adult Elena.
But it is Del Genio and Nasti who have to do the heavy lifting early. They are crucial to the success of the series.
“The centre of the story is a friendship, but because it goes through a lifetime, there is everything in it,” director Saverio Constanzo says.
“We thought at the beginning Lila would be the most difficult character to cast, because she is the brilliant one.
“But I was surprised because it was easier to find Lila than Elena. But once we saw them (Del Genio and Nasti) we knew they were the right ones.”
The two main characters are a contrast: Elena is blonde and shy; Lila is dark-haired and highly strung.
When it is revealed that Lila is extremely intelligent — she can write freehand in year one — Elena, who believes she is top of the class, becomes intrigued.
“I think Lila and Elena are one person, even though sometimes they feel different emotions,” Nasti says.
“At the beginning Lila keeps her distance from everyone. But little by little she shows her gratitude (to Elena) by bringing her everywhere, making her do everything with her, and pushing her to find her inner strength. From then on they become close friends.”
Del Genio adds: “Elena and Lila are very much connected. They think in the same way even though they have different personalities.”
The miniseries, which Ferrante helped script shows that Elena and Lila live in a town that is regularly racked by arguments and violence among the adults.
The mysterious Don Achille rules the area mafia-style. Fights break out between women accused of having affairs.
Elena and Lila buy a copy of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and dream of being authors when they grow up. But those hopes are dashed when the parents say that because they are girls they will stop going to school.
Elena and Lila’s relationship changes as they enter their teenage years. Elena leaves for Naples and Lila stays.
“In the first two episodes Elena and Lila are very connected, they spend a lot of time together, but further ahead in the story they are separate,” Mazzucco says.
“They don’t see each other for months, but in the end they always come back to each other.”
Constanzo was aware of the pressure would come with adapting such a beloved book to television. Fans will be merciless if he screws up. But he was undaunted.
“I really did love the book as a reader at the beginning,” Constanzo says. “I didn’t want to fight against the book in any way. It’s a matter of work.
“Once you get to the centre of the emotion it comes naturally. And then Elena Ferrante wrote the script with us. We were working together and that was very crucial.”
The first two episodes of My Brilliant Friend received a rapturous reception when they screened at the Venice Film Festival. Del Genio and Nasti were standouts.
Ferrante’s unblinking view of a complicated friendship between two women has struck a chord.
“Lila is very tough. She is very brutal, very smart, but very fragile. She’s a very complex character. Elena is sweet and more welcoming. She’s more open,” Constanzo says.
“A friendship is something very joyful, but also a weight you have to carry on in your life. I think Elena Ferrante really succeeded in describing this — the love and the hate and the envy you feel.
“Sometimes it is very hard to admit this. In their lifetime they (Elena and Lila) are going to explore all of that emotion. It is moving and dangerous at the same time. There is a spotlight on something which is hard to admit.”
WATCH — MY BRILLIANT FRIEND, FOX SHOWCASE, TUESDAY, 8.30PM. LAST NIGHT’S DEBUT EPISODE AVAILABLE ON CATCH-UP
Originally published as Why the two young girls in Foxtel’s My Brilliant Friend are the best child actors of 2018
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