Interview by Marian Pălie
Photo credit Matei
Stratan, February 2017, Arezzo, Italy
I perfectly remember that moment. I was 14 years old back
then. While I was playing basketball in school, I received a note from a girl
inviting me to show up for a casting organized by an agency in Bucharest. I
went home and told my parents and my brother about it. My brother told me very
confidently that I should keep calm because no one will choose me, however he
was willing to go there with me to see some beautiful girls. (Laughs). This was
the first step. I left home having this thought “no one will choose me”. This lack
of confidence was not just in my mind, but also in every agent with whom I
worked with. Nobody believed I would be able to work, nobody ever told me “you
can do more”. In the end, I realized I had to encourage myself. My mother was the
only person who has always believed in me. From that first casting, many bus
trips to Bucharest followed. Shortly after, I was sent to Italy where I started
working on the catwalk.
Do you remember your first job?
Yes. It was for the Italian lingerie brand – La Perla. I had
never heard of it before. Later on, there were many shows at Milan Fashion
Week, in many fascinating places. I remember one show in Piazza di Spagna
(Rome). It was really exciting for me. After all, I was a simple girl from
Slatina, born and raised near the aluminum factory. It was incredible to live all
that.
However, your modeling career was spectacular but in the
same time it wasn`t…
No, it wasn`t spectacular at all. I never did anything important in the fashion business because, as I mentioned before, I started off by having a complete lack of self-confidence.
Is by any chance this “lack of self-confidence“ a form of lament?
No, not at all. This lack of self-confidence still exists
today if we are to discuss modeling. If I am sent to film with Sorrentino
(Paolo) I am happy. On the other hand, if you send me to do a shoot with a
great photographer, I feel completely uncomfortable. Yet, all this modeling prepared
me for what I truly wanted to do: cinema. And for this I need to thank everyone
who harmed me, because they made me able to understand many things; for
example, how to read a contract…
And how did you start working in the movie industry?
At one point I said stop. I realized that modeling was not
what I wanted to do. I came back to Romania. I put on some weight. Maybe, I
became a woman. I don`t know what happened…After that, I came back to Italy and
I started having commercial jobs. I was working with an Italian agency which,
just like the Romanian one, didn`t see anything else in me more than a model. I
decided to leave this agency as well, being aware of some contractual breaches.
Yet, I was lucky that a big Italian mobile phone company was looking for an
unknown face for their advertising campaign. They contacted me on Facebook and
shortly after I have signed a three year contract with them, without any agent.
This company was the main sponsor of the Ischia Film Festival. I was invited at
this festival to hand out the prize for best actress. Concurrently, an Italian
film producer saw me and invited me to a casting, for a movie role. This is how
I got to play in my first film”I soliti idioti”. At the same festival I met
Paul Haggis who told me about the Haiti Cinema Institute. Shortly after, I have
decided to go Haiti – an extremely poor country where young people learn to
make films. I lived there in terrible conditions. I arrived in the country soon
after the earthquake, so I was given a tent just outside the hospital. The
reality I saw there changed me deeply. I was able to see children and young
people who, despite their poverty and shortcomings, were dreaming and were
making cinema. There, I understood that nothing can stop someone from
fulfilling their dream.
In fact, meeting some people and being in certain situations
have created unexpected opportunities...
That is correct. I remember another beautiful meeting I had with actor Alessandro Gasma. I went to the theater to see one of his excellent plays. His desire was to transform this play into a film. I had a few auditions for this project; however it was a small role: a particular film that was difficult to produce. I searched for sponsors myself. It was a film about Romanian people and their lives in Italy. I realized at a later date that I fell in love with a project that brought me 0 profits. My agent back then wanted me involved in financial projects… So, I had to choose between commercial projects that meant consistent incomes and artistic, cinematographic and particular projects. I chose the latter and I also changed the agent.
I believe that an important career is built on saying no. I did very few things and I ended up doing what I wanted. It`s a paradox that to end up doing what we want, we must do as little as possible.
From that moment on, I lost many contracts, a lot of money, but I do not regret it. Even the film “Youth” didn`t bring me a fabulous income. Later on, at the same Ischia Festival, I had the great chance to meet Valentina Conti, an agent who understood me and what I wanted in particular. Together we had the most beautiful projects.
So, from this moment on your career took another turn. What moment or meeting had the most impact?
That would be meeting Sorrentino. When I met him, I was
going through a very difficult moment in my life; maybe the most difficult
ever.
And how did you effectively meet Paolo Sorrentino?
It was through my agent. She called me and told me about
this very small role, a scene in one of his movies. I remember going into his office,
saying Hello. He asked me the reason for which I didn`t come to the first
audition. I busted into tears and I told him the reason. The reason for which I
didn`t come to the first audition was another important project, more important
to me than that role.
„Youth“ by Paolo Sorrentino brought you to the Cannes red carpet…
My role in this film was very small. I had only one scene; an empty scene with an empty character. I accepted the role because I had the audacity to argument with the director. At the audition, Sorrentino read together with me but I gave him different lines. I told him that this character is not as empty as he imagined.Coming back to the red carpet in Cannes, I must tell you in all honesty that when something like this happens, you don`t really understand what`s going on. I was surprised to see how emotional Jane Fonda and Michael Caine were.
How did the film crew welcome you?
There are interviews online for big magazines and there we
can see how these people, great actors, talk about me. Their words flattered me
a lot. This is something that can be checked on the internet. I felt like home,
part of a family who believed in me. Michael Caine came to me and told me I
don`t have to get undressed anymore, that this is the last time. (Laughs).
Everyone offered to help me get an agent for UK and USA. I requested to stay on
the film set. For me it was truly educational. For this short role I prepared
six months.
In “Youth“ you play the role of an extremely beautiful woman, Miss Universe. What do you need to look like Miss Universe? What are your beauty rituals?
(Laughs). I have many. I am lucky because I eat a lot but I
don`t put on weight. I burn a lot of calories quickly. I also eliminated
chicken, milk and sugar from my diet and this helped me a great deal. For skin
care I only use natural methods. I can tell you this thing: I often go to this
monastery, Petru Voda (in Neamt) where I buy these creams made by the nuns and
I use them all the time. These are the best creams I have ever tried. I also
use some body oils.
So you don`t use any invasive techniques?
For example, i remove makeup with almond oil, in the morning
and in the afternoon. I wash my face with soap. I think having the right diet
is very important. I don`t believe in the classical diets, although I have also
tried them.
Which diet was the most efficient for you?
The Danish diet. I lost 8 kilograms; for me, it wasn`t very
strict. Yes, I think any diet must be done according to the doctor`s advice and
after having a complete set of tests. I have abruptly approached the beauty
area, as a parenthesis between the first part of our discussion and the next
questions.
There is a permanent debate on your looks and your personal life
(in particular in the Romanian media) and it sheds your professional activities.
Is this a problem or an advantage? How do you perceive this permanent uproar on
your visible side?
The physical side, at some point, can also represent a
handicap for someone who has my height: 1, 80 cm, in fact 1, 81 to be precise.
Honestly it can be a real problem. This automatically puts someone into a category.
Going back to something we have already agreed upon…Your charm – not to be blunt about it and use the word beauty – is no longer debatable, by anyone, not even by yourself, if you don`t mind me saying. I don`t think anyone needs to convince you of that.
Now I have to convince you that I am who I am, and that is a normal person and not the one everyone sees in the images. In my intimacy, I am not that woman. I am just a woman who had the opportunity to be shown in a certain light by photographers and directors. In Romania my image is at least...controversial in comparison with the one I have in Italy. Maybe I should be involved in more projects here because it is possible that people only know me from tabloids. Maybe I didn`t put much effort towards that. To be honest, I always had to wear Sunday clothes in Romania. Maybe I should just give up the makeup and this whole image. I am still looking for the right form to show how I really am.
How are you really?
For sure I am not the girl on the red carpet, a model; and
for sure I am not the character presented in the tabloids. Certainly I am
making some mistakes as well. I didn`t find the method to show who I really am
because, if I did it then all the press lies wouldn`t exist. As I said before,
maybe I should produce some important project here, in Romania.
Speaking of local projects...Why do you think there were no important
film projects for you coming from Romania?
This is a very good question. I don`t know. I would love to
have a project in Romania.
Would you like to work with a certain director?
No. I would just love to work. Period. But I admit I didn`t receive any film proposals. I don`t know why. Maybe I don`t have an agent here… Maybe...I am trying to find a more practical response to the previous question. I believe people are fed up with all my relationships and breakups. I also believe that the journalists hope I had a strategy plan to attack and create an image for myself; a plan that I have followed step by step. It is very far from the truth.
I have never made any plans, especially not in my personal life. I have lived and I have suffered like any other human being. I have loved, I have left and I was left. But this is a normal life.
I have never discussed my
personal life. My lovers did most of the talking. Yet, I made a huge mistake. I
have published images with a person, during a crazy time in my life. And for
this mistake I can`t receive forgiveness yes. But we all make mistakes…
And yet, if I understand correctly, Mădălina Ghenea herself
is crushed by the image diversions inflicted or self-inflicted. How would you
describe after all the real Mădalina Ghenea?
(Laughs) My God!
Yes, because we all have the natural tendency to say that people
don`t know us but we don`t introduce ourselves to the world either.
(Laughs) Certainly I am a very honest person. I put a lot
into a friendship and into a relationship. For me, a relationship is something sacred.
I have an example in my family. My mother loves her husband enormously. She
gave him all her life. I have tried to act the same in my relationships and
also in my friendships. This is a painful chapter in my life because a part of
me was gone with every broken friendship. Hmm! What else about Mădălina?! She
is certainly not punctual.
My question was about how she is, not about what she is
not...
I love children. I have tried to adopt a little girl. This is a sad chapter in my life. I was born to be a mother. I love my parents very much. And I want to be a good daughter. But I can tell you that every time we can, we must start over. It is possible to start over even after strongly believing there is nothing to be done. There were moments when i was convinced that nothing made sense. But, God proved otherwise... yes, I believe that God is able to find the answers to all my questions. When we had to leave (me and my mother) we went to the monastery one last time and I cried for about an hour. The most precious thing I have learnt was an advice from my father confessor. I have learnt to understand those who do wrong. I should pray for them to receive healing and revelation. After leaving the monastery…something happened inside. Everything in my life changed.
So, surprisingly, failure is part of your life as well?
Yes, absolutely. I had failure in everything. This dark time
in my life made me understand more; I understood the things that were blocking
me. And only these episodes made me realize what I truly have.
What are the next steps in your career?
I have finished working for a new film directed by Barry
Morrow. We filmed in Italy. I don`t know when it will be released, maybe in the
following months.
More or less, some people compared you to Sophia Loren…
Tudor Giurgiu gave me this beautiful present – I got the
opportunity to hand out the TIFF career award to Sophia Loren, in Cluj. It was
an extraordinary moment. For me it was actually shocking to do this... getting to
know this person that I admired for as long as I can remember.
What is the message you would to send at the end of our talk
and to whom?
It is a message for my child… I love him and will love him all my life. And maybe I should stop here.. I have talked about failures and how difficult I find it to manage my relationship with the media and the public. The daily tabloid appearances pushed me towards isolation and made me hide this miracle. This interview might seem depressing to your readers but they cannot see my smile. I am smiling now like never before.
Yes, I have hidden this miracle. And it is a miracle because until Matei entered my life I was certain I would only have adopted children. Matei is likewise a miracle and he is a man who thought from the first moment that I deserve to be happy and truly fulfilled. Miracle begets miracle. It was a hard decision to invite the public in our intimacy, where there are only the three of us and our love for each other.
