What is my idea of perfect happiness? The silence before I enter the stage and I meet the audience. In that moment exactly, I feel like I am desert: I am nothing but at the same time I can be everything. My body is warm, my soul is peaceful and naked, my mind sees. I am alone, but at the same time I am with everyone I have loved and I will love. The only existing thing is the present moment.

What is my greatest fear? To be unloved. To lose my beloved ones. The war. To open the window in the morning and to discover a grey sky.

What is the trait that I most deplore in myself?Indecision. It makes me lose a lot of time and eventually, even when I take an impulsive decision, it makes me think about what would have happen if I had taken the other choice.

Which living persons in my profession do i most admire? Claudia Cardinale, because she is a great artist, she is sober and delicate and her eyes never lie. Meryl Streep, because she loves all her characters and she is a warrior. Javier Bardem, because he never stopped to train and he always shows his heart. Kate Blanchett, because she does not fear to stay in the mud.

What is my greatest extravagance? It’s hard to say exactly, since extravagance is like my hidden (not so hidden) habit. Maybe my passion to wear wigs despite my hair volume?!?…More deeply, I think that my greatest extravagance is to be very shy and to spend good part of my energy pretending I am not. On what occasion would I lie? Whenever I am afraid to disappoint my beloved ones. Or to deceive someone else feelings.

What is the thing that I dislike the most in my work? To say farewells so often. I love to travel and knowing new people but I hate farewells.

When and where was I the happiest, in my work? Every moment, when I’m working! In Palermo, last year: for the first time I had the leading role in a play. A big responsibility and a great emotion. In Teatro alla Scala, as a performer in “Carmen”: I was coming down with an elevator and the orchestra played louder and louder, and I could see the audience little by little, until I was on the stage.

If I could, what would I change about myself? My pride, my inexhaustible hunger, my being afraid to be not accepted.

What is my greatest achievement in work? Starting to do my own theatre projects, since last year. I love to have time to research and study: I love to follow the creative process from the very beginning. Of course, I enjoy also being in other people’s projects, film, theatre, or visual arts: it is exciting and challenging being the one that act the fantasy of someone else.

Where would I most like to live? An island, in front of the sea. I like to live in cities too: my own city, Palermo; Madrid, where I studied acting; Rome and Milan, where I work now. But my passion is to live in the countryside and by the sea.

What is my most treasured possession? The memory of my grandparents, my memories in general. My Tarot Deck.

What is my most marked characteristic? My snap mood swingings, my curiosity, my poetry, my big curly hair… My Sicilian/Spanish accents when I speak Italian, my Sicilian/Italian/Mexican accent when I speak Spanish, my Sicilian/Italian/Spanish accent when I speak English. Such a great confusion.

What is my most inspirational location, in my city? What do you mean by “my city”? I live in so many different places at the moment! In Palermo the balcony of my room in my parent’s house, the seaside (Mondello beach), the botanic garden, the viewpoint on the top of Monte Pellegrino. In Madrid the Buen Retiro Park, the Debod Temple and the station Puerta de Atocha. In Rome Cappella Sistina and in Milan… Well, all the trams! But the place I consider my “city” is Favignana, and the most inspiring place in the world is my grandparent’s house in the countryside.

What is my favourite place to eat and drink, in my city? In Palermo, Bar Garibaldi to drink, bar Ilardo to take slush (granita), Supra i Mura and bar Amato to eat; in Madrid, calle cava baja to drink and Casa Melos in Lavapies to eat; in Rome Vida do Brasil at Pigneto to drink and Supplì pizzeria blb in san Francesco Arripa to eat… But the best place is at Marinelli Effetti Sonori studio! In Milan I love Temaquinho on Navigli, since I love sushi and Brazilian kitchen too!

What books influenced my life and how? In my childhood, Neverending Story by Michael Ende made me love reading. In my adolescence, Herman Esse’s Siddharta marked my interest in oriental philosophies and meditation; One hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcìa Marquez increased my faith in magic. Jack Kerouac’s On the Road taught me to travel and Milan Kundera’s Žert (the joke) and The Unbearable Lightness of Being brought me to feel less lonely. Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding) by Federico Garcia Lorca taught me how to use poetic images on the stage.

Who are my favorite writers? Gabriel García Márquez, Italo Calvino, Toltstoj, Federico García Lorca, Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, Neruda, Fernando Pessoa, Anton Chekhov, August Strindberg, Milan Kundera, George Orwell, Michail Bulgakov, Giacomo Leopardi, Ovidio, Omero.

You Only Die Once. What music would I listen on my last day? Just once??? Alone or in a world wide war? If I die old and rich Il testamento by Fabrizio De Andrè. If I die young and poor, Mozart.

Who is my hero or heroine in fiction? All females characters of Hayao Miyazaki, especially Princess Mononoke; Margarita from Michail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita; Vitangelo Moscarda from Luigi Piradello’s One, No One and One Hundred Thousand; Donald Duck.

Who are my heroes and heroines in real life? My family; my bestfriends (not because they bear me, but because they are amazing people); PKK women and in general who fight to protect what he loves and the weaks and outcasts; people who do not let power to take away their own identity and people who keep their identity despite money and power.

Which movie would i recommend to see once in a lifetime? François Truffaut’s Day for Night.

What role plays art in my life and work? The most important.

Who is my greatest fan, sponsor, partner in crime? My Mother, first of all… But my bestfriend Giuseppe Guagliardo is a great one, too!

Whom would I like to work with in 2017? “All in”! There are thousands of them. First of all, before it is too late, it would be my big dream to work with Peter Brook. I’d love to work with Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar… And Xavier Dolan!

Which people in my profession would I love to meet in 2017? I would love to meet myself. Well, that is a life-long journey… In 2017 I would be happy with Meryl Streep!

What project, in 2017, am I looking forward to work on? A play on Luigi Piradello’s “Clothing the Naked” and a monologue on Frida Khalo’s Intimate Diary.

Where can you see me or my work in 2017? In theaters in Italy, I have no fixed dates at the moment, but I hope to very soon. Check my contacts and my website to stay tuned!

What do the words “Passion Never Retires” mean to me? In the darkest moments, I think it’s the reason why I get up and start it all over again.

Which creative heroines should Peter invite to tell their story? Francesca Sant’Angelo, Marta Palmisano, Alexia Messina, Federica Bellante, Laura Domino, Paloma Alma, Delphine Tempels, Eva Chocrón, Andrea Noceda, María Jáimez.

How can you contact me? You can write me a mail using the contact form on WEBSITE  https://www.federicacuccia.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/federicacucciaofficial/ 

Links about my work:

This is a trailer of my work on Piradello:   https://vimeo.com/federicacuccia/gliignudi 

Italian version    https://vimeo.com/federicacuccia/autopresentazione