Dario Aita, the actor with a luggage called Sicily
Dario Aita was born in Palermo in 1987 and studied at the drama school of Teatro Stabile di Genova. In 2009 he was one of the protagonists of the movie La prima linea directed by Renato De Maria and in 2010, together with the same director, he appeared for the first time in a TV series entitled Il segreto dell’acqua. Over the years, he collected many experiences in movies, on TV and at the theatre both as an actor and as a director. Now, he’s part of the cast of Don Matteo 12. Sicilian Secrets interviewed him.
Q: How did Dario Aita begin his career in this field?
A: I began when I was at the high school, then I studied at Teatès, the drama school founded by Michele Perriera in Palermo. There I met a girl who asked me to accompany her for some auditions, I tried the entrance exam at Teatro Stabile di Genova and was accepted. Since that moment I have started attending some castings for the cinema, my first experience was in the movie “La prima linea”, directed by Renato De Maria, the same director who directed me when I appeared in the first TV series “Il segreto dell’acqua”.
Q: What’s your bond with Sicily?
A: I have an indissoluble bond with Sicily. I’m a cosmopolitan, I feel like home basically everywhere and thanks to my job I have the chance to be always around for filming or for a tour. But Sicily is always in my creative imaginary, whatever I do as an actor and director. My origins are something that I could never neglect.
Q: How does your ‘sicilianity’ influence your acting?
A: Whatever I imagine comes from Sicily and from the South in general. Many roles I played were in Sicilian dialect and I played those roles because I am Sicilian. To belong to this land is a plus, I never have to force my ‘sicilianity’ because it’s something natural. On the contrary, what is not Sicilian is forced, even if over the years – since I am like a sponge – I learnt how to easily absorb from any other culture. Sicilian makes me have a direct access to my soul.
Q: Dario Aita and his characters: which one will be forever in your heart?
A: Two characters will be forever in my heart. Bernardo in “Questo nostro amore” and Rosario in “La mafia uccide solo d’estate”. The first one is poetic, shy. He’s an immigrant construction worker from the ‘60s. He’s the classic character of a novel. The second one was fun, even if he was not one of the main characters, I liked to play this role because the director of this series – Luca Ribuoli – already knew me and gave me enough freedom to invent some instant jokes and being creative in acting.
Q: Emmanuele and Dario Aita, how is to work with your brother?
A: Actually, Emmanuele and I never worked a lot together. In “L’Allieva” we were together only in one scene, it happened the same in a show at the theatre that I directed with Elena Gigliotti, “Trenofermo a Katzelmacher”. But in May we will debut together in a show called “A View from the Bridge” directed by Valerio Binasco.
Q: You are in the cast of “Don Matteo 12” and play the role of Sergio La Cava. What does it mean for you to be part of a so successful TV series?
A: “Don Matteo” was a beautiful experience, we filmed everything in ten months. I created a good relationship with Maria Chiara Giannetta and Maurizio Lastrico, the actors I had the chance to know the most. Even the director of the second part of the show, Cosimo Alemà, became a friend.
Q: What can you tell us about your future projects?
A: During the next months, I’m going to work at the theatre. I’ll play in “Vaudeville” written by Eugène Labiche and directed by Roberto Rustioni and – as I already told you – in “A View from the Bridge” together with my brother.
