“If not now, then when?” | Vanity Fair Italy

The article was published on March 23, 2013 in issue 13 of the magazine. Vanity Fairand we propose today to again trace the changes that Vanity has been the main character of the last 20 years. Here are all the articles we republish.

If you want to know what makes a star, forget about hiring trend experts.
ze and fame, and one evening go to El Landó, a restaurant in Madrid. Owner Angel Gonzalez has hung about five hundred framed photographs on the walls of an equal number of famous people, from the King of Spain to the kings of Hollywood. This is a sampling of selfies taken before selfies were invented.
I was there for dinner with Madalina Ghenea, who was in town to shoot an advertising campaign. After walking around our table for a while, Angel Gonzalez came up to me with the air of a man who knows his business and whispered: “The senorita who is with you is an actress, right?”
When I replied, “He hasn’t done much yet, but he just made an important film,” he ran to the kitchen, took a camera (a serious one, not a cell phone) and immortalized himself with Madalina. Angel believed in her, and the next time I go to dinner with him, I already know that I will find her in a frame between Tom Cruise and Kate Winslet.

Paolo Sorrentino also believes in her and chose her to join the cast Youth – Youth

, in competition at the next Cannes Film Festival, a long-awaited film (the first since the Oscar for “The Great Beauty”) and with high-level actors: Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz, Jane Fonda. Among them is Madalina, who still doesn’t believe it. “Me, born in a small village in Romania, where there is only an aluminum plant, I will be on the red carpet in Cannes for a competition film, I can’t believe it!” she says.

Tell us this Sorrentino called her again and again for a long series of auditions. and when he finally told her that he got the part, Madalina cried for the first time in her life because of the good news. More good news followed. In fact, after Youth – Youth we’ll see Ghenya in the much-talked-about sequel, set in a fashion world where she’s contractually unable to even pronounce the name (but we can imagine it’s Zoolander 2) And in Condemned to lovedirected by Barry Morrow (Oscar for screenplay) Rain Man), which will begin filming in July.

The fact is that the big breakthrough of Sorrentino’s film came during a very sad period. There were health problems. And there were heart problems: the end of the relationship with actor Michael Fassbender who seemed more stable than ever, with a ring on his finger, meeting relatives, plans to start a family. Madalina was so depressed that she even considered changing jobs, returning to Romania and becoming a real estate agent.
Then he changed his mind. “Thank you to my mother Costanza. It was she who told me: “If you don’t try seriously at this age, then when?” And then I made a series of decisions. I closed the house in Milan on my birthday. On August 8th of last year, I returned the keys and packed all the things in my life into boxes that I sent to my mother in Romania. And then I found myself an apartment in Los Angeles. I signed up for acting classes. I no longer want to feel guilty about not being prepared enough for the audition.”

Did it happen like this?
“By force. I modeled, I participated in Dancing with the Stars… I understand that there are prejudices. Sorrentino had them too, but that’s normal. And then, until recently, I was very insecure and fragile. On the set of the film House Hemingway, which I shot with Jude Law, I was afraid of making a mistake, at certain moments I wanted to dig a hole in the ground and find myself in it.”

And now?
“I’m fine. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to figure out what you want.”

In Sorrentino’s film he is frontally naked. Problems?
“It wasn’t easy. I’ve never undressed like this. Maybe I was inspired by my proximity to Fassbender, who appeared in films more than once? (He is laughing). Seriously, I’m glad I stripped down for such a great movie, but I don’t think I’ll do it again. I also talked to Michael Caine about this and he says certain choices only make sense with great directors.”

Who is Michael Caine?
“Great. I also took my mom with me to the meeting, she’s a fan. But everyone was fantastic, I tried to stay on set as much as possible to watch them work, even if I didn’t have any scenes with them.”

She has been single for a year now, and it will be difficult to keep suitors away.
“I’m not particularly interested in finding another partner right now. I realized that now is the time to focus on work. And then, don’t think if all these suitors don’t exist. In love we are all equal, we all suffer equally. In addition, I am a difficult type, hypercritical of myself. If something goes wrong, I always think it’s my fault. That’s why now I want to devote myself to work and not think about anything else.”

Please explain better.
“Well, I’ve had two affairs with men more famous than me, and I’ve realized that when I’m in love, I tend to take a step back, devoting too much of myself to my partner and too little to myself. I don’t think it was good.”

Why did she settle on Gerard Butler? Three years ago she told me that she would love him forever…

“The stories end. I remain on excellent terms with Jerry, he is a friend I can always count on, a good and affectionate person.”

And Fassbender?
“The conclusion was difficult and painful for reasons I don’t want to talk about.”

He will also be in Cannes with a competition film: Macbeth.
— You mean the famous Scottish drama. Don’t you know that in the entertainment world they say it brings bad luck?

I knew it.
“And I don’t. I discovered it when I accompanied Michael on set in Scotland.”

Is she superstitious?
“A lot. I’m careful about some things. And I believe in astrology.”

But not out of great love.
“We’d all like to believe that, wouldn’t we? Whether it comes or not, I have only one dream: to become a mother. For several months now I have become an aunt, my brother Alina gave birth to a beautiful child, Alexander, and my desire has become even stronger. Yes, I want a child, I want him as soon as possible, and I am also ready to adopt him alone.”