The article was published on March 23, 2013 in the 13th issue of the journal. Vanity Fairand today we again propose to trace the changes that Vanity has been a main character for the last 20. Here are all the articles we republish
If you want to know what a star is made of, forget about paid trend experts.
ze and fame, and go one evening to El Landó, a restaurant in Madrid. Owner Ángel González hung about five hundred photographs on the walls, framed by as many celebrities, from the king of Spain to the kings of Hollywood. He was a selfie champ before they even invented the selfie.
I was there for dinner with Madalina Ghenea, in the city on the set of an advertising campaign. After walking around our table for a while, Angel Gonzalez approached me with a know-it-all look and whispered: “Señorita is an actress with you, isn’t she?”
In response to my “I haven’t done much yet, but I just made an important film,” he ran to the kitchen, took a camera (a serious one, not a mobile one) and immortalized himself with Madalina. Angel believed in her, and the next time I go out to dinner with him, I already know I’ll find her framed between Tom Cruise and Kate Winslet.
Paolo Sorrentino also believes in her, who chose her for the cast. Youth – Youth, in competition at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, the long-awaited film (the first since the Oscar for Great Beauty) and featuring high-profile performers: Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz, Jane Fonda. Among them is Madalina, who still does not believe in it. “Me, born in a small village in Romania where there is only one aluminum plant, I will be on the red carpet in Cannes for a film competition, I can’t believe it!” she says.
Say it Sorrentino called her again and again for a long series of auditions. and when he finally told her that he had got the part, Madalina burst into tears for the first time in her life at the good news. More good news followed. Indeed, after Youth – Youth we’ll see Ghenea in a much-discussed sequel set in a fashion world that she contractually can’t even 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.
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The fact is that Sorrentino’s big break came at a very sad time. There were health problems. And there were heart problems: the end of a relationship with actor Michael Fassbender it 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. “Thanks 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 number of decisions. I closed the house in Milan for my birthday. On August 8 last year, I returned the keys and packed all the things of my life in boxes that I sent to my mother in Romania. And then I found myself an apartment to stay in Los Angeles. I signed up for acting classes. I no longer want to feel guilty about not being prepared enough when I go to an audition.”
Was it so?
“Strength. I was a model, I participated in Dancing with the Stars… I understand that there are prejudices. Sorrentino had them too, but that’s okay. And then, until recently, I was very insecure and fragile. On the set of House of Hemingway, the film that I made with Jude Law, I was afraid of making a mistake, at times I wanted to dig a hole in the ground and be in it.
And now?
“I’m fine. Sometimes you have to go all the way down to figure out what you want.
In Sorrentino’s film, he is frontally naked. Problems?
“It was not easy. I have never undressed like that. Perhaps I was inspired by the proximity to Fassbender, who played more than one in the movie? (He is laughing). Seriously, I’m glad I got naked for such a good movie, but I don’t think I’ll do it again. I also talked about this with Michael Caine, he says that some decisions only make sense with great directors.”
How is Michael Caine?
“Great. I also introduced him to my mom, she’s a fan. But everyone was fantastic, I tried to be on set as much as possible to see how they work, even if I didn’t have any scenes with them.”
She has been single for a year, it will be difficult to keep suitors.
“I’m not particularly interested in finding another partner right now. I realized that it was time to focus on work. And then, do not think, not that all these suitors were. In love we are all equal, we all suffer in the same way. In addition, I am a complex type, hypercritical of myself. If something is wrong, I always think it’s my fault. So now I want to devote myself to work and not think about anything else.”
Explain better.
“Well, I had two affairs with men more famous than me, and I realized that when I’m in love, I tend to take a step back, dedicate too much to my partner and too little to myself. I don’t think it was good.”
Why did she end up with Gerard Butler? Three years ago she told me that she would love him forever…
“Stories are ending. I stayed on great terms with Jerry, he is a friend I can always count on, a good and affectionate person.”
And Fassbender?
“The ending was difficult and painful for reasons I don’t want to talk about.”
He will also be at Cannes with a competition film: Macbeth.
Do you mean the famous Scottish drama? Don’t you know they say in show business that it brings bad luck?
I knew it.
“Neither did I. I actually 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 in great love.
“We would all like to believe that, right? Whether it happens or not, I have only one dream: to become a mother. For several months I was an aunt, my brother Alina had a beautiful child, Alexander, and my desire became even stronger. Yes, I want a child, I want him soon, and I am also ready to adopt him as a single.