Romana Maggiora Vergano: ironic and serious, ‘There’s still tomorrow’ it’s like life

Interview with the actress who plays Marcella in Paola Cortellesi's film

Romana Maggiora Vergano answers students’ questions with the sincerity she reserves for people close to her. And she is. By age, of course, but also by that sense of possibility and hope which, fortunately, the new generations are full of. Born in 1997,the actress meets the girls and boys of some Roman high schools in the Nilde Iotti Hall of the Chamber of Deputies, where ‘There’s Still Tomorrow’ was screened, the film by Paola Cortellesi, winner of the David Giovani Award, an award founded in 1997 by Agiscuola and assigned by secondary school students from all over Italy. In the film, Romana plays Marcella, the daughter of the protagonist Delia.

THE INTERVIEW

What effect does it have to be here talking to younger people about your role in There’s Still Tomorrow?

“It’s a great emotion, because this library is a wonderful place that I had seen many years ago on a school trip. Coming back with this film is very significant. The meetings with the students are always wonderful, perhaps because I am close to the their generation, they always give me so much inspiration. Seeing how they received the film, the food for thought it left them, seeing them so interested in learning about my experience within the film, but also about me as a person, as an actress, It’s an incredible gift that this film continues to give me.”

They asked you their questions today, but what were yours when you first read the script?

“I asked myself many things. In the meantime, whether I would have been up to it, because I was immediately struck by this important weight that Marcella has within the story. A weight that perhaps doesn’t arrive in the narrative as it does in the finale, because Marcella believes she is acting for herself, but in reality it is clear that she is connected to all the other women, whether of her generation or older or younger. I immediately felt this responsibility and asked to Paola (Cortellesi, ed.) if I would be up to it. I asked her for support which was never denied to me: Paola was always there, from when she told me about the film to when we read the script together, during filming and afterwards, in promotion. She is an incredible woman, she accompanied me by the hand in this interpretation and continues to give me so much.”

‘There’s Still Tomorrow’ is a film that has spoken to many people, of every generation. What does this success depend on?

“I like to remember, as Paola often remembers, that she didn’t want to leave a message with this film, but rather to leave food for thought that was very personal for all viewers. I believe that the reasons for its success are many, but the fact that Paola is able to reach the hearts of people of any age, class and with any type of life experience depends on the very simple and direct, ironic, but also deeply serious language: it’s like life. She is like that and her film is like this. And so she managed to speak to many people. And then I think that also the use of black and white, the fact of having told a story set in the past gives you permission to look at a reality with a certain detachment, allowing you to so as to ask yourself more precise questions precisely because the moment you look at it, you feel that that story doesn’t concern you, because you see it in black and white, you see it set in an era that isn’t yours, there are kids who they are your age, but they are dressed differently. This detachment allows you to look at different relational dynamics and cultural systems in a more lucid and objective way. I think this is one of the strengths of this film.”