«It is difficult to act among the “bad guys”»- Corriere.it

For Massimiliano Caiazzo, even going for a run has become a complicated matter. «Just the other morning a boy appeared in front of me and he said to me:“ facimm na foto ”. That’s how it works now.” Carmine, the character he has been playing in «Mare fuori» since 2020, has not only given him great popularity. Its good hero, resistant to the Camorra despite being immersed in a world of violence, entered the hearts and bellies of the public who made the series a phenomenon, transforming this 26-year-old young actor who was almost making his debut at the time, into one of the most loved faces of the show. «The nice thing was to see that the public, through him, has grown fond of me and also follows me in my other projects. This has diminished the small fear that sometimes knocks when you’re in projects of such great success, of ending up a bit stuck».

Courted not only by cinema (also) by fashion, very popular (also) on social media (almost one and a half million people on Instagram alone), Caiazzo is carefully choosing his commitments: at the Nastri d’Argento he was awarded as best young actor for the film “Piano Piano” and also “Filumena Marturano” was a success. Among the next stops, the new season of «Mare fuori» and the Disney + series «Uonderbois». “I had to explore a new way of life. But people are interested in seeing what I do: it matters a lot».

That for acting is a love he has taken from act over time. «As a child, even though I didn’t know that there was a profession like that of the actor, I liked to replicate what the characters did in the movies. I never got to say: “When I grow up I want to act”, but I found myself being Spiderman or Buzz from Toy Story: I wanted to go towards infinity and beyond». His was a bourgeois family: “Mother a professor, now principal, father at the time councilor in the municipality of my city”. But he was already a little guy: «I was pretty terrible, restless. Sport has helped me to calm down but before it was difficult to manage». Nothing dramatic: «Maybe I skipped school, things like that. But, above all, I have always wanted to assert my identity, not accepting what I was told as a postulate».

Like: don’t act. «It is not a canonical path, but I forced myself. My parents didn’t hinder me too much but there was a fair amount of fear in them, also because they didn’t expect it». For several years, Caiazzo did not dare to share her passion: «I kept it to myself, both with friends and at home. There was a fear of a negative judgment which would cause disenchantment. For me it was such a precious thing to even imagine… I wanted to protect it».

And then, in silence, around the age of 15 he started to attend the first neighborhood theaters: «The first shows were those with the parish but I already felt a sense of peace on stage, they were the first signs. In the fourth year of high school, Gianfelice Imparato took an acting course in my city, Castellammare di Stabia». There, the enlightenment: «I realized that I put my effort into it, I studied a lot and without impositions, when doing it for certain questions cost me enormous effort. I had enrolled in Biotechnology but in the classroom I went over the scenes to play. So I said to myself: who am I kidding? And with my heart racing, I decided: I’m leaving university». The first to tell him that he could do it had been Imparato himself: «he told me: “You must go to Rome”. Then he added: “I will never tell you to do this job but I tell you that you have everything to do it” ».

Shortly after, «Mare Fuori» arrived. “They are not raised in those contexts, at most I saw something from afar. Carmine and I are becoming adults together». She did not imagine this bang. “For nothing. Now we are enjoying the ride. In the early days we also went out with the other actors in the cast, today it’s difficult». Impersonating the good part of such a harsh world was no small thing: «For me, doing “the good” was the real difficulty. I started from a judgment on the character that blocked me a bit: if I’m good I don’t have to do this thing like this, I thought, I held back my impulses. But the real key was trying to tell why he becomes good in the eyes of others: he doesn’t have a label but he becomes so by crossing his gray areas. All bad things bring out your darker side: choose to be good because you know what bad means.

In the chapter dreams come true, he mentions “Slowly”: «Acting with Lello Arena, who with Troisi is one of the myths of my childhood, was incredible. The first day of set I called my dad telling him that he had been the most beautiful in my life ». In the future, he doesn’t rule out directing: «I like everything in this world, it’s a playground made up of many different rides. On the set of “Mare Fuori” I sometimes asked to be able to shoot some scenes, I’m very curious. But those are more than goals. The dream is to find my own serenity and also to create a family, I feel ready».