Paolo Sorrentino took a break from filming the upcoming television miniseries The Young Pope to participate in the Rome Film Festival's "Close Encounters" - intimate talks with actors, directors, and cultural figures - and spoke of the character he's currently portraying as both "real and believable", a theme he has often spoken about before.
"His characteristic is that he's a completely made-up pope, but just as believable," Sorrentino said.
Sorrentino is filming the eight-episode series in Rome for Sky in collaboration with HBO and Canal+, and chose Jude Law to play the title role.
"I wanted a young and handsome pope. That's why I chose Jude Law, who is a momentous actor, flawless," Sorrentino said.
Sorrentino also shared some of his favorite films, among which figured The Ice Storm directed by Ang Lee, partly in defence of his own directorial style, which is considered by many to be overly aesthetic.
"I'm always hit by his films, because he manages to combine the beautiful with the true. He stays in reality without renouncing aesthetics. Great directors are great because they aren't sensitive to the pressures of the environment surrounding them," Sorrentino said.
He also expressed great admiration for Fellini, Antonioni and Bertolucci.
"Anything they put on the screen, no one does it like them," he said.
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