Italian superstar Matilda says she wants her act to be loved as much as PC’s, while showrunner Gina weighs in on how Indian & Italian arms of Prime Video’s Citadel came about
Priyanka Chopra and Matilda De Angelis
“I was over for the London première of Citadel and watched Priyanka Chopra for the first time,” says Italian lead actor, Matilda De Angelis, from Citadel Diana. Which is the Italian extension of the Prime Video multiverse spy-thriller series.
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By then, Matilda says, she had already shot for her own show: “So, I couldn’t take anything from Priyanka’s performance in Citadel [into mine]. But I just thought to myself—please, let me be, at least, as good as her!”
In the series, Matilda plays spy Diana. That’s pronounced ‘Dee-a-naa’, the Italian way. As against ‘Die-a-naa’ for the late princess, from London—where mid-day exclusively met Matilda, along with her showrunner, executive producer, Gina Gardini.
Showrunner Gina Gardini with actor Matilda De Angelis. Pic/Getty Images
Citadel Diana dropped, Oct 10. The show also has an Indian arm, titled Citadel Honey Bunny, that drops in November. This, while the second season of the main Citadel is currently being shot in London, with the OG lead, Priyanka.
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As a simultaneous crossover, this is a first of sorts—with Russo bros (Anthony and Joe), best known for Avengers, along with sister, Angela, creatively helming this leap of faith, for a global, OTT project.
The final frame of Citadel (2023) lets out that there will be Diana. One wonders, if the Indian version was planned alongside.
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Gina says, “We started at the same time, five-and-a-half years ago. The fantastic part of the experience was the [Indian and Italian] showrunners, writers, would get together every two weeks, to spend two hours on Zoom, to check where we were at [in the writing process].”
Which is different from a common writers’ room “that involves 27 people, over 10 months, breaking down episodes. Our mission from the Russos and to Raj & DK [creators from India] was the shows have to stand on their own.
“The idea isn’t [to develop] interconnected stories, like Marvel. There are, however, several winks in both shows—subtle easter eggs for super-fans, where Diana’s world is in Honey Bunny, and Citadel itself.”
That Italy and India got picked first for expanding the Citadel spy-verse, appears natural to Gina: “Histories of cinema in both countries go back a hundred years, with strong cultural identities.
“Our family values are similar. Also, despite genres, we try and tell deeply emotional stories. This isn’t just true for Diana and Honey Bunny, but the overarching Citadel as well.”
While Matilda would like to be favourably compared to Priyanka in her Italian Citadel, what she has in common with the dually hyphenated (Bollywood-Hollywood) star is she’s also a singer.
To drill in the fact of how big Matilda is, back home, the Italian press in London—rightly mesmerised by her performance in the show’s first episode première—told mid-day, what beats everything else is, she’s hosted Sanremo!
Matilda laughs, “Can you imagine? I did 20 movies, but the time I conducted that one show, everybody got to know me, what am I doing [with myself]!”
And what’s Sanremo? “It’s our Super Bowl.” Only, that instead of sport/American football, it involves Italy’s top musicians competing annually, as if on Indian Idol, that the whole nation is collectively hooked to.
Matilda doesn’t sing in Citadel. For her favourite musical movie-moment, she points us to “the sequence of singing and acting in the film, Robbing Mussolini—really proud of that scene.”
As Diana, of course, she kicks ass, with stunts and sophisticated weaponry—all along terminally embedded within the rival spy network, Manticore, while she belongs to Citadel.
The former being a conglomerate of spies put together by the world’s richest, to take on Citadel. Which, in turn, comprises ex-spies, from well-known agencies (CIA, MI6, etc).
Having learnt of the nefarious ways of the deep state, Citadel’s super-spies have taken it upon themselves to save the world, from both nation-states, and Manticore, sponsored by global billionaires!
It’s a far-out idea, alright. But what’s a movie/series of this genre, if not a consummate conspiracy theory, first? We ask showrunner Gina, if she herself believes in the possibility of a deep state, within a deep state?
She says, “Honestly? Just like there’s dark web, anything is possible! That tradition, where powerful families would want to maintain control for personal gains, goes back centuries. It wouldn’t surprise me, if they created a network to sorta guarantee that.
“In this moment in time, though, I find it less possible that a bunch of people would similarly get together for the greater good [like Citadel]. So, I wish Citadel existed. I wouldn’t be surprised, if some kinda Manticore does.”
Point taken.
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