Marco Pancrazi is an Italian
Actor. He was born in Tivoli, close to Rome, on October 23, 1983. He attended
the Institute of Technology in Tivoli, Italy. He received a degree in Sport
Sciences from the Italian University Sport and Movements "I.U.S.M.",
of Rome, Italy, in 2007. Marco started with Martial Arts young at twelve years
old, practicing Viet Vo Dao, and getting the 3rd Dang in 2011. Ever, since he
was young, he always loved extreme sports. He practiced various disciplines
including Parkour, Freerun, Gymnastics, Breakdance, Snowboard, Motocross, Horse
Riding, Fencing, and many others. Marco's onscreen career began in 2004,
working as a stuntman. He got jobs in great movies, with nice directors and
good actors.
Interview with Marco Pancrazi...
- You have decided to move
from Italy to London,
and then you
moved again to LA to pursue your professional career as
an actor, what the first response you get from people
who are close to you about
your moving to LA
since I think it is a very brave thing to do?
It wasn’t good at the beginning. First
of all, most of them, they didn’t agree with my decision to close my stunt
career, as my parents as well. But I can understand them, cause it wasn’t easy
for me as well. I really felt that was over, and I had to give to Acting a
place of privilege, and until that moment I couldn’t, cause my stunt job took
me a lot of time… in that period I was on top of that… one of the most prolific
stuntman in Italy. It was an amazing period of my life, It gave me a lot, and I
don’t regret that… but it was over. I’ve had to move on and embrace my real
passion.
- I saw a recap of the roles you've
played through a video
“Reel 2012” and seems
you really enjoy and
have a special passion
in roles that
require more psychological side.
Do you feel the same?
You’ve completely got it. That’s my genre, I love
psychological roles, with a little bit of action, but still having that deep
layer, which is amazing for an Actor, you can play with the character, make
strong choices and really enjoy it.
- 'The Labyrinth' - 2011 National Film Challange, within 72 hours, mean you had not much time, then you had
to trick yourself completely in this role, physically and mentally. How did you
handle yourself in that role, as Francis Tucker? What preparation did you do
before you started shooting? What was the particular challenge in taking on
this character?
That
was a challenge. So, in the first moment, my biggest fear was building a good
and real character, in just few hours… but, I think we did a great job, and
also if now, watching it again and again, I’d make different choices, I’m still
proud and happy of what I did in that small time. Also because, I had a great
Director, Alfonso Bergamo, and other amazing Actors with me, see Craig Peritz
and Mario Paradiso Jr., and together we did a great job. Very soon we
understood that the real problem wasn’t the character but the time. So, the
real challenge of that experience was that the screenwriters wrote all night
and till 7am in the morning I did have the script. We had to be ready at 10am.
When I got the script I also knew that Alfonso wanted to shot in English and I
didn’t expect that. So I had just 2 or 3 hours for memorizing all the lines,
and work with Craig about the right pronunciation, cause at that time my
English was like zero. On top of that, 80 % of the movie was a Long Take, so we
couldn’t make any mistake during the shooting, otherwise we should start again
from the beginning. It wasn’t that easy, but at the end, I think we brought
home a nice Long Take of 6 minutes.
- Was
it fun to play?
It was so fun!!! You know, is really amazing when they
allow you to do things that normally you can’t do in real life. That’s one of
the amazing things that means to be an Actor.
- Would
you say the physical demands of this film are the greatest that you’ve faced on
a movie set?
Yes, without any doubt, it is. It was a dangerous mix,
the hard genre, the hard character, which need time for building it in the
right way, the Long Take of 6 minutes, that Alfonso wanted at any costs, the
“three floors” set, that was in an old mental hospital in very bad condition,
and on top of that, we had just 72 hours for: writing, shooting, editing and
send to the festival. A very great and hard experience. So proud of being part
of that.
- How
hard was this role on you psychologically?
The hard part was the end, when I was shooting the dialog with
Craig Peritz, the psychiatrist. I used part of my real life, thoughts, for
going so deeply, I can say that probably he did the same, and it was so
awkward… in that moment I really felt to be Francis Tucker, building a really
strong bond with him.
- Is there anything in particular you
learned from Alfonso Bergamo which is still very useful today?
His determination to be himself, faithful to his point of
you and his way to make movie. Don’t being part of the crowd but following his
instincts every time. He is great for this.
Marco Pancrazi - 'The Labyrinth' 2011
- This character is a departure from
your usual roles as
a stuntman. Did
you enjoy your transformation
as an actor?
How do you see and respond to this transformation in your
career? Is this a
point that you always dreamed of?
I
can’t say it was my departure, cause I already did other roles as an Actor
before “The Labyrinth”, but for sure was an important moment of my career,
because it was my first movie after my decision of quitting with my stunt life,
which was during “Twice Born, 2011”. Also if I was a bit sad, I really enjoyed
that moment, in which I understood it was my last movie as a stuntman. I’ll
never forgive that Sunset. In that moment I was finally ready to take the risk
of something new, of something that I always dreamed of. I felt it was the
right choice.
- For those who may have recently started
following his career. How old were you when you started acting?
I
started working in the movie industry as a stuntman when I was 20. And I
started taking my first Acting lessons when I was 23, with Frida Bruno, a great
Actress graduated at the Italian National Academy of Dramatic Art.
- Winning the Oscar is probably the thing that will always coveted by
everyone in the film industry.
How about you? An award, is it a proof to others, or
more to yourself?
Winning an Oscar is my dream, for sure.
But not because after that I’ll start saying: “Ok, now I’m the best, and bla,
blab bla…”, I’m not that kind of person. I think humility is the most important
quality a human being has to have. It’ll mean just a gift for myself, for my
inner child, something that remember me, how many sacrifices I did for reach
it, how many strong choices, how many tears and blood… just something for
saying: “Thanks Marco, we did it. Thanks for have never gave up”.
A story of transition of the mind and psyche of a
"Joker" played by Marco. Captured in the form of photo series by
photographer Luciana Ognibene.
- Your Project in 2013?
I have a couple of projects
coming up, but I don’t want to talk about them, I never do it… against bad
luck. I just can say that one of them is a good movie, in which I will have a
strong role, the antagonist, for whom I have to lose more or less 30 pounds. A
pedophile, drugs addicted, in the worst period of his life. I’m so excited… It’ll
be a great challenge.
So, that's VA interview with Marco Panrazi, or also known as Mark Andy.
Closing our conversation, he also told us about an Italian Theater Play, where
he will take the role, “The Longest Hour”, wrote and directed by a great
Italian Actor. “The project is in pre-pre-production and still translating the
text in English, so it’s not going to be on stage at least for another 6 or 8
months. The idea is to be on stage with it, first of all in Off- Broadway, and
then Miami and Los Angeles. I will keep you update about that.”
Get to know more about Marco, including the films in which he has
been involved, visit his official website and his IMDb page now! Links, we
provide you below...
Marco Pancrazi for VOTREART 3rd Anniversary
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