Antonella Elia on Career, Family, and Life at Garda Festival

A penetrating glance, sometimes absent. Two lively eyes emphasize spoken concepts but are also ready to raise, with a blink, a protective curtain over her life and her loves. Antonella Elia, splendid protagonist in Sirmione at the Garda festival, one of the traveling events of the Garda summer, disguises herself behind an expression that quickly shifts from that of a spacey girl to that of a mature woman. She shows no rush or impatience.

Late at night, rocked by the waves of Garda crashing onto the shore just a few steps from the famous Grotte di Catullo, she has the desire and time to speak about herself. However, she never lets her guard down. Talkative in front of usual questions and curiosities, she suddenly becomes enigmatic as soon as the conversation shifts to her private life, to her heart that beats for…

“Let’s leave it at that, please. Certainly, as an orphan, I really want to start a family. I would like to have two or three children and for them, I would be willing to put my work aside for a while.”

Is she sure? “Of course, at least for the first few months. Then perhaps I would find a way to continue my career. Work completely absorbs me nowadays; my whole life revolves around show business. Obviously, I always try to improve myself, and it’s no coincidence that I’ve been studying dance and singing all my life now.”

Having started her artistic career as a model, she is now touring theaters in Southern Italy with “The Merchant and the Contested Slave.” “I play the slave in a comedy adapted from Plautus’ Mercator, directed by Livio Galassi. We will be on tour throughout August, with stops in Oriolo Calabro, Agrigento in the Valley of the Temples, Calatafimi, and Eraclea.”

No, my memories of the Latin author were frozen in school days. Last year, however, I also performed in theater with a play by Niccolò Machiavelli, “La Mandragola.”

Television? “Unfortunately, no one calls me anymore. Now that I would like to return to TV, I have no job offers,” reveals the thirty-seven-year-old showgirl candidly. “I’ve been left out of the main circuit, and now it’s hard to get back in.”

What would she like to do? “I don’t know, maybe a variety show or a program like Gente e Viaggi, which airs on Retequattro on Sunday evenings.”

To whom does she owe her gratitude? “For work, without a doubt, to Corrado. From 1990 to ’93, I was at his side on La Corrida.”

Her favorite TV character? “Again, I have to say Corrado, and also Raimondo Vianello (memorable duets on ‘Pressing,’ ed.), and Mike Bongiorno, with whom I worked on ‘La Ruota della Fortuna.’ Among women, I find Raffaella Carrà fantastic. Last winter, she invited me on Carramba, and she was very kind and incredibly generous with compliments. When she sees me, she always encourages me to continue in this world.”

Superstitious? “No, absolutely not. No rituals or charms before going on stage.”

A virtue of Antonella Elia? “I always say what I think. That’s just how I am, and I don’t think I’ve prejudiced my career because of it,” she admits with a blink.

A flaw? “I am aggressive.”