Sara Drago is in a moment of life that she defines as “active waiting”. «I’m not on set and I’m not working on any project in particular: however, I’m continuing to study and keep in training», she says. The success of the second season of is still fresh Call My Agent Italythe Sky Original series which sees her in the role of agent Lea Martelli, and is preparing to be a godmother for the first time: Imaginary – International Film Festival of Lesbians and Other Rebellious Womenthe lesbian and feminist themed film festival in Rome which returns with a nineteenth edition from 9 to 12 May. «I am very happy with this opportunity that he has given me Imaginary because it was a wonderful discovery, it brought me closer to a context that I didn’t know and which artistically seems very stimulating to me”, explains Sara, whose blood is a little from Brianza and a little from Puglia, who since the advent of Call My Agent Italy she experienced a popularity she didn’t expect.
Lea’s character made her take a leap both in terms of her career and the public’s affection.
«It seems to me that it has become a sort of icon. A queer, rebellious, unconventional woman and, therefore, the perfect inspiration for a festival whose protagonists are women.”
Many viewers struggle to separate the person from the character: this has happened to her since she was in the cast of Call My Agent Italy?
“Every now and again. I, of course, am not Lea. She is a human being that we tried to build with a lot of love until she became so real that others thought I was her. Even today, many women write to me on social media saying that it is a role with which they identified, and this touches me a lot. Like when a girl told me that she would like to meet Lea because the thought that a woman like her exists in the world makes her feel protected.”
Why, in your opinion?
«We managed to create a character with his own edges and contradictions, very far from a two-dimensional album sticker. This made it possible to demonstrate that career women are not just aggressive and bitchy, but much more. In certain environments it is difficult not to become a lion to survive.”
Does this also apply to cinema?
«In some ways yes, even if things are changing, and films like those by Paola Cortellesi and Alice Rohrwacher are marking a line of demarcation that I hope can open the doors to many other directors and authors, allow women to be able to have their say them without necessarily relying on a male point of view.”
Dress: Alessandro VigilanteJork Weismann
Art is often synonymous with freedom. The first time you felt free?
«When I had my first car, but also when I’m on my scooter and traveling with my backpack on the causeways of Rome: when I look at the buildings against the light I feel free and moved, as if I recognized that I was walking on a road that was right for me. I feel free even when I travel and choose where to go. Deciding my destination relieves me.”
Do you think it’s because she grew up in a small town?
“Probably yes. Brianza is a place that has always been restrictive to me and which had too low a sky, unlike the increasingly blue sky of Rino Gaetano. The square, the bar, the church, the school, the work, the TV to watch at home has always been a dimension from which I felt I wanted to escape with my imagination.”
Have you always felt that that world was too small for you?
«Yes, I felt an underlying restlessness that I couldn’t give a name to. Everything changed when art entered my life.”
What did he want to do when he grew up?
«The painter like my father, to be able to be close to him. Then I had the desire to dance hanging by a thread in the air like a circus performer. I have always felt I had a nomadic soul.”
Which has a trait in common with being an actress, in some ways.
«In fact, when I get anxious, I say to myself: “Sara, stop. After all, you never wanted a permanent job. Ultimately you like navigating this precariousness and it makes you feel alive.”
How do you feel about waiting for a new role or project?
«If it’s longer than expected it causes me a bit of uneasiness and a bit of impatience because I’m a shop animal who suffers from staying still. If I don’t move and do something, I’ll go crazy.”
