{"id":148476,"date":"2022-12-05T06:20:14","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T06:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/white-lotus-sabrina-impacciatore-on-valentinas-lesbian-sex-scene\/"},"modified":"2022-12-05T06:20:14","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T06:20:14","slug":"white-lotus-sabrina-impacciatore-on-valentinas-lesbian-sex-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/white-lotus-sabrina-impacciatore-on-valentinas-lesbian-sex-scene\/","title":{"rendered":"‘White Lotus’: Sabrina Impacciatore on Valentina’s Lesbian Sex Scene"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tSPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers up through Episode 6 of \u201c<\/em><\/strong>The White Lotus<\/em><\/strong>,\u201d airing Sundays on HBO and streaming on HBO Max.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tSabrina Impacciatore’s Valentina finally lets loose in this week’s installment of \u201cThe White Lotus,\u201d which follows the last episode’s shocking sex scene \u2014 seemingly between an uncle and his nephew \u2014 with a more tender moment of intimacy between the uptight hotel manager and Mia (Beatrice Grann\u00f2), the free-spirited aspiring singer. <\/p>\n

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\tAfter seducing and accidentally drugging Giuseppe (Federico Scribani), sending him to the hospital, Mia takes over as the hotel’s substitute piano player by appealing to Valentina’s deepest fears and desires. \u201cYou’re gay, right? I’m a little bit gay too,\u201d she tells her. \u201cGive me this job, and I promise you and I can have some fun.\u201d It’s a bold proposal, but instead of offending Valentina, it strikes a deep, emotional chord.<\/p>\n

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\tIn Episode 6 of the Mike White-created series, after Valentina’s heart is shattered upon learning Isabella (Eleonora Romandini) is engaged to Rocco (Federico Ferrante), the hotel manager cashes in on Mia’s promise and takes her to an empty suite. Whereas most of the sex this season has been riddled with taboo and danger, Valentina and Mia’s moment is rather sweet and innocent, despite the underlying sense of transaction.<\/p>\n

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\tFor Impacciatore, the sex scene was the first in her 25-year acting career. And while she’d lost sleep stressing about it, she <\/em>said <\/em>that working with an intimacy coordinator was \u201creally helpful and effective and safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tImpacciatore’s standout moment of the series, however, comes before that \u2014 when Valentina tells Mia she’s never been with a woman before. After shooting the scene, stolen by Impacciatore’s brilliantly subdued devastation, the Rome-born actor \u201ccried for half an hour, and jumped in Mike’s arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\u201cI remember what I felt. I was not acting, I was living the conflict of this character in a very deep way,\u201d Impacciatore said. \u201cIt made me understand, how do people that don’t accept themselves live their lives?\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tImpacciatore is touched by all the positive messages she’s received from fans around the world who resonate with her character. That includes co-star Meghann Fahy, who, after watching the Episode 6 screener, sent Impacciatore a \u201cbeautiful message\u201d that made her cry. In fact, at one point in her variety<\/em> interview, when describing Valentina’s journey, Impacciatore burst into tears: \u201cShe is finally free.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tKnown for most of her career as a comedian, Impacciatore made a name for herself in Italian movies such as \u201cNapoloeon and Me\u201d and \u201cMiss F,\u201d both of which earned her nominations for David di Donatello awards (the Italian film industry’s equivalent to the Oscars). But the 54-year-old actor says her turn on \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d has changed her life, and sparked numerous offers for projects in both Italy and the US<\/p>\n

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\t\u201cI’m so grateful,\u201d Impacciatore said. \u201cIt’s one of the happiest moments in my entire career.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tAhead of the Episode 6 premiere, Impacciatore sat down <\/em>to discuss Valentina’s big moment, scenes that were left on the cutting room floor and what \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d means for her future.<\/p>\n

\n\tValentina is an interesting character. We feel sympathy for her because she is lonely and unfulfilled, but at the same time she is constantly harassing her employee, and harbors a lot of resentment. How do you balance that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tThis character is very complex. She is very implosive and, at first, she does n’t show anything about her inner life. She doesn’t know herself, and I explored this process with the character. I understood every reason. For example, the attitude she has regarding Mia and Lucia [Simona Tabasco] is connected to her job, but it’s also connected to something inside her. These two girls represent freedom. Valentina is repressed and compressed, and she is n’t connected with her feelings.<\/p>\n

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\tTo me, Valentina is trying to have power. She has power in her job, which is the opposite of what happens in her emotional life. In a sense she’s like a child, she’s very naive. She has a crush on her employee just because the employee made her feel seen, and paid attention to her. When she gets attention from men, she gets very aggressive, but when she gets attention from Isabella, her heart starts to melt. She has a huge conflict inside \u2014 she doesn’t know herself, until something happens and she cannot escape anymore.<\/p>\n

\n\tHer attitude toward the men in the series seems to be hinting at a past experience she might have had with a man. How do you envision Valentina’s backstory?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tMike White and I didn’t talk much about this character \u2014 maybe for 10 minutes before shooting started. I arrived on set, but I still didn’t have an idea of \u200b\u200bwhat would happen with this character. Seriously! It was a real exploration. In the first days, I was just following Mike’s indications without really understanding where he wanted to bring me. But he wanted to explore with me, and some scenes we shot ended up being cut, including one about Valentina’s past where she says she was married once, to a man, but she was n’t happy. So I invented a backstory about a husband who was abusive to her. I created everything I could to get close to her process. That day, when I shot the scene where I say, \u201cI’ve never been with a woman before,\u201d I remember what I felt. I was not acting, I was living the conflict of this character in a very deep way. It made me understand, \u201cHow do people that don’t accept themselves live their lives?\u201d After that scene, I cried for half an hour. I jumped into Mike’s arms and told him, \u201cI love you! Thank you!\u201d And he said, \u201cSabrina? Why do you say that? It’s you who is doing these things.\u201d And I told him, \u201cI’m doing these things because of you. And I’m understanding more about life because of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tIn Italy, to be gay is still a big issue. They don’t have rights in Italy. They cannot get married, they cannot have kids. And sometimes they get attacked in the streets just because they love someone of their own sex. So I started to understand the responsibility as an actress. We should accept and respect every different nature. So this scene was a deep experience for me.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt’s interesting to hear about the scenes that got cut. When I interviewed Murray Bartlett for Season 1, he told me that there was a scene in which Armond talks to Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) about always wanting to be an actor, and that realization really guided how Murray played the hotel manager. But the audience never knew that.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tExactly! There was another scene that got cut where I finally go up to the sex workers and tell them, \u201cI understand what you’re doing, and I stand for you girls.\u201d But Mike White is a genius \u2014 with just a little touch, he can make you understand something deep about a character and about life itself. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhat was your reaction when you first learned that Valentina was going to sleep with Mia?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tI WAS SO HAPPY! I was so excited. I thought, \u201cOh my god\u2026 really!?\u201d I fell in love with Valentina. I was so surprised by the switch. She’s finally free. She’s finally free to accept herself. That was so exciting to me. I love Mike White so much. He took me to places that I couldn’t imagine. He had so much fun with me because he wanted to go in three different directions sometimes. It was like, \u201cLet’s rock and roll!\u201d But I’m fascinated by the fact we explore these characters together in a very pure way.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat was it like filming the sex scene and working with an intimacy coordinator?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tI’ve been an actress for 25 years, and I have never before done a sexual scene. That was my first time. Working with the intimacy coordinator was really helpful and effective and safe. I’m so grateful that in the states, you use intimacy coordinators. In Italy, we don’t have that. <\/p>\n

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\tThe funny thing is that I was supposed to shoot the scene two months later. I was shopping in Taormina and [executive producer] David Bernad called me and said, \u201cI need to talk to you. Come to the hotel.\u201d I was so scared. He was waiting for me in the courtyard, and he told me, \u201cSabrina, I’m sorry, we have some production issues. Is it OK if we shoot the sex scene tomorrow?\u201d At that moment, I almost fainted. I had been thinking about the sex scene so much, but I thought, \u201cIt’s OK, it’s in two months!\u201d Because I wanted them to be happy, I said, “Yes, of course, no problem.” Then I regretted that and thought, \u201cWHY DID YOU SAY THAT?!\u201d That night, I couldn’t sleep. When we shot the scene, it was only two takes. I didn’t even know what I was doing. I was just exploring. After the first take, I begged Mike, \u201cPlease can we do one more take?\u201d I wanted to add something emotional. Can you imagine the pressure? I don’t know what take is in the series.<\/p>\n

\n\tHave you told any friends or family that you have this big scene coming up, and are you nervous for them to see it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tThe only person I would have been really nervous about was my dad. There is no other person on the planet I would have been more worried about. But unfortunately, I lost my dad one year ago. I keep thinking about him, and I know that he’s so proud of me because of this show and everything. But nobody knows about this scene, not even my mom. I’m very excited about this. In Italy, this is going to be a big deal for my career because they are going to see me for the first time in a totally different way. For 15 years, I was just a comedian, and people got to know me as someone who made them laugh. I’ve done many dramatic roles, but this is something very new to me. I can’t wait to see what happens with my friends and family. I’m excited like a child.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat was it like auditioning for the series? When it was announced that \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d was coming to Sicily, was there a lot of competition among Italian actors vying for these huge roles?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tWhen I got the call from my agent that she needed a self-tape for this series, I had no idea what it was. I hadn’t seen \u201cThe White Lotus,\u201d and I didn’t know Mike White. I was shooting a movie in the north of Italy and I was so focused on my character that I told my agent, \u201cI’m sorry, I can’t do the self-tape, I’m too busy.\u201d Then my agent told me, \u201cYou better watch this series and understand what I’m talking about.\u201d So that night, I didn’t sleep and I watched the entire thing. I was shocked \u2014 it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my life. After watching Season 1, I understood why every single Italian actress wanted to do the self-tape. It was a big, big deal. Italian actresses wanted to get these roles so <\/em>badly When I got the role, I got some very bad reactions from people.<\/p>\n

\n\tLike what?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tjealousy People were jealous in a bad way, and it hurt me a lot. I’ve been suffering a lot. Some people were very happy \u2014 even actresses who are friends of mine that made a self-tape. But I also faced terrible jealousy, and that’s really upsetting. It’s hard. I’ve never felt jealousy for any actress in the world because I believe in destiny. I believe that everybody has their own story, and things happen to each person for mysterious reasons that are written in the stars. I don’t compete with anybody. I compete with myself. I want to grow as an artist. When \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d fell in line, I thought, \u201cThis is well-deserved.\u201d Because all my life I had been preparing for that. I don’t understand jealousy.<\/p>\n

\n\tHave you already started to see the impact of \u201cWhite Lotus\u201d on your career since Season 2 started airing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tIt’s already happening in Italy and in America. A few minutes ago, I got a very beautiful proposal. It’s incredible because only a few episodes aired, and things already started happening. I’m so grateful. It’s one of the happiest moments in my entire career. I went to an international ceremony last week in new York and I met people from all over the world. I was surprised \u2014 important producers from England and South Africa came up and introduced themselves to me. I have a gypsy heart. I never felt that I totally belonged to Italy. And my dream now is to be able to work in different places in the world, and I hope that will happen. I’ve been disappointed so many times in life. To be a woman and to be an actress \u2014 it’s a big deal. I don’t want to have expectations because I don’t want to put myself in a position where I’m hoping for something that won’t happen. But there’s a little voice inside telling me, \u201cSabrina, get ready for the roller coaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis interview has been edited and condensed.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n