This biography was in an interview (sort of) written by SERGIO BUONADONNA, they set down on a beautiful Sunday afternoon with a couple of bottles of wines, so not much of an interview, so I’ll give you some background: Dario Bandiera was born on the 9th February 1970 in  Syracuse, Sicily. Bandiera began his career working in tourist villages as an entertainer. In 1992 he moved to Rome to study acting and in the early 1990s he started appearing in television programs such as Domenica In and Stasera mi butto then, between 1994 and 1996, he was a regular in the variety show Beato tra le donne. Bandiera made his film debut in 1994, in the comedy film Miracolo Italiano.

After several other roles on stage, on television and in films, his breakout came in 2003 as a semi-regular entertainer in the talk show Maurizio Costanzo Show. In 2007 he was nominated to Nastro d’Argento for Best Supporting Actor thanks to his performance in Giovanni Veronesi’s Manual of Love 2.

THE INTERVIEW

PUT a turbo down the throat, add a torrential charge of sympathy, a dramatic tenor voice, a good dose of luck, mix and here is Dario Bandiera, a comic actor but not necessarily with a showman’s dream. In his identity kit, there is a name that seems written in destiny: Valtur. It is in the tourist villages that the enterprising ex-boyfriend from Syracuse cuts his teeth, exactly like Fiorello.

Like him, a volcano, imitator, singer, entertainer, and inventor of overwhelming sound effects (the train, the disco) with which the forty-one-year-old Dario broke through at “Domenica In”, at “Beato tra le donne” and at the “Costanzo show” so much so that, today that success has made him famous, it is sometimes difficult to establish whether it was he who imitated Fiorello or whether it was the national Rosario that drew on Bandiera’s incredible repertoire. In the meantime he entered the cinema through the front door: silver ribbon for “Manuale d’amore 2”, extraordinary supporting role for Carlo Verdone in the role of the unscrupulous sexual tour operator in “Italians” and now promoted to the holiday film with “Vacanze of Christmas in Cortina”. Yet it didn’t start that way.

Dario, once upon a time there was a Sicilian who loved photography in the nineties, wanted to work in fashion, and knew how to make tourists in the villages laugh. What made you change your plans? «Photography is the passion that I still cultivate: I always have a camera with me. But while I was dreaming of being a fashion photographer and waiting to leave for the military, I diverted to Valtur: a season in Pollina, then in the winter in Marilleva, but in the meantime, I received redundancy leave. A great fortune, without recommendations. So the hobby became a job.”Like Fiorello, therefore, «My sister thinks so too, according to her we even look alike physically. We are both from Syracuse, even if he says he is from Catania, but Rosario is great. The style is similar, the compliments flatter me, but I would like to carve out my path. In any case, I too would like to do a great show later on.”

So is it true that he studied at Fiorello’s? «But no, at the time of the “Costanzo show” I also had a ponytail and it was said that I remembered Fiorello». When did he pack his suitcase? «In 1992 I moved to Rome to study acting, although in the summer I continued with the villages. With me, there was Teo Mammucari, also Valtur’s son: we lived together, we didn’t have a lira and we frequented the “Gildo”, a cabaret. Max Giusti, Enrico Brignano, and ESalvi passed through there, and that was the school. After all, Beppe Quintale and Massimo Ghini also started in Valtur.” Which she has now dethroned. «De Laurentiis dethroned him. They had already been offering me a Christmas film for five years, but I didn’t feel ready. Besides the fact that, if you only do that, then auteur cinema doesn’t call you. I also consider myself a dramatic artist and try not to get sucked into that standard. In “Christmas Holidays in Cortina”, however, I tried to leave my mark and received many compliments from De Laurentiis. That’s enough, right?”

But they keep calling her a noisemaker. «This bothers me a lot, it’s a sad and reductive definition, but the noises remained in the public’s head. I have always defined myself as an all-round entertainer, and being an actor and knowing how to give emotions is part of entertainment. I feel that the vices, the tics, the characters of the people I play come to me as if I had an active sensor to intuit things.”

Cinema uses it a lot for episodic films. Is it your size? «Veronesi and Verdone bear part of the “fault”. My success is very much linked to the films with them, from which I learned a lot. But, be careful, Carlo is a great comic actor, the greatest living Italian. His listening levels, gestures, expression and genius also enrich those around him. As for the episodes, yes, two other films are coming out, “Worker” and “The Last Beach” with Nicole Grimaudo, about precarious work and homosexuality: we laugh but reflect.”

Why do you say that Sicily is your model? «I see that there is a lot of copying, but the true myths are those who don’t copy anyone and refer to their  nd even by resorting to dialect: see Benigni, Troisi, Verdone, Totò himself. Sicily is one of the regions with a stronger comedic character, but today it does not have a prominent comedian. I have a way of speaking and singing that doesn’t remind anyone, but is very reminiscent of my land. Fortunately, I experienced real life in Sicily, and that’s where I learned to collect sounds, colours, and voices.”

What kind of teenager was he in Syracuse? «I was a boy full of energy that I had to channel somehow. Growing up on the streets in Sicily means comparing yourself with others, knowing violence, smelling the smell of the mafia and learning to avoid it. I was naughty, quite smart, but I always had a sense of proportion, as if it were written that life had to give me something better than getting lost in bullshit.”

You have lived in Rome for twenty years.

What does Sicily have left for you? «The family, as Verdone says in “Italians”. My mother, father, sister, friends, brothers-in-law, and nephews are all in Syracuse, near the Greek Theater, and I return often. The Sicilian spirit that I carry with me is above ain the fact that I cannot tolerate those who disrespect me. I forget that I’m a well-known actor, and the Sicilian in me comes out. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to keep my distance, I’m a very good friend, but I don’t like them taking advantage of me. If anyone tries, I become terrible.”