POP INTERVIEWS: Luca Forlani, from Rai fiction to “Live Life”

Young, but with a curriculum behind all respect: Luca Forlani, sent de Life live in the edition that has just ended, he is actually an all-round professional, a journalist, yes, but above all an actor and presenter. Here’s what he told us.

The words of Luca Forlani

Luca, let’s start with your last work commitment, which saw you engaged as a correspondent de Life live.

It was an amazing experience. A daily live broadcast represents a great opportunity for professional growth. I joined a team made up of top-level professionals. I have established an excellent relationship with everyone: from the colleagues sent to the authors, up to the conductors.

You have landed in Life live in a year that is not exactly simple: the Coronavirus has brought TV to its knees, among other things, but you have never stopped and you have been involved in the front line to witness the difficulties of our country. What months have they been?

It was a complicated month, I was able to experience all the phases of the pandemic from the most affected area. Initially it was not clear what was happening, then the emergency broke out and I had to tell more and more dramatic news. I will never be able to forget the empty streets of the center of Milan, the silence, the fear on people’s faces. It was undoubtedly an important human and professional experience. I have worked with fear for many weeks. The main concern was to infect my family, so I decided to isolate myself from them and move to another house. Among the many memories imprinted in my mind, the Good Friday connections from a practically deserted Piazza Duomo: there was just me, two guys from the troupe and a permanent police station.

In truth, Life live it is only the last piece, in chronological order, of your professional history: in addition to being a journalist, you are a presenter and actor. What experience of your career do you remember most fondly?

Undoubtedly the latter, Live life. It is an experience that has allowed me to use all the professional skills gained over the years, from writing texts to working in front of the camera. Furthermore, I believe that my long experience in the theater has allowed me to manage the live broadcast and its unforeseen events with great tranquility.

Let’s take a step back. We said that today you are a multifaceted professional, capable of moving from the set of fiction to journalistic writing, but you – as a child – what did you dream of growing up?

My dream as a child has always been to enter this magical box. I wanted to work on TV, and not necessarily in front of the cameras, I was always fascinated by the behind the scenes, the editorial work, the tireless care and preparation that lie behind what we see on the air and that I got to know in depth in this year in Live Life. Many “not famous” professionals who carry out a demanding and precious job. As for the dream as a child, there is a very funny background. As soon as I turned eighteen, I presented myself at the entrance of the Rai studios in Corso Sempione in Milan and to the employees who worked at the entrance I said: “Hello, I would like to work on television, what should I do?”. They looked at me with perplexity and said: “You’re a nice boy, you could be a helper.” And so, almost thirteen years ago, my adventure in Rai began.

What relationship do you have today with the future and with dreams?

I am a very rational person. My feet are firmly planted in the present with a careful eye on the future. My current dreams are: to establish myself in the profession and buy a house.

Let’s play’. Two proposals arrive at the same time: a fiction as a protagonist or the conduction of Life live. Which one do you accept?

Neither (laughs, editor’s note). Fiction is part of my past and it’s not my priority right now. On the other hand, there are some very talented conductors at La Vita Live. Anyway, to answer your question, I would choose to run a program.

You studied at the Silvio D’Amico Academy of Dramatic Art, you did a long apprenticeship to become a journalist and today you reap the rewards of your work. However, these days, it seems that you become good because you are famous and not vice versa: just make yourself known and appreciated on social networks and job offers arrive.

In reality, the Academy was only one piece – however extremely prestigious and important – of my training path. I graduated with honors from the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy at the Catholic University of Milan and I specialized, graduating with honors, in journalism at the La Sapienza University of Rome. That said: it is very demeaning that there are people who aspire to become “famous” without any merit or talent. They are characters that I don’t respect.

If I asked you to give advice to those who want to work on TV, what would you feel like saying?

Unfortunately, I notice that many young people who write to me on social networks asking me for advice aspire to do this job just to “go on TV”. There are those who would like to be a television journalist but say they don’t like reading or writing, reading those messages I feel a lot of sadness. My advice is to graduate, study diction and not immediately think about Rai, Mediaset or Sky. It is essential to do the “mess”, starting from small realities – local or web – even if not very prestigious and if the wages are low. When I started writing for online newspapers, I was paid five euros per article. This is where you understand if you are driven by a true passion or by ephemeral and silly dreams of glory.

Who is your myth?

I don’t have one in particular. As a child I watched with admiration the sacred monsters of TV and I was struck by the charisma of Pippo Baudo, the irony of Corrado and the empathy of Mike Bongiorno. Live life, for example, in its long and glorious history, was conducted by professionals who are role models for me: Lamberto Sposini, Marco Liorni, and, most recently, Alberto Matano, with whom it was an honor to work. .

Close your eyes: Luca Forlani in ten years. What do you see?

I see a person accomplished in their work but not necessarily in front of the cameras. Well, maybe in ten years I would prefer a more sedentary life (laughs, ed), even if I find it a great privilege to constantly travel around Italy.

We always end our interviews with this question: we call ourselves Digital Global Times and for us the word POP has a positive meaning, it represents something beautiful, captivating, trendy. What is POP for you?

It is the Sanremo Festival. I am a great fan of this event. It was a dream come true to be able to follow him as a reporter for Raiuno. I love pop because it knows how to “talk” to everyone, and I think it is an extremely precious quality.

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