Monica Nappo has recently worked with both directors/screenwriters Woody Allen and Ivan Cotroneo, two outstanding award winning filmmakers; one American the other Italian. Both movies “To Rome With Love” and  “La Kryptonite Nella Borsa (Kryptonite!) are features at the inaugural Italian Contemporary Film Festival in Toronto, Canada (June 26^th – July 1^st).

Monica Nappo loved both her distinct roles: in Cotroneo’s “Kryptonite” as Assunta and as Sofia in Woody Allen’s ”To Rome With Love” opposite Roberto Benigni. In Kryptonite, she portrays a woman determined to get ahead and change her circumstance; in “To Rome With Love“, she plays a woman who seems content to have no ambition at all. Both these roles required extraordinary skill to portray characters at opposite ends of the emotional spectrum.  And both films boasted top flight and somewhat intimidating actors: Benigni in particular, Allen himself, Alec Baldwin and Valeria Golino. While Monica did not work directly with one of her favourites, Alec Baldwin, it was a great thrill to meet him and star in the same movie.

“Woody Allen is such an incredible kind person. The difficulty of course is for you. You have to be focused because you are thinking ‘he is talking to me – Woody Allen’.”

“You just have to be really focused when working with him because he has such incredible knowledge“.

“It’s such a pleasure to see him working. You perceive a kind of simplicity that he’s got… because of his incredible experience.”

“And then when you are not expecting it, here comes one of his jokes. So it’s great”.

Monica felt very close to both films because they portray Italy in an unconventional and refreshing way. Coincidently each film lovingly and refreshingly depicts their cities, Cotroneo’s Naples where both he and Monica were born and Allen’s homage to Rome. So it was very special for her to be part of these films.

“To Rome With Love … set in Italy and is not just stories about Italians…. in a way it’s beautiful because you are part of this idea and project of Woody Allen, talking about all this culture. And because he has always been such a big fan of Italian cinema and I have always been a big fan of him, it is a lot of fun. It’s beautiful to be part of this idea he had of Italy. So it is a great honor for me.”