A fresh face to American audiences, Lorenzo Richelmy headlines Netflix’s newest original series, “Marco Polo,” which chronicles the adventures of the young Venetian explorer in 13th-century Mongolia.
On getting the part.
“I really felt since I am Italian and I love traveling, I could really bring something real. They saw the audition and called me—after two months, actually. I was shooting a movie and during the lunch break an assistant came to me and said, ‘Oh, we’re arranging the flight tomorrow to Malaysia.’ I was like, ‘What are you talking about? Why tomorrow, after two months?’ So I went. A 20-hour flight.”
On learning English for the part.
“The problem was I couldn’t speak English. I was able to order a meal, no more than that. They told me, ‘OK, your English is not good enough. We’ll give you one week, a dialect coach—you’re gonna study. And if your English is improved you’ll have a chance.’ And I did it. I just studied eight hours a day with a wonderful dialect coach.”
On learning from his co-stars.
“Two people who helped me a lot on set were Pierfrancesco Favino—my favorite Italian actor; it was a dream to act with him—playing my father, and then of course Benedict Wong, who did a lot of big, big movies. The best thing is to feel comfortable when you are on set. Just be easygoing and relaxed and of course focused. Don’t let the tension and the fear make you shy.”
On his character.
“The creator gave me a book to study. What is written is what [Marco Polo] did, not how he did it.... I underlined two characteristics: one is his curiosity—he’s hungry for life, he wanted to see things. He’s like a man out of prison. He wants to see much more than he can; he’s never satisfied. And the other is that he never judged, and that’s wonderful. That guy was just there, literally in the middle of two worlds colliding, China and Mongolia fighting each other. He didn’t judge, he just bore witness, fascinated by these things. And then of course, the situation—I couldn’t speak English, go on a horse, no martial arts, none of that—and I had to do this training for six weeks before shooting. For me it was kind of new! We shot chronologically, which was perfect because I gradually get into the role, the series, the show. You’ll see me at the beginning, so scared with shitty English. And then at the end of it, pretty confident with all the actors, the horse, the martial arts, everything.”
On advice for film actors.
“No fear. No fear. I was watching this role; I thought it was so far away and distant and complicated. It’s not. From the ‘action’ to the ‘cut,’ we are all the same. So really, no fear.”
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