Today we’d like to introduce you to Silvia Bottini.
Silvia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started working as a professional actor 18 years ago back in Italy. Acting has always been my great passion, my life, my identity, even if I was the first in my family to pursue this career and I had no clue about how to do it. Step by step, it just happened. I first won an award as best actress in a school play. One of the members of the jury was a director who auditioned me for a play. I got the job. It was my first professional show in theatre: paid rehearsals, costume designed on me, big theatres, tournée… my dream was coming true! Then I auditioned to get in one of the eight officials acting schools in Italy. I got in with a scholarship. After I graduated, I attended the most important audition in my life: a project with a very important theatre, Teatro della Tosse, in Genoa, that would have lasted for over three years. I got it! I was one of the two women selected among 300, to be part of the young company. I was in newspapers, tv, and most important on stage all the time!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I believe you never heard of Varese, isn’t it? Well, my home town isn’t exactly the main spot for the show business… It’s been super hard to understand what to do, where to go, who to trust since I had no knowledge and no one to advise me. This has been the first challenge: not to listen to people who didn’t know anything about my job, telling me that it was just impossible, that I would have never made it.
The second challenge actually brought me in the U.S. I’d name it if I could, but it’s more like many different Italian bad tendencies coming together. Or maybe it was just that the wheel turns for all. Anyway, I got literally hired and fired the next day by a big production. Why? I still don’t know the truth. But I know that the director’s lover got hired that day. I know that the production didn’t get the money and the location they wanted. I know they tried to fire a more experienced actress before me, but she decided to cut her salary… These people were like family to me, and we’ve been working together for many years. It was a shocking experience that made me giving up my acting career for a while. I was a sad waitress when I met my boyfriend. He was and still is a journalist. He got a job opportunity in L.A. he moved there and after few months he asked me to join him. It has always been my dream… And so here I am!
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’ve been working on many projects lately, like a play for kids and a “Parents night out” movie club for children. L.A. is a place where it’s really easy to be busy. But what definitely set me apart from the others right now is not my acting skills, not my experience, not my talent, nor the awards I won and not even the shows that I produced for the Italian Consulate Genaral in L.A… What set me apart is a MEME! I used to model as a side job and I was pretty famous in the microstock business. One day one of my picture, not even a nice one, suddenly became one of the most famous and most shared pic in the world. Does “The first world problems” ring any bell? I’m the crying woman, the one who cries for all the bullshit of the web. Of course, I never signed any release and I never got a penny out of it. I got interviewed a lot about the Meme (Vice, BBC, etc.) and I just shot a web commercial for Domino’s Pizza where they wanted the Crying Meme to smile because of their pizza. That’s it. It really pisses me off that someone is making money out of my image without my consent and without paying royalties…
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
That’s why I decided to make art out of it! I’d rather laugh than sue the people who started all of this. I don’t want to bring this kind of energy in my life… I decided to make a movie out of it! Actually, it’s gonna be the first movie in the world about first world problems! We are a small but really amazing crew: Nicholas Ybarra, director, Nicola Lucchi, and Massimo Vavassori screenwriters. We still need a producer. We already launched the teaser and a crowdfunding campaign. You can see it here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/first-world-problems-the-short-film/x/20018660#/.
I really believe that this project has a huge potential! I’ve never meet someone who didn’t see or use my Meme at least once. Hopefully, the web is gonna give back what it took. I like to play with the Meme enthusiasts and I have plenty of ideas on how to actually include them in the work.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.silviabottini.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silviabottini_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/First-World-Problems-The-Movie-1863070047114890/?modal=admin_todo_tour, https://www.facebook.com/silvia.bottiniPP/
Image Credit:
Tommaso Boddi – Stefania Rosini – Michele Piacquadio – Bruce Martin – Victor Purcel
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