Behind Closed Doors with Alessandro De Gennaro

Movie Marker Magazine went behind closed doors with Venezuelan film and theatre actor Alessandro De Gennaro to chat his journey to being a professional actor and his role in ‘5 Dimensions of a Word’

Welcome to Movie Marker! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

I am Alessandro! I was born in Caracas, Venezuela but, when I was two years old, I moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina for 4 years, then to Cali, Colombia for 6 years and then to Mexico City, Mexico for 10 years. Mexico is the place where I graduated high school and decided to pursue an acting career. Right after high-school I moved to the United States to study theater at Columbia College Chicago and two years into it I ended up transferring to The American Academy Of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles.

Wow! What got you into acting and made you realize that it was your chosen path?

It’s funny, I never knew I wanted to pursue acting until I was graduating from High School. But apparently my grandmother always knew I was meant to be one. Many years ago, when I was 8 years old, I was in Capri, Italy with my family and while we were walking around the town of Capri, we stumbled upon a small wooden stage in the middle of a square. I immediately went on top of that stage and began dancing and singing gibberish lyrics from a made-up song, and after two minutes of this, I came down from that stage and started asking people for money. I got a total of 83 euros that day. Since then, my grandma told my mother “This kid is going to be an actor”.

I realized it was my chosen path when I was about to graduate and began to think about the kind of life I wanted and also the kind of job that filled me with happiness, excitement and love. Acting was all of those things.

With all the roles you have played to date, has there been one particular moment in your career that you’re most proud of?

When I booked the role of Julio for the series “Here Comes Your Man”. I was so proud because the role was already taken by another actor, and even though I knew that I still decided to get in touch with the director and ask him to give me a chance to audition, promising him that he would not regret it. And he didn’t. I am a series regular on the show.

Your latest film is ‘5 Dimensions of a Word’. What is that one about?

The story is about a businessman armed with altruistic plans and filled with hope, on his first visit to America, who suddenly finds himself in the midst of something disturbing that changes his life forever.

I portray the role of Danny. He is a very sweet young man that is always getting involved with the wrong crowd. All his friends liked to vandalize, treat people with no respect and act with violence. Deep down Danny wasn’t that kind of a person but believed that the best thing for him was to get the approval of this group to feel accepted and protected.

Danny has one of the strongest moments in the entire story, because it is after he says what he says, everything begins to turn.

How did you get involved?

It was quite by chance. The woman who was producing the story reached out to me, as she had seen my work. After auditioning for the first time for it, I ended up booking it immediately.

Going forward, which actors / directors would you like to collaborate with in future?

I would truly love to work with the director Martin Scorsese. Every single project he has is filled with detail, with history and with excellence.

We love an inside scoop. Can you tell us 3 things not many people know about you?

Ok! Three things are I go nuts for sushi. I can eat Japanese food all day every day. My dog’s name is Arepa, which is a traditional meal in Venezuela, and I place my face in an ice-cold bowl every morning when I wake up!

That’s one way to wake up! How can people follow your journey?

I am mostly on Instagram – come and say hi!