Aurelio Zen

[kissmekate]

I just found this little interview on a Belgian website. Unfortunately it's in Dutch so I can only get the gist, but maybe some of our Dutch-speaking ladies can help with a translation.

I like the picture, though!

[GreenEyesToo]

Something makes me think they like his eyes! Thanks for that, Kate (and Peach for the one overleaf)

[veerke]

Jan 10, 2012 15:54:18 GMT kissmekate said:

Unfortunately it's in Dutch so I can only get the gist, but maybe some of our Dutch-speaking ladies can help with a translation.

I'll do my best, but I can't promise anything before the weekend.

[kissmekate]

No hurry, veerke Thanks in advance!

[anglophile]

I am so impressed by you ladies who are able to translate for the rest of us. And that reminds me, why are there no French rooftoppers - at least not any who choose to identify themselves.

[veerke]

It was office gossip or Rufus during lunch break ... guess who won

First of all, sorry for the shifty Enlgish.
To Rufus: Sorry if I made you say things you didn't say. I was highly distracted by the piercing green eyes on top of the article ;D

Here goes:
"Serie: Zen
From the makers of the prize winning “Wallander”: “Zen”, a tripartite detective series based op the 3 first novels of the British crime author Michael Dibdin (deceased 2007).

Before you start rolling your eyes: “Zen” is not the umpteenth dark Saturday night crime show on Canvas (= Belgian TV channel). The series is situated in sunny Rome, where detective Aurelio Zen (Rufus Sewell) tries to solve murder cases in surroundings ruled by mafia, corruption and intrigues. And by Italian bella’s suggestively unbuttoning their blouse: love interest on call is Caterina Murino, better known as the bond girl Solange Dimitrios from “Casino Royale”.

Rufus Sewell: “Admit it, it could have turned out a lot worse as far as co-actresses (sorry, couldn’t think of a better word) go (grins). But what finally convinced me to take the part, is the fact that Zen isn’t just another TV-detective in a row, trotting down dark corridors in a dirty trenchcoat while growling at everybody. On the contrary, Aurelio parades through the streets of Rome in an impeccable Armani suit and often he doesn’t even know what he’s doing. The others are usually one step ahead of him, while you would expect quite the opposite from a detective (laughs).

He is also very human: he tries to give up smoking and he moved back in with his mother after his divorce.”

Did you read Dibdin’s books to prepare for the part?
Sewell: “Yes, and the interesting thing is that they are all so different: some stories are quite funny, others are a lot darker. Even Zen isn’t the same twice: sometimes he’s portrayed as a dubious figure, sometimes he doesn’t manage to solve the case, it even happens that he only shows up halfway the story.

A lot of attention is paid to the way things work in Rome: he’s constantly confronted with politicians who ask him to solve their dirty businesses, without anybody else finding out about them. Because he is from Venice, he’s not used to this sort of power games (sorry, couldn’t think of a better word): should he think of his own safety, knowing that justice and his integrity might lose on it?

The fact that I’m not an Italian myself has helped met to play the part in way that makes it credible for an outsider. I also speak regular English. When I try to speak with an Italian accent, it only sounds ridiculous.”

The Colosseum, the Forum Romanum, the Spanish steps: I suppose it must have been nice working in Rome? Sewell: “Very nice. Many scenes were shot just out in the streets, without passers-by realising it. One time I had to run through a crowd in the station while the police were chasing me. People were hired to bump into me and I had to push them aside during my flight. Suddenly there was a little old lady in the middle of the crowd!
I saw her only at the very last minute. Because I didn’t want to push her aside, I lifted her up and carried on running – with the flabbergasted old lady in my arms! When I put her down and explained everything, she thought it was all very funny, but the passers-by thought I was kidnapping her (laughs).” "

I hope you all enjoyed reading.

[castaneasativa]

thank you veerke for your nice translation, the article is so funny!

[anglophile]

there was a little old lady in the middle of the crowd!
I saw her only at the very last minute. Because I didn’t want to push her aside, I lifted her up and carried on running

Rufus, I can be a little old lady standing directly in your path if you will just tell me where that path is and when I might cross it. ;D.
I'm perfectly willing. As many times as you've carried me away long-distance, don't you think it's time you did it in person?

[GreenEyesToo]

Veerke, thank you so much for the translation.

(Anglo, you never miss an opportunity, do you? ;D)

[anglophile]

I try to stay on top of Rufus -- I mean on top of things -- at all times.

[walt]

:(Thanks so much for the translation, Veerke!

[kissmekate]

Oh, lovely. Thanks, veerke!

He mentioned the little old lady in several interviews, but I love reading about her again

[bastognegirl]

Hello Veerke...another Belgian fan here!
(don't let my username fool you, I'm 100% pure Flemish )

We are definitley spoiled in Belgium these days...on Saturdays we have Zen on our tv screen and on Sundays it's Pillars

[kygal]

Thanks Veerke.

[GreenEyesToo]

Nice little interview with Rufus in tomorrow's Sydney Morning Herald :


Q&A: Rufus Sewell
Michael Idato
January 15, 2012

If you were playing Shakespeare's Hamlet, no one would think anything of either reading the original text or looking at another interpretation of the character. With Aurelio Zen, did you pick up the Michael Dibdin novels?

Yes. And it applies just as much to Shakespeare as anything else, or if you're playing a real character. As far as I'm concerned the more you know the better and you just have to trust your intelligence to know when it diverts from fact or previous versions, why and to what purpose. I read as many of the novels as I could ahead of time because I wanted to find out if there was anything in there that was better used than ignored. I didn't want to lose anything for ignorance.

What did you make of Aurelio Zen?

Reading the books, there are obviously a few things I'm immediately aware of in terms of casting. [First] he's not me. He's considerably older. If I was a purist, I'd argue myself out of the role. So they've cast me. Why have they cast me? I have to presume there are some changes that are deliberate. You're always going to offend some people but you're never going to offend them any less for trying to please them.

You recorded the audio books of Ian Fleming's James Bond. As a character, are the book and film interpretations chasms apart?

Bond, in his way, is quite camp in the books … liable to go off on a very long dialogue about souffles. If people were presented with the book version they'd feel it had tarnished the [film] Bond they know and love. So, basically, it's a case of who gets there first.

Is an Italian police thriller like Zen distinct in any way from, say, an American or British police series?

What is key in Michael Dibdin's character is that even though he's an Italian, Zen in Rome or around Italy is almost a foreigner himself, because he's a Venetian. With the exception of one of the novels where he goes back to Venice, he's an outsider and it's very much written from the viewpoint of an Englander living in Italy because Dibdin was living in Italy when he wrote it. There are certain things that are inherently Italian and there are certain things that are tourist Italian and it's a bit of a pick and mix.

Zen was filmed on location. What did you make of Italy?

There is a phrase and I don't know how true this is but it certainly informs Dibdin's writing: in England we make laws and break rules and in Italy people make rules and break laws. And you can argue 'til the cows come home whether it's a cliche but it does seem to be borne out in Italian society. In their political scandals, for example, the Italian prime minister actually breaks the law, whereas the scandals in England are about people following the laws but pushing and breaking the rules. In Italy, the fact it's about who you know is met with a shrug and a sort of, ''that's the way it is''.

You have said the humour in the character of Zen was an important factor in deciding to take the role. Why?

I have found myself playing characters so devoid of humour in the writing that it became the struggle of my day to find them. My fear at drama school was that nobody would take me seriously as an actor and I would be stuck doing comedy, so when it came to taking dramatic roles I kind of leapt at them to prove a point to this faceless crowd in my head. It would never have occurred to me I would get slightly jammed into drama. The stuff that is easiest, most fun and delightful for me is humorous.

Zen

ABC1, Sundays, 8.30pm.

www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/qa--rufus-sewell-20120113-1pxzj.html