'Life Itself' Star Lorenza Izzo Is Here to Make You Cry
This Is Us showrunner Dan Fogelman’s Life Itself is the sort of movie you watch with tissues in one hand and a pint of ice cream in the other. It’s a lot: the heartbreaking drama spans three generations and is chock full o’ tragic losses. Fun! Luckily for us, Lorenza Izzo, the star and narrator of the movie is here to guide us to through these intertwining storylines-plus, how she handles heartbreak, the TV show she’s dying to be on, what always makes her cry-so you can just focus on bawling your eyes out.
On the part of the film that made her cry the hardest:
“There’s this once scene where Laia Costa, who plays my Spanish grandmother, is about to pass and she tell her son to go live her life for her. To me, that has so much meaning. It’s these tiny moments where very special things happen, even when you don’t realize it. We think the big moments are the important ones-but really it’s those little chance and destiny moments.”
On how this script reminded her of her family:
“I was born and raised in Chile, and I have such a tight-knit relationship with my mother, sister, my aunts, and my grandmother so when I read the script I was floored by the beauty of it, because I related so much in a sense of what family can mean. You don’t get to pick your family. There’s this beauty that no matter what they’re always there and they’re living though you, whether you like it or not.”
On family secrets:
“If I reveal them my grandmother will kill me! I will say, once you are old enough they let you in and it’s like you’ve entered the secret club. I’m the only one in the younger generation…and I don’t want to be pushed out!”
On how she handles pain and heartbreak:
“As human beings, all we try to do is avoid pain, and we don’t realize that we don’t have control over anything. Pain is how we grow and learn, it’s what makes us stronger, more lived, more unique. We’re all human beings and we’re all carrying our backpacks of pain. I get through it by just breathing and letting myself feel things no matter how scary it may be. I’ll lock myself up in a room and cry nonstop until its gone and know that this moment will pass.”
A post shared by Lorenza Izzo (@lorenzaizzo) on Sep 14, 2018 at 12:59pm PDT
On the TV shows that always make her cry:
“Grey's Anatomy and This Is Us. I lost my father two years ago and Grey’s Anatomy got me through it. I would watch and bawl. Honestly, it was my savior.”
On the show she’s dying to be on:
“This Is Us! I keep telling Dan Fogelman that he owes me a role. I’m dying to be on that show! I want to start a movement on Twitter: #GetLorenzaonThisIsUs.”
On the movie that always makes her cry:
“I am such a cry-baby. I cry with literally every movie. Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes gets me every time. I’ll watch that movie over and over again.”
On who she would want to narrate her life:
“Samuel L. Jackson, I mean duhhhhh.”
On what makes a sad scene, sad:
"Real things. Situations that we can relate to are what makes us cry: vulnerability, breakage, pain. You can’t help but relate and empathize and put yourself in that place. Well, unless you’re a psychopath. [Laughs.]"
On how to follow all the different storylines in Life Itself [ed note: there are roughly a gazillion of them,]:
“Don’t try and figure it out. Just let go. Follow each scene. Don’t worry about who is who. I’m telling you 40 minutes in it all just clicks.”
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