Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini is an Italian-American actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. The daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, Rossellini is noted for her successful tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvetand Death Becomes Her. She also received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance in Crime of the Century...
NationalityItalian
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth18 June 1952
CityRome, Italy
CountryItaly
I didn't think I was going to be an actress. Everybody in my family was in films, and they succeeded so much, I thought, 'It's better for me to do something else,' and they agreed.
I became an actress way into my 30s because I thought that I had to find my own way, and that's why I worked so much in modelling, until I realised that the differences between acting and modelling weren't that great. I always say that modelling is a little bit like being a silent actress.
Every time you work, it's a new film, and generally when you work with auteurs, people that write and direct their films, there's always an originality.
By the time I was successful with covers of 'Vogue' and 'Harper's Bazaar' and 'Vanity Fair' and the Lancome contract, someone asked how old I was. They almost fainted when I said 33.
Animation translates well to a small screen. When you look at Walt Disney or Chuck Jones - you know, Bugs Bunny - there really isn't any difference if you watch on a very big screen or a computer screen.
I always say that in my career as an actress, I've always worked with people like David Lynch or Guy Maddin or Peter Weir who are considered not mainstream directors and that could be because they are like my dad. They are pioneers, and pioneers, by definition, invent something new.
I always dreamed when I was a little girl interested in animals that I would go live in Africa. Then I found out that you can look in your backyard, and you can do your own safari.
I always encourage women to let their individuality show by not covering up what they perceive as flaws. When I see a woman with the natural wrinkles of time on her face, I do not see the wrinkles at all, but when I see a woman trying to cover them up with too much foundation or concealer, all I see are her wrinkles.
You don't do an experimental film to become rich, so the people who are involved are involved because they enjoy the creative aspect of it.
There is often a great disparity between a director's personal style and the movies he makes.
The first time I went to Hollywood, I was 25 years old. My background was mostly Italian.
My films are comical films. They are made to laugh at. They are comical - and scientifically correct.
Many years in New York has made me urban, and I won't eat my chicken because I met him personally!
It took me a long time to be accepted as an actress, I think, because of the modeling and because of my mother.