- Dominique Sanda, Il giardino dei Finzi Contini/ The Garden of the Finzi-Continis,Italy-West Germany, 1971. The new girl from Milan had two important auditions in Rome. For Micol Finzi Contini in what proved a great comeback to form for veteran actor-director Vittorio De Sica. But she preferred Pietro Germi – who never lost form in 19 movies and remains, for many in Italian cinema, a better director than Antonioni, De Sica, Fellini, Visconti, etc – and she debuted as Carla in his penultimate film, La castagne sono buono(US: A Pocketful of Chestnuts). A previous Germi star, Virna Liai, had also rejected De Sica’s film. Five years later, both Stefania and Sanda appeared in Bertloucci’s Novocento/1900.
- Isabelle De Funès,BabaYaga (UK: The Devil Witch, US: Baba Yaga, Devil Witchighjt),Italy-France, 1973.“Valentina was selected on non-artistic merit – for co-productions reasons,”reported director Corrado Farina. In short: Italian Stefania Casini or the French Isabelle De Funès(niece of the over-rated Frenchstutter-mutter-nutter comic Louis De Funès)? “Isabelle was chosen from a photo – which didn’t resemble the Isabelle I met at the airport. I was a little worried. But with make-up and Valentina’s wig, and Isabelle being a very good actress. I decided she was better than Casini.” (She famously went on to visibly and simultaneously masturbate Robert De Niro and Gérard Depardieu for about eight seconds in Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900 in 1975). A third test, of Ely Galleani, was catastrophic but because of her “physical aspect,” she was perfect for Annette, a dominatrix-cum-killer doll. “I asked her agent if she’d do nudity… ‘You won’t be able to stop-her’!”
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 2