Marcello Mastroianni on Fellini's Casting

Marcello, how did Fellini

get you?

Well,

hmm,

well,

very simple way.

He called me. No, he don't call me. Somebody called me and said,

"Fellini would

like to see you."

Was this for Eight and a Half?

Uh-

La Dolce Vita

... La Dolce Vita.

Yeah.

And I went there with my lawyer.

You know.

And, uh-

From experience.

Yeah. That's, just don't give the impression Fellini

called me and

quickly vroom, I go there. With my lawyer.

No.

And, uh- We went there. He was on the beach.

Mm-hmm.

Take his sun, so, and he said, uh,

"Well,

I would like to have you in my film.

The producer, De Laurentiis, would like to give me Paul Newman,

but I prefer you

because you have a, a face of normal."

So-

Anonymous.

Anonymous.

Ordinary.

Ordinary.

Paul Newman is too

beautiful, important, too, too personality. I need somebody...

So, "Well, okay. Thank you."

Anyway, my, my lawyer was there waiting.

And then they make me some signal saying, "Keep,

uh, dignity."

I said, uh, "Well, well, okay. I would like to read the script,

please."

He say, "Yes, why not?" And they make my lawyer.

And they call his writer, Ennio Flaiano, a good Italian

writer. Say, "Ennio, come here with the script.

Marcello would like to read." "Oh, yes." And the gentleman

comes there. We was under a big umbrella,

stand up, so.

He say, "Oh,

for you."

And I open this envelope, this, uh-

Blank

... this blank. There was nothing.

Nothing?

Just, at certain moment, the,

um... It was a drop. Drop. Drops?

A draw-

Drawing.

A drawing.

Drawing.

Sketch or drawing.

A drawing, yeah.

Sketch. Because Fellini was, before, was an realistic, uh-

Artist

... artist, uh, sketch and et cetera.

In character.

And, uh, the scene

was

on the sea.

A man was swimming with an enormous...

You understand?

Check the Italian dictionary there for me.

It was very difficult. An enormous, uh-

Erection.

Uh, small member.

We, we understand.

Member.

Member, that go down, down the water until

the, to ground.

To the bottom of the sea.

Yeah.

Yes.

And, uh, around this element-

... there was

a kind of a dance,

uh, made of these women, at middle, women

and middle fish.

Mermaids.

Mermaid. This was running, dancing so.

Yes.

Yes.

Well, it's lucky you had your lawyer there,

isn't it?

I said... I said, "Well, uh,

it seems very interesting."

And became green, red, yellow. "Okay, uh,

where I have to sign?" He said, "Okay."

And that's how it all started.

You signed under the drawing.

And that was the first, uh-

Meeting

... m- meeting.