Ferrari film actor’s exclusive statement to DNH: I live months in Budapest, Hungary is home

The new Ferrari film is about the business and private life of Enzo Ferrari, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobile marque. You can still watch it in cinemas, and one of the roles is portrayed by Giuseppe Bonifati, an Italian actor, who gave us an exclusive statement about his connection to Hungary, especially Budapest.

Our question concerned his relation to Hungary, and he sent us the following statement:

“I live a few months a year in Budapest together with my wife, Linda Sugataghy, the creative producer of our theatre. It is a wonderful city, especially at night, with its fantastic lights and its bridges. It’s always a pleasure to return home to Hungary and now that the film is screening here, it’s even more so. I feel at home here.

I also like to bike in the summer to Balaton and visit little towns far from the tourist pathway.

Apart from the various artistic projects carried out in the past and progress in Budapest, I hope to be able to shoot a film here in the future too. This is my wish for the year that has just started.”

Photo: Divano Occidentale Orientale

In another interview, he said they founded a theatre in Denmark with Linda Sugataghy. Its name was ‘The Flying Theatre’ (“Det Flyvende Teater”), and its peculiarity was its location. It was “the very first theatre with a base at an international airport.” According to THIS bio, Linda works mainly in Denmark and takes part in several international drama projects. She has a master’s degree in French linguistics and literature from Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest.

Not the first Hollywood production of the Budapest-loving Italian actor

The Italian artist in Michael Mann’s film, with Penelope Cruz and Adam Driver, plays Giacomo Cuoghi, friend and manager of Enzo Ferrari. In the film, Adam Driver plays Enzo Ferrari, and Penelope Cruz is his wife, Laura Ferrari. The film is set in 1957, with a story intertwined between Ferrari’s private life and that linked to racing, such as the tragic Mille Miglia of the same year, marked by Alfonso De Portago’s accident and the risk of bankruptcy.

Ferrari is Bonifati’s second work in a Hollywood film. The first was Ridley Scott’s ‘All the Money in the World’, alongside international stars such as Kevin Spacey, Mark Wahlberg, Christopher Plummer, Michelle Williams, and Timothy Hutton. Before, he worked in a BBC US TV series with Tom Hollander.

Photo: Divano Occidentale Orientale

Regarding the experience on set, the actor stated, “it was an experience that I will certainly treasure for my work as a director. In working with the cast, mainly with Adam Driver, I felt very comfortable already during the rehearsals, despite having one of the most requested actors in the international star system in front of me. The fact that Michael Mann then decided to put me alongside Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz for the table read certainly helped break the ice before filming began.”

The cast of the film Ferrari also includes Shailene Woodley, Patrick Dempsey, Jack O’Connell, Sarah Gadon, and Gabriel Leone.

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