Meet Benedetta Spinetti | Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Benedetta Spinetti and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Benedetta, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
My favorite quote is: “Life beats down and tortures the soul…Art reminds you that we have one” Stella Adler said this.

I love this quote because I feel that we, sometimes, forget how much the arts are important in everyone’s journey called life.
The Theatre has always been like home, since the first time I’ve had my first acting class when I was 15. Since that moment has been quite the journey, between all the life changes, rejections, and beautiful opportunities that came along, until the moment that I decided to move from my home country, Italy to New York.
It hasn’t been easy. Moving to another country and learning a new language presented several challenges. Fear was a big part of it. Fear of not expressing myself correctly, fear of being misunderstood, fear to not have the time to express myself. and many others. I could be here for hours talking about all the fears that I had and still have to face everyday, even though they have tone down a bit. But I’m grateful everyday for that fear. That fear that also pushed me to move to New York and embrace in a journey to find my artistic soul.
Theater has always been there for me in all of these years reminding me that those differences that I was seeing as an obstacle were actually fundamentally important to make my own art unique. These differences are a treasure.
And theater should always be a place that nurtures the differences.
Stella Adler also used to say: ““Growth as an actor and growth as a human being are synonymous” .
One of the reasons I moved to New York was also to find the truth on stage. To find that realism on stage that comes from a deep understanding of the character and the character’s humanity. Listening is a fundamental tool when you are on stage, it speaks to the truth of the character. The more you listen the more your lines will come from a place of truth, from an actual human being. And actually it will make it easier to memorize too. And I feel that especially in this time and age when we forget most of the time to listen, we just keep going,especially in a city like New York where everything has to move so fast.
This is where art plays his part, allowing us to reflect and listen to our soul for that little time that sometimes can last more than we think, leaving a meaningful impact in ourselves.
That’s what I love about the theater and especially the theater that we do here in Nyc, the vivid truth that we see on stage can really create catharsis and bring people together.
And I thinks that’s exactly what this quote talks about: despite what happens in your day to day life, despite how much sometimes life can put you down and make you lose hope, art will teach you to grab that life and grow roots in it. That way you will have a stronger grasp of life.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve searched for my artistic path since the first time I did my first show when I was 15 years old . Since then it has been quite the journey, I’ve changed a lot since. I come from a small city called Pistoia, in Italy, and when I first started theater there I didn’t really know why I was doing it, the only thing that I knew was that I couldn’t live without it. Now I still feel the same; my goal through my art is to give a voice to all the people that don’t have one. I’ve often felt while growing up that I was invisible, that I couldn’t express myself, and it took time to find that voice inside of me and finally be able to stop judging it.
“Awareness without judgment” the great Ron Burrus used to teach us.
It wasn’t easy to overcome the judgment. In this field it would come from everywhere and sometimes the negative voice inside our head is the more dangerous one.
My journey hasn’t been easy, it has been a lot of doors closing in my face, a lot of sacrifices, a lot of people expressing hard judgments. Personally I think that criticism and discussion can make us grow when they come from a place of respect. So I had to learn to take things as they are and store in my heart the ones that resonate.
In these years I had the opportunity to meet a lot of wonderful artists that helped me grow and collaborating with them was very inspiring.
I had the opportunity to venture in several productions, very different from one another, playing Lucy, aka Lucifer in “After Eden” with Theatre East, Playing the dreamy Rita in “Background” with SunDog Theatre Company, and many others. In all of these experiences the thing that was the most empowering and powerful was to investigate and strive towards the humanity of each character and bring the story to life.
Humanity is key to tell stories.
I strongly believe in the powerful relationship that the actor establishes with the audience. Both the artist and the audience should leave the theater changed.
That’s why our personal story as human beings is really a treasure and every artist is unique and deserves to tell the story they want.
I know what makes me unique is all the experiences that I bring in my heart. All those experiences that were bad and left a mark and all of those that felt nice. The theatre allowed to express who I am and find other people whose stories inspired me and whom I could inspire. Theatre creates communities.
I’ve learnt a lot of things along the way like to try and stay connected to the present and to not put pressure on the future or the past. I’ve learnt how to not let my fear overcome my journey.
I think I still have a long way to go, and a lot to learn but the passion and curiosity help to never stop and just keep going and venture in unknown world, like writing. I’ve just started writing my own play. Writing is very challenging and very moving and it made me realize how much more, especially in this moment, we should give credit to the writers and the beautiful stories that they create.
Right now apart from writing my own play, I’m also venturing in producing a play and have many other projects ready to begin.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would definitely go to the theatre! I would also visit the bookstores in New York. I think of them as magical places. The Drama Book Shop is definitely my favorite. I love to go there, sit and read plays and write. When I came to New York for the first time few years ago, the Drama book Shop was my shelter.Since then it has always had a special place in my heart.
I love Battery Park.If you take a walk in spring at sunset, it’s like a meditation.
I also love Ellis Island. Whenever you go there you can feel the history, it’s one of those places that we need to preserve.
I’m vegan so one of the things that I love about New York is that there are a lot of vegan options but nothing beats the taste of home.
But something that I love about New York is also the fact that wherever you come from, here you can find your community, and have a bit of your home with you, mixed with other cultures. I love the fact that here you can get to know people from everywhere in the world and hear their stories.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

The biggest shout out is to my beautiful grandma Anna. She taught me everything that I know, like the power of kindness, which is the most important value I carry to this day. She taught to put love behind and in everything I do, her smile brought light and warmth wherever she would go. She was and will always be my light.
I am also deeply grateful for my parents and my partner who have always supported and encouraged me in my artistic dreams.
I read somewhere that happiness lies in warm lights, good wine and all of the people that you love with you sitting around a table enjoying a good meal; so thank you to all of my family and close friends for always providing me with these moments of delicate happiness.
Of course I cannot forget all of the teachers that I had in my life that helped and inspired me to become who I am, I am truly grateful. And a big shout out to the amazing theatre companies and people who I have been fortunate enough to work with, these wonderful communities that I’m so grateful to be a part of. For holding my hand through this journey thank you to my therapist, Rachele, for making me understand the healing strength of therapy.
And how could I forget my beautiful dogs- their wagging tails and wet noses always put a smile on my face.

Instagram: @spinettibenedetta

Image Credits
Elio Trevisan