Fictionalized filmmaker guido Contini has the kind of crippling writer’s block you wish whoever wrote “Old Dogs” would get. Based on Federico Fellini and played by Daniel Day- Lewis, the character at the center of Friday’s “Nine” is revered in his native Italy, but can’t seem to come up with an idea for his new fi lm. He’s also juggling perilous relationships with his put-upon wife (Marion Cotillard), needy mistress (Penelope Cruz), actressmuse (Nicole Kidman) and a flirty Vogue reporter (Kate Hudson).
The movie-musical, directed by Rob Marshall of “Chicago,” is adapted from the 1982 Broadway production of the same name, and gives each major cast member one big musical number. Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson of the Black Eyed Peas plays Saraghina, a voluptuous prostitute Contini meets as a young boy. (The singer gained nearly 20 pounds for the role.) Through her song “Be Italian,” she teaches him the ways of the world.
To prepare, Fergie carefully examined the lyrics and made notes. She shares some of them below.
“BE ITALIAN”
So, you little Italian devils, You want to know about love? Saraghina will tell you. If you want to make a woman happy, You rely on what you were born with. Because it is in your blood. – “I’m using a different tone in my voice, because it called for it. It’s almost manlike.”
Be Italian, be Italian. Take a chance and try to steal a fiery kiss. Be Italian, be Italian. – “I say ‘Be Italian’ manytimes in the song, but it was important to me that every time I say it, it have a different meaning, because there are so many different things about being Italian. There’s love of life and food and sex and drink. There’s love of dancing, love of singing.So it was putting all that into it.”
When you hold me, don’t just hold me but Hold this! – “When I’m doing the number, I’m not moving like myself. When I sit down, I don’t cross my legs, because that’s not how Saraghina would sit.”
Please be gentle, sentimental, – “It means sometimes being a macho prick to a woman and being aloof and making women want you more. These are sometimes characteristics that are taught, and that’s interesting to me.”
Go ahead and try to give my cheek a pat, But be daring and uncaring. – “That’s obviously in the bedroom and as a man in general.”
When you pinch me, try to pinch me where there’s fat. – “For me, this was about enjoying all the weight that I was gaining as opposed to being disgusted about it. And it was about teaching the man that that’s what a woman is, and you want to grab that. It was easy to gain the weight. I didn’t work out at all and ate highfat, high-salt, highsugar foods.”
Be a singer, be a lover. Pick the flower now before The chance is past. Be Italian, be Italian. – “That’s a great line, and it’s pretty evident what it means.”
Live today as if it may become your last. – “I hold the last note for a long time, and the key is to stay on the note and to not go fl at or sharp for a second. You need a clean note that’s on key, and I had to concentrate to make sure it doesn’t quiver.”