How is this for a Cannes plot twist? Aniello Arena, the Italian actor who is already being praised at the prestigious film festival for “a very winning central performance” in the competition entry Reality, is unable to promote his breakout film because he is serving time in prison. Arena reportedly has been imprisoned for two decades and was excused to star in director Matteo Garrone’s film during the day as long as he returned to custody at night. According to Forbes, Arena is currently serving a 20-year-to-life term in Italy for double murder. In Reality, the inmate/actor stars as a Naples fishmonger who becomes obsessed with appearing on a Big Brother–type reality show in Italy. Arena’s work in the film has been called “riveting” and the first real breakout performance of this year’s festival. Garrone cast the actor after discovering him in a prison theater troupe, which performs at festivals and in theaters throughout Italy. The director told reporters that he pursued him for the 2008 crime drama Gomorrah, “but the judge wouldn’t allow it.”
Wisely, the film’s publicists are not commenting on the nature of Arena’s crime, although his P.R.-approved Cannes bio confirms that he “began his acting career at the Volterra Detention Center with the Fortezza Theater Company in 2001.” Reality’s gala premiere will take place on Friday without its star present.
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