The family can come in different ways

[The following story contains spoilers from the Netflix movie Nonnas.]

In UncommonThe film Netflix based on the restaurant not centered on the NAS of Joe Scaravella on Staten Island, Joe de Vince Vaughn is inspired to open the fictitious version of Enotca Maria after the death of his mother, suggesting that the restaurant will help him keep his mother’s memory, because “food is love”.

This intense affection felt out of screen among Vaughn; The superstar of the Nonnas film played by Susan Sarandon, Brenda Vaccaro, Talia Shire and Lorraine Bracco; Joe Manganiello, who plays the real real friend of Scaravella; And the married writer Liz Maccie and the director Stephen Chbosky.

“I was attracted by the absolute heart, kindness and kindness. I felt so lucky to give birth to something good,” said MacCie The Hollywood Reporter of what attracted her to Uncommon“A true story during the first first in the film. “I also felt the reflection of my own family in history, and I grew up in New Jersey in an Italian -American family and what food meant for us – it was like another language. So writing a film that incorporated the love of food, tradition and inheritance was like a slam dunk. ”

And that was the link between the characters who attracted Sarandon and Manganiello to the film.

Sarandon said that it had been attracted to “ability to work with so many great women; You just don’t have that chance. ”

She added: “I love the sets, and I like to be in a family situation, and it is the family, and we have formed a family.”

Manganiello had a number of things that attracted him, especially as a fan of Chbosky, Vaughn and Drea de Matteo, who plays the wife of her character; Seize a rare opportunity for him to play Italian and make a comedy; And a “fantastic” script.

“For me, my character’s arc is based on her friendship with Vince, so I thought that male friendship between the character of Vince and mine was great-comedy in the fact that men are terrible communicators are also hilarious,” he said, also expressing his appreciation for the way in which he and Matteo are fighting in a way that would probably be indulgent to other people. ”

And the actor recalled the “pleasure” that he and Vaughn had dragged with their real counterparts.

“Vince and I went to the real Enoteca Maria one evening and spent time with Joe and Bruno while non-Nas were preparing for dinner,” he said. “It was super fun to spend time with these guys and get their brain to.”

Even with regard to the acquisition of Netflix in September of the film, which was filmed before the actors’ strike in 2023, the support of the streamer, said producer Rachel Shane THRwas crucial.

“We just wanted to have as many eyeballs as possible on this film,” said Madison Wells’ creation director when he was asked why Netflix was the right house for the project. “It is really something that people need at the moment: family, community, food, second chances for everyone, especially older women, and it was incredible. They really kissed him like no one else did. ”

Bracco, who had an enthusiastic meeting and filled with hugs with Chbosky and Maccie at Uncommon First, said that working with the couple was a “lovefest” and that his more stoic character Roberta finds himself at his colleagues.

“I do not think that at the very beginning, she was very delighted with them but little by little, through food and cooking, we all opened up to each other,” said Bracco THR.

Although the character of Bracco, in addition to being the best friend of Joe’s mother, has her own children and grandchildren, she is distant from it, viewers learn, finally reaching out via a telephone call to the end of the film. Meanwhile, Antonella de Vaccaro lives alone after the death of her husband and her children and grandchildren moved away, lamenting not to see them often, and that the Gia de Shire and Sarandon had never had children.

Although viewers do not see non-SNA in close contact with their own grandchildren, Maccie says it was “intentional in a way”.

“I really wanted to emphasize that they have become the family of the other,” she said THR. “It is a very important theme for me that the family is not always a line, they are the people with whom you share bread, it’s your neighbor, it’s the person on the other side of the street. The family can come in all different ways. “

MacCie added, referring to the character of Vaccaro speaking of “older women in [her] Life with children they have raised to live throughout the country “,” She was really my MAPOLE of what is the objective of being a mother, what is the goal of being a grandmother, is that your children will find their own life and that they will move. They will live their own life. Maybe you don’t see them as much, but you feel proud.

Chbosky added: “Another thing we have talked about is that so often, women of a certain age, you are defined by your role in a family or as a grandmother. The idea of ​​focusing on their role as women as this thing they do, we thought it was a very new way to approach. ”

Sarandon also appreciated what the film said about women of a particular generation. “For years, women have organized families together, and it’s a little sad now that there are no more grandmothers who can age in someone’s house with grandchildren, and I think we should enhance these life lessons and recipes.”

The actress, who has long been frankly on politically, has made the headlines after Uncommon was filmed but before Netflix acquired it for controversial comments, for which she quickly apologized, during a pro-Palestinian rally in 2023. Uncommon First, Sarandon continued to express their support for the Palestinian people, carrying a pin of artists 4ceasefire. When he was asked for his hopes for the future in the middle of a politically divisor climate in the United States, Sarandon brought attention to the Middle East, saying: “My hope is that Palestine will survive and free itself.”

When he was specifically asked for Sarandon’s remarks in 2023, Chbosky indicated that the ability to respect people with different views, which was reflected on the set, was part of what the film is.

“You look at our casting and our crew, I don’t know if there is a political opinion that is not shared by someone,” he said. “We are all entitled to our opinions and what is really cool is when you have a libertarian like Vince and you have a liberal like Susan and they love each other, and there was only respect. And for me, the film is a subject of respect.”

And it is this kind of respect that the real scaravella had for Sarandon and its regular customers who had reserved tables in Enoteca Maria when the Oscar -winning actress made a last minute table after having signed Uncommon.

“It’s a Friday. I am in pre-production. Susan Sarandon signed to be in the film. The assistant of Susan, Madison, a charming person, calls me and tells that Susan would love to have a table for four tomorrow evening at six o’clock,” recalls Chbosky. “I call Joe, I’m going to:” Hey, Susan Sarandon wants a table for four to six hours. His answer: “Ooh, ahh, I don’t know” – by the way, likes Susan Sarandon, that’s not that – “I can’t do that to my regulars”. So he reminds me.

Uncommon is now streaming on Netflix.