Frost interviewed the beautiful and talented Claudia Gerini. Prolific and mufti-lingual, Claudia can be seen in Labyrinth, broadcast on Friday 29 and Sunday 31st March on Channel 4.

You got your first role when you were only 14. Do you think starting so young was a good thing?

Well, I think that there are advantages and disadvantages in all of

one’s decisions. Perhaps the positive side of this was that I started to work

immediately and was able to throw myself into the career that I had always

known I wanted to follow. The negative side could be that I started to work

straight away and so I wasn’t able to develop other interests or perhaps lost

out on other things but, at the end of the day I think that say it was a more

positive than negative outcome.

What is your favourite role you have played?

Well, I suppose it was the part that I had I’m Crazy about Iris Blond. I

played the part of a waitress ― Iris Blond ― who then becomes a singer and

given that singing is my passion and the role required me to sing a lot, I really

enjoyed that part.

You have over 53 credits on IMDB, how do you think you managed to have such a long and prolific career?

I suppose taking decisions and making the right choices. I don’t really

know. I follow a trajectory in which I try to follow a set of principles and be

faithful to my ideas and plans. Part of this is probably my love of challenge

and so I try not to repeat myself too much and I am always on the look out for

new genres and different roles.

Favourite film?

I have no doubts about that one. Moulin Rouge by Baz Luhrmann. I

don’t know how many times I’ve seen it over the years.

Favourite genre to work in?

I think I’d have to say comedy, a more romantic or ironic comedy but

then again, given that I like changing genres and roles and I am always on

the look out for a challenging role, I like dramatic roles as well.

You have worked in many different languages. Do you find learning

other languages hard? What is your favourite language to work in?

I find it quite easy to learn new languages, probably because I have a

good ear and so I tend to pick up the sounds quickly. I learned Spanish,

French and English this way and if I have to work in another language then

probably I prefer working in Spanish or English.

What would you be if you were not an actress?

If I could stay in the entertainment sector then I’d love to be a singer. If

I had to change sector then I think I’d love to work with children, young

children; perhaps as a pedagogue or even a primary school teacher.

How do you stay in shape?

I keep in shape by going to Taekwondo classes 3 times a week. Its so

energetic that you don’t really need to do anything else; there is a lot of cardio

and stretching and so its an all-round sporting activity. Recently I’ve

discovered pole dancing which is a lot of fun so I suppose just keeping myself

in movement. You know, being a full-time working mother, I have very little

time to sit and relax and another thing is that I’m slowly moving towards a

more vegetarian diet as well even though I still eat meat occasionally.

What’s next for you?

At the moment I am working on some projects that will be staring this

summer and so I’ll be back on set shooting in July. Tulpa is also being

released in Italy on the 30th of May and so I’ll be a bit busy with that as well

and so, in general, I’m getting ready to start filming again this summer.