withGiulia Torelli
If you can't do things well anymore it's better to step back
Theatre is undoubtedly an evocative space, one that calls to mind a form of entertainment as ancient as it is powerful. Born in a distant era, it’s shaped by formal structures, rigid conventions, and costumes and cadences that no longer feel contemporary. Perhaps that’s exactly why modern theatre, with its deconstruction, fluidity, and apparent chaos, can feel like a mystery to many. But not to Giulia Torelli. She’s used to the stage. Even if hers is virtual, made of blogs, social media, and podcasts. And it’s precisely her podcast (Non ho mai, produced by OnePodcast and co-hosted with Claudio Pavese, aka Cleves) that we’re here to talk about when we meet her at Teatro Carcano in Milan.
Non ho mai, now in its second season as of April 2nd, is available on OnePodcast and all major platforms. It’s built around unexpected, intimate, and funny anecdotes, somewhere between serious and lighthearted. Giulia Torelli remembers nearly all of them. “The most surprising one, maybe, is when Claudio confessed live that he got revenge on a girl. Another funny one is when I said my dad once ended up in a motel by mistake, thinking it was a hotel called M Hotel. But the most surprising episode of all is the one about the things we’d do for money. That one is really good.” The episode she would recommend to someone who’s never listened before is called Brutte persone.
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Dress PRADA ARCHIVE, shoes SERGIO ROSSI, ring ÂGÉE, earrings MONIES ITALIA.
“Surprising” is a word that comes up often, and it makes sense. The show’s strength lies in its spontaneity. “I rarely censor myself,” Giulia tells us. “We talk about pretty racy things on the podcast, but I almost never hold back when it comes to work-related topics.” She then makes an important distinction: “When it comes to private life, I do try a bit more, especially compared to the past. I censor myself when it comes to family and friends who don’t want to appear on my channels, and when it comes to love life. That’s it.”
This effort to keep her communication as natural and authentic as possible, she believes, pays off. “A lot of things get misunderstood, partly because of the medium, and because it’s impossible to be 100% authentic, to say what you’d say to your friends at dinner. But that’s normal, especially because you don’t know who’s on the other side, someone who knows you, someone who doesn’t understand you, someone with a different sense of humor.” Still, she says, “Authenticity is really important to me. But that doesn’t mean it has to be important to everyone, and that’s fine. Some people want to see that, and others want to see more polished lives, more flowers and confetti. It’s right that everyone chooses what they want to watch and how they want to be entertained.”
Speaking of authenticity, Giulia has no problem answering a slightly thorny question. We ask what she would ask her peers in a hypothetical episode of Non ho mai dedicated to the content creator profession. “I’d ask, ‘Never taken a job that turned out to be wrong for you?’ Because it’s happened to everyone at least once,” she explains. “Maybe they made you do something unexpected, or maybe you liked the brand but not the product. But no one would ever admit it, so it’s impossible.”
Dress PRADA ARCHIVE, blazer LUNEDÌ, shoes SERGIO ROSSI, earrings MARNI ARCHIVE.
Dress PRADA ARCHIVE, blazer LUNEDÌ, shoes SERGIO ROSSI, earrings MARNI ARCHIVE.
At her side, as mentioned, is Claudio Pavese. Their collaboration began almost by chance, at Radio LatteMiele, and in fact, the idea for the podcast was his. “They called me in to host a program and paired me with Claudio, who had been a radio presenter for years. We became friends,” she recalls. “When he moved to another station and our show ended, he suggested doing a podcast. And I said, ‘Sure, let’s think about it.’ But he kept insisting, and in the end, we made it happen. I really enjoy working with him. We’re very different, we have different senses of humor. He’s ten years younger than me, but we complement each other well. We’re a good team”.
The podcast, for Giulia, is just the latest stage. Before that, there was the blog, then Snapchat and Instagram. Her figure has grown and evolved over the years, and so has what surrounds her. “Social media hasn’t changed that much, in my opinion. What’s changed is the audience, and the creators. I’ve tried to adapt, partly with the content, partly with my personality. I’ve tried to follow what works, open new channels, close others, create content that fits the moment. At the beginning, it felt like I was speaking to twenty people, and I actually was. Now the audience has grown, people have changed. You have to readjust and stay alert. I, for example, have softened, I’ve censored myself more. This job brings out the worst in me,” she says, smiling. “Because it’s not easy, right? Every year there’s a new idea, I want to do something different. The important thing is not to become cringe. As long as I’m not cringe, I’ll keep going”.
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It’s impossible not to ask what cringe means to her. She doesn’t hesitate: “It means even I can’t watch myself, that I look at my content and think, this isn’t working. Time moves on, there are younger and fresher creators, the audience wants different things, and you can’t always please everyone. In my opinion, if you can’t do things well anymore, it’s better to step back”.
Credits
Credits:Photographer Isabella Sanfilippo
Stylist Lucrezia Cuccagna
Make Up Carolina Antonini
Hair Gabriele Marozzi
Videomaker Sofia Atzori
Ph. Assistant Luca Imperatrice
Stylist Assistant Elena Bignamini
Interview Priscilla Lucifora