Fotinì Peluso on Leading Greek Series ‘Great Chimera,’ Trailer Revealed

For young Italian-Greek actress Fotinì Peluso, landing the lead role in high-end TV series “The Great Chimera” — based on one of the most important Greek novels of the 20th century — has been a great way “to make contact with my homeland,” she says.

The six-episode 1930s-set show, which is among the highlights of Beta Film‘s upcoming Mipcom slate, stars Peluso as Marina, an Italian beauty fraught with family trauma who falls in love with a seductive Greek sea captain played by Andreas Konstantinou (“Milky Way,” “Cloudy Sunday”). She decides to join him to start a new life on the idyllic island of Syros. There, enchanted by her surroundings, Marina becomes fascinated by her husband’s erudite younger brother played by Dimitris Kitsos (“The Beach”). This leads to her descent into a vicious vortex narrated with Greek tragedy tropes.

“The Great Chimera,” which is based on the eponymous novel by M. Karagatsis, is directed by Vardis Marinakis (“Silent Road,” “Zizotek”), written by Panagiotis Iosifelis (“The Beach”), and produced by Beta Film and Athens-based Foss Productions.

Ahead of the show’s Mipcom launch, Peluso speaks to Variety about how “The Great Chimera” allowed her to connect with her Greek roots and why the show’s sex scenes were important “on an artistic level.”

What attracted you to playing Marina? Had you previously read the book?

I’m Italian-Greek; my mother is Greek and my father is Italian. The book is a must-read in contemporary Greek literature. I was really drawn to the figure of this woman, in those years [the 1930s], probably because of the position women had in the world then. I was very interested in her constant search for freedom. She searches for freedom throughout the entire story, failing to do so probably due to the limitations imposed by society but also due to self-imposed limitations. So what interested me was definitely the complexity of this character, who is presented not as being all peaches and cream, but as a character with very dark, even toxic, aspects of her personality. But also the fact that there are so many themes that I would want to be outdated today, but are not. Specifically, the position women have in society today and how they still have to fight for their own freedom.

How important was it for you, having grown up in Italy, to land this lead role in a Greek classic?

I’ve worked in Greece before, but not in a purely Greek production. I worked on the TV series “Greek Salad” by Cédric Klapisch, which shot in Athens but wasn’t a Greek production. The actors were all French and I did not speak Greek. So for me it was super important, at this point in my career, to make contact with my homeland. Greece isn’t just a secondary country for me — my childhood is tied to Greece. So it was very important for me to somehow maintain these roots and work with a director and a crew that have a Greek mentality. This professional and human aspect really interested me. And then, obviously, I think Greek cinema, despite having less funding and probably being less developed than Italian cinema, has some unique talents especially among youths. And there are directors — aside from Yorgos Lanthimos, obviously — that are really exciting and are breaking out on the festival circuit. So I’ve always been very eager to tap into this world.

Let’s go back to Marina, a bold woman who in the 1930s embarks on a non-conventional journey. What makes her relevant today?

I agree with you that she’s clearly a woman who does extraordinary things for her time and for its mentality. At the same time, I also like to see her as an ordinary woman. I think it’s important not to cast her apart from all the other women one might encounter. Let me explain: It’s clear that she had a unique life and that she rebelled against society. And this was rare compared with how women behaved at the time. Nowadays, women do this a lot more. But that doesn’t mean that some of these issues have changed. What’s changed, I believe, is that Marina’s hunger for freedom has become a necessity and a desire of ordinary women. In this sense, I was very struck by how scandalous it was that she was searching for her sexuality and that she didn’t understand it. Or that she wanted to show off her body. Or that she wanted to celebrate herself in some way.

Talk to me more about her sexuality, which plays an important part in the story.

This aspect will always cast her apart, even today, in the sense that a woman’s naked body is still perceived by audiences as something that stands out for some absurd reason, unfortunately. I wish this were something old-fashioned, but it’s not. So I find the show cross-generational, and I find it very interesting that the character is presented in her complexity. That is, without any sugarcoating. What I mean is that she thinks things that are also ugly and dark, that are sometimes scary. You think, “Oh my God, is she a monster?” When in reality, deep down, perhaps we also have trouble accepting certain aspects of ourselves that are swept under the carpet. I think this is universal, extemporaneous and evergreen.

Was doing the sex scenes a challenge? Did you have an intimacy coordinator on set?

I find it very interesting that this started out as a TV series for Greek public television, then its horizons broadened with a whole host of other negotiations going on. What’s always been important to me is that Marina’s sexuality was a central theme of her life. This is written in the book exactly the same way it’s presented on screen. For me, it was important that this aspect wasn’t diminished or covered up in any way. It would have bothered me a lot, if we’d had to do things halfway. Having said that, do the sex scenes really stand out? I don’t know. Probably not. I have no idea. But I know how we worked.

I know that it was a completely protected environment and a lot of attention was paid to this. We had an intimacy coordinator, who was amazing. At the beginning, I was pretty ignorant about all this. I thought, “OK, if I’m at peace with myself and I talk things through with the director and the actors, I don’t really need a mediator.” When in truth, it’s crucial. Not because of your physical appearance, or because someone might do something you don’t like. But simply because sometimes you need a mediator who sets the limits and rules between what can be done and the artistic side. And strangely enough, the act of setting these limits, or rules, makes you feel much freer. I mean, once the boundaries are set, you feel free to express yourself as you want within those boundaries. Especially when it comes to having [physical] contact with others, because it’s not that simple. After all, we are talking about bodies, human beings, people. So I found this very important; we worked on it a lot. There are lots of [sex] scenes, I remember them. I haven’t seen them yet. I don’t really know. But I think we did what we wanted to do, and that was important for me on an artistic level.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.