Sydney Sibilia: "To understand 883 you have to start from punk. Our series came out well because it's sincere"

Sydney Sibilia: “To understand 883 you have to start from punk. Our series came out well because it’s sincere”

At 42 years old, Sydney Sibilia is one of the most appreciated and recognized directors of his generation. After directing the trilogy of I Can Quit Whenever I Want, The Incredible Story of Rose Island and Mixed by Erry, he is making his debut as creator and director of a TV series on Sky with They Killed Spider-Man – The Legendary Story of the 883. Which speaks precisely of the birth of one of the most popular Italian bands of all time, those 883 founded by Max Pezzali and Mauro Repetto.

On the occasion of the launch of this series coming out on Sky, we interviewed the director from Salerno together with the two young protagonist actors: Elia Nuzzolo (who will soon also play the part of the young Mike Bongiorno in the Rai fiction entitled Mike), or the interpreter of Max Pezzali, and Matteo Oscar Giuggioli (who participated in The Lying Down, Under the Sun of Riccione and in the fiction Vostro Onore), who plays Mauro Repetto.

“Punk and pop meet” explained Sibilia speaking of Pezzali and Repetto. The director told us how he introduced the cast to the musical mood of the 80s and 90s, starting with punk, the first genre that influenced Max Pezzali. The music of that era also entered the playlists of the two twenty-year-old actors, who also revealed to us their favorite song by 883, that is, No regrets for Nuzzolo and S’inkazza for Giuggioli.

The two actors found themselves very much in the insecurities of their characters when they approached the world of entertainment. “And that’s why the series turned out well, because it’s sincere” underlined Sibilia. Which also revealed how Nuzzolo was surprisingly happy with the (very expensive) dental prosthesis he used to look like Max.

Even Elia Nuzzolo’s voice is incredibly similar to that of the singer-songwriter, and to explain this similarity Nuzzolo spoke of the important singing lessons he had with Ciro Caravano of Neri per Caso. Finally, with a small spoiler, Sibilia told us where he got the inspiration for a very particular scene in the series which concerns an urban legend that was very widespread among young people of that era.