For the new romantic comedy You, Me & Tuscany, Stella Pecollo’s character Francesca embodies a lively persona and familial nature that feels right at home for the actress.

Born in Savona, Italy and now based in LA, she’s been performing since childhood and has lived in cities as diverse as Rome, Shanghai, and New York City. Her ability to adapt to new experiences was a precursor to her new film’s balance of American and Italian sensibilities.

Combining a mostly Italian cast and crew with American director Kat Coiro, You, Me & Tuscany follows Anna (Halle Bailey) as she squats in a Tuscan villa and starts to fall for the owner’s cousin (Regé-Jean Page). Pecollo’s portrayal of the warm-hearted family member Francesca is as delightful on screen as she is in conversation.

Throughout the conversation, Pecollo shares how her Italian roots have influenced her choices as an actor and what made the experience of making You, Me & Tuscany so singular and unique.

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Culture Flux: So I wanted to ask you about your background. First of all, I know that you were involved in theater growing up, so was film the ultimate goal for you when you were a kid?

Stella Pecollo: Not really. Actually, my main goal when I was a kid was singing, so being a singer, but then I discovered theater and it’s so much fun. 

And acting- it happens to come to me quite easily, quite naturally. So I thought, “why not?” But when I did my first movie- I did short films just like everyone- but the first serious movie was when I was 25 and it was so magical, so different that I thought, “oh, I like that. I like it.”

So I think it’s two different things, but both really great experiences.

So the performance aspect must have been quite the appeal for you. Since you already had that singing background, I imagine performing in front of people isn’t as nerve-wracking as it might have been otherwise.

You’re right!There are actual recordings of me as a little girl performing in front of all my relatives, my big family and not being shy.

And then, I used to go to the church choir. All of these opportunities to perform when you’re little. I took all of them… absolutely. It was so much fun. It still is!

Absolutely. And your family were involved in theater as well, right?

Well, actually, it’s my great grandma. She was like, she had her own theater company and she was going all around Italy with her little theater company with the kids. But then when my great grandma died and they all grew up and became like serious people.

They had serious jobs. So after her, nobody else really had the same call, the same talent, or the same interest. I am the first one after her. So I feel a big connection to her, even though I never met her.

What were the biggest challenges of transitioning from mostly in theater to then in film?

Well, I would say the waiting times. Waiting times in movies…wow! It’s very, very long.

But because I love to read and to write, I learned pretty quickly that you can be in your green room and read books while you’re waiting, write while you’re waiting, listen to music, get into the zone, get into character. So that was probably the biggest challenge for me because I get bored really easily. But then I found straight away a solution to that.

Also, I don’t know if this is a very Italian thing or if they do it everywhere, but we tend to chat to other actors in waiting times, meet everybody who’s there, go and have a little snack. You know, you enjoy your time and your privilege of working in movies.

There’s a rich history of Italian cinema with, you know, Roberto Rossellini, Antonioni, Fellini. Are there elements of Italian cinema specifically that have helped you as an actor that maybe you haven’t found elsewhere?

Absolutely. I would say Fellini, a hundred percent. His way of working with actors and non-actors as well, I found it always very fascinating.

And again, I wish I met him, but no, I didn’t. I didn’t meet him because when I was, you know, old enough, he died already. But he has this thing of using character actors that is the thing that I love the most. And the fact that he’s very loud and all these crowded scenes with all of these colorful clothes. And it’s something that I found also working with the other Italian directors like Roberta Torre. Actually the designer of You, Me & Tuscany, he’s the same designer who worked with Roberta Torre. His name is Massimo Cantini Parrini, and he’s also an Oscar nominated dress designer and he has this creativity.

He also works for the Olympics ceremony. He’s very colorful, very creative, and I love that part of him. And you will see in the movie, he really had fun with my clothes.

So going back to Italian movies, I would definitely say, yeah, 100% Fellini. Everything about Fellini is something that inspires me.

It must have been unique working on this film, because I saw that you had a mostly Italian crew. But you’re also working for Universal Pictures, you have an American main actress and American director. So was it a unique experience to have this combination of different influences like that?

Yes, it was unique and I felt like it was the perfect situation for me, because I’m Italian, but I always loved American movies, American TV shows.

And I moved to the States a few years ago. So I felt like that was the right place for me because I could have both worlds, the best of both worlds. And sometimes I’ve been even helpful, you know, because sometimes maybe some actors wouldn’t understand a certain concept of something.

And so maybe the director was asking me, “oh, can you help me translate?” And I was like, “yeah, of course. Why not?”

Some actors were, for them, it was the first experience on an American movie. And, you know, it’s nerve-wracking. And for me, I was like, “yeah, let’s do it, don’t worry!”

So yeah, it was very interesting.

And you’ve lived in many different places. So how do you think that these different cultural experiences have affected you artistically as an actor?

A hundred percent, a hundred percent. I think most of all, the mindset of the professional actor, because culturally in Italy, we are very kind of casual, I would say. In regards to acting, it’s more like considered as a hobby, I would say.

Maybe it’s a strong word, but that’s the feeling I get when I work in Italy. It’s not as structured and serious and protected, the environment that I have, that I experience in Italy. Whereas when I’m in the States, we have unions. It’s just a whole different level.

And also in the UK, I also lived and worked in the UK. Same thing. It was very refreshing to be in an environment where you are treated very highly as an artist, in general, as an actor. 

And I remember the first time I moved to the States, there were the strikes with SAG-AFTRA, and I literally cried, I got emotional I mean, while striking, because this feeling of being close to all your colleagues and going all together united for a goal that will benefit all of us- definitely it’s something that stuck with me. And I really, really love it. And I got it in and I put it into my daily work and respect for this job.

Was that the biggest cultural shock? Moving to LA from Italy? Was it the experience as an actor?

I would say the biggest cultural shock was probably when I moved to Shanghai.

That was definitely, definitely the biggest one. First of all, because I didn’t speak the language. I am one who takes risks.

I go, I’m brave, I just go with the flow, but I didn’t really speak Chinese. So I knew that I had some English-speaking people there to work with me, but it was kind of interesting to communicate with some people. And the thing that helped me the most was that as Italian, we move our hands a lot [laughs].

And so it was easier for me to speak to people in a different language with my hands. That was great. But that was definitely the biggest cultural shock in regards to everything.

I was in Shanghai, so massive city, the language, the food, many, many things. It was very, very different. Whereas LA, I find it in certain things, it’s not too different from south of Italy- the chilled vibe, the weather, the Mediterranean food, like southern food.

It’s not that different. Whereas New York is more similar to Milan. North of Italy, more colder, that type of environment. 

I imagine that because you’ve been in these different places and really put yourself out there in all these different places, that it made you braver as an actor. Do you feel that connection, especially with this film being a new experience for you?

Absolutely. This is so true and so precious what you’re saying, because I think some people, some actors, we live in a little bubble and sometimes we forget to live. We forget that what makes our characters deeper is actually to experience life.

So the more you live, you go out there, you meet new people, new cultures, you try new things, the more you can give depth into your characters. For example, my character Francesca in You, Me & Tuscany, she’s a pastry chef. And I did the hotel school when I was younger, the hospitality school.

And I also, for two years, learned how to cook. So that thing that I experienced at school, who would have thought about it? But I used it when I came back to the kitchen. It was like a lot of flashbacks of my time at school.

Did you see a lot of similarities when you first read the script with who you are as a person and who Francesca is?

I think, yeah, definitely. Definitely the warmth of her personality and the fact that she really needs to communicate with everybody all the time, share her emotions, share her private life, gossip. I’m a big sharer, even too much sometimes.

But also working with Kat Coiro helped a lot to make Francesca more interesting and closer to who I am. Because then the character became kind of bigger, I would say bigger and bigger. Her story became more interesting also because we gave her something more.

So how did the character change from when you first read it on the page to what the final scenes were in the film? Was there a really big change in between those?

Well, not huge, because it was quite already well written. But I was lucky enough to be able to give my opinions about certain things and to also improvise a little bit. Especially, I’m a very physical actor, you will see in the movie.

If there’s some music, I tend to dance and move. There’s a scene, no spoiler, but where it wasn’t supposed to be a dancing scene, but I started dancing with grandma. Or maybe some parts where I’m interacting with other people in my family and I’m just cracking new jokes that were not supposed to be there.

And every little thing, I think it makes the character more interesting and more real.

What were the biggest challenges with You, Me & and Tuscany? Were there challenges maybe during shooting?

Is it more finding the character? What are the most difficult parts for you of making the film and what were the easiest?

So the first thing that comes to mind is there’s a specific scene that we filmed. We were in Rome for that specific one, and it was extremely hot. And I was wearing velvet clothes under the sun, and it was very, very hot. I still remember that day like the hottest day, even though of course, we had umbrellas, but you know, when you have to shoot, you have to shoot.

It’s not like you can sweat or faint. You have to pretend like, “yeah, everything’s going fine!” So that definitely, that was the biggest challenge for me. Everything else, to be honest with you, I cannot complain about anything because everybody was so lovely- cast, crew, we got along straight away.

There are also some very big Italian actors that I admire, apart from, you know, Halle [Bailey] and Regé [Jean Page] who are international actors, but also some of the Italian actors, very big and very well known, and I really admired. It was very, very emotional for me to work with them. 

And probably, yeah, I would say the biggest, the most beautiful thing was the feeling of, the real feeling of a family that we experienced with, and even Regé told us at the end, at the final shoot, he was like, “you guys, I really felt like I was part of a family.”

It was so easy, you know, to experience that as a character because it was real. And we were, you know, hanging out with the other members of the family, even for dinner after, you know, after set was done. And I think that helps also to feel more at ease when you work.

It must be exciting too, to see Italy represented in a different way on the screen as well, because there aren’t many romantic comedies where you get to really see a lot of family. Normally it’s something like some fancy, like Bond type of situation or something, but it’s this like close-knit family in Italy. Did you see that you feel like it’s represented differently as the country in this film, rather than a lot of other big American movies?

Yeah, actually, it’s interesting that you mentioned this because this was a big topic. The director, Kat Coiro, was very serious about it from the beginning. She was like, “guys, we don’t want to have stereotypes here. We don’t want to do anything that makes you feel like it’s not real and it’s not true to you. So feel free to let me know if there’s anything that we have to change.” 

And that for us is very important because sometimes we see a mockery, you know, of the Italians. It never happened in this movie, from the food on the table to the regional thing.

Because also, I mean, most of the times Italians represented in movies are either from Sicily or Naples. Here we were in Tuscany and it’s a totally different thing. And the people speak in a different way, when we have a specific part, when we have a toast. And I was involved also in the writing of the toast because she was like, “I don’t want to do just like a classic Italian toast. That’s a Tuscany toast. Your family is from Tuscany, so you have to.”

And I was like, “yes!” It’s so special for us. It’s very important to have a representation that is fair and it’s just heartwarming.

Absolutely. So I want to ask you, what do you hope audiences take away from the film when they watch it?

I think what you mentioned, the family, it’s unexpected. But apart from love and romance and comedy, I think the biggest thing that people take home and especially throughout the whole movie, but especially towards the end, is the family feeling, the feeling of belonging, even if maybe it’s not the standard situation of the family or where you come from. But it’s just the people that you choose and they become your family. So the feeling of belonging and family, I think that’s the main thing.

And leading up to the movie’s release, is it more nerve-wracking or is it more exciting? Because it’s so close, but yet you still have a little bit of time left until it’s released. So what is that period like?

It is more exciting than nerve-wracking. It’s extremely exciting because I’m so proud of this movie and that I just want everyone to see it and to give it to the world. And we were at a private screening in London a few days ago, so that was like a little taste of what’s gonna be at the world premiere in April.

And it was already very, very exciting and I cannot wait. I just cannot wait. And I’m more, now I’m, I was a little bit more nervous before, but now that I experienced, you know, I watched the movie and I experienced already a few feedbacks from people, I’m just excited, 100% excited.

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You, Me & Tuscany is currently in theaters via Universal Pictures. Find your local showtimes here.