Bianco, rosso e Verdone was clearly an attempt to replicate the success of Un sacco bello … Sergio Leone said to me: “This film has one flaw. That pain in the ass of a husband! The audience gets pissed off every time they see him. They’d grab a saw and cut off his head! He just gets on your nerves!” … Looking back, the character, thanks to his hang-ups and obsessions, is strong – more so than Mimmo or Leo. For the part of the grandmother, I chose Elena Fabrizi – Mrs Lella, Aldo’s sister. Everyone was against me, from Leone to Romano Cardarelli and the people at Medusa; they all said she was a Roman type lacking in talent, that she wouldn’t make anyone laugh … in short, that she was wrong … I chose her because I met her in a bar near where I lived and she made me laugh. When I saw her – a klutz with that big belly, which is typical of people from Campo de’ Fiori, and a typical old Roman face the likes of which you never see any more – I said to her straight away, “Mrs Fabrizi, I’m going to call you for my next film.” She looked at me and said: “Are you sure you’re not taking the piss?” When I told Leone, he got mad but eventually he gave in because he realised that she was one of the film’s trump cards … If I’d been a bit cannier, I would have given the film a happy ending like – without wanting to stir up controversy – so many of my colleagues do. But I don’t think that’s how I see life … Life is a bummer. There’s always a catch; something always goes wrong. And in this regard, I’ve always been honest. I’ve always told things the way I see them. This – I don’t want to say cynical, because I’m not cynical – but sad, slightly disenchanted, or occasionally melancholic view of life is part of who I am.

Carlo Verdone, TuttoVerdone, a cura di Antonello Panero, Gremese Editore, Roma 1999