The Italian-Spanish-French drama series ‘The New Pope’, directed by Paolo Sorrentino, is a continuation of the popular series ‘The Young Pope’, which was released in 2016.
When work on the new project began, Paolo Sorrentino was searching for a Russian actress to play the role of Polish character Eva Novak, the wife of Dr. Lindegard. He had a shortlist of actresses, and one day Yuliya Snigir received an email from the casting director of the American drama series The New Pope, asking for her agent’s contact details.
At first, she thought it was a joke. After some hesitation, she decided to reply just in case. Soon after, her agent received a request to record an audition tape of the most difficult, dramatic, and longest scene from the role. Yuliya recorded this scene with friends on a phone and sent the video to the project’s casting director.
Later, Yuliya learned that Paolo Sorrentino had been impressed with her audition and was torn between her and one other actress. This news both delighted and frightened her, as she hadn’t expected anything serious to come of it. After some time, she was officially informed that she had been cast. Yuliya was sent the script, and negotiations began.
At the appointed time, she arrived in Rome at the world-famous Cinecittà film studio, where great masters like Federico Fellini, Bernardo Bertolucci, Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica, Martin Scorsese, and many others had worked. Filming was already underway, and Yuliya had fittings and makeup tests ahead of her. She was immediately introduced to Sorrentino. “I was terribly shy, of course. First of all, I was scared — I didn’t know what he would be like. He turned out to be incredibly friendly and much younger than I had imagined, to be honest, and also much simpler somehow. He was so open and witty that I immediately felt comfortable and at ease. Anything could have happened. I had seen all of his films; I’m a real fan of his,” she recalled.
Snigir met the lead actor, Jude Law, right before the shoot when she flew to Venice. The actress was very nervous, knowing she had to perform the same difficult scene she had used for her audition. The huge volume of text was a serious challenge for her, a non-native speaker, and she planned to ask Jude Law for a few rehearsals.
However, she was pleasantly surprised when the actor himself approached her while she was getting her makeup done and said he was very nervous and wanted to rehearse with her more. “I had thought he operated with such relaxed energy. But no. He was very nervous and very focused. He was constantly in character, always pacing and muttering lines, always maintaining that tension. Seeing him like that was amazing,” Snigir shared.
In September 2019, Yuliya traveled to the 76th Venice International Film Festival, where the premiere of two episodes of The New Pope was scheduled. The Russian actress played in the seventh episode and didn’t even expect that her part would be shown at the festival. “The ovations were incredibly long and loud. People were shouting ‘Bravo!’ I felt euphoric; I couldn’t believe it was happening to me. After the screening, I was completely overwhelmed. I had never experienced anything like that in my life,” Snigir remembered. It was then that she understood the emotions of those who accept an Oscar with tears in their eyes, because at that moment she felt exactly the same way.
