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Some of Me
It is hard, perhaps impossible, to think of Isabella Rossellini without thinking of beauty, but she is so much more...Born into cinema royalty, Isabella grew up in Paris and Rome, moved to New York at the age of nineteen and began modeling at twenty-eight. Being the face of Lancôme for fourteen years inspired Isabella to get into the business herself and she now develops her own fragrance line. We have seen her on both the big and small screens but she is also a mother, photographer, author, and entrepreneur; this evening she will share her fascinating story and charm you with her intelligence, keen wit, profound observations and yes, her undeniable beauty as well.
Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini was born in Rome and lived her early years in Rome, Santa Marinella, and Paris. She came to New York at the age of 19 to study English and attend Finch College. During this early period she appeared intermittently on Roberto Benigni's Italian comedy show, The Other Sunday. She holds dual United States and Italian citizenship and is the daughter of the Academy Award-winning Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman (Casablanca, Anastasia, Autumn Sonata) and the groundbreaking, iconic Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, who made film history with Rome, Open City.
Moving easily from early forays into comedy and television reporting to roles in movies, television, and stage productions and from an illustrious international modeling career (as the face of Lancome for 14 years) and developing her own brand of cosmetics to writing and philanthropy, Ms. Rossellini has appeared in more than 50 films (Blue Velvet, Death Becomes Her, The Saddest Music in the World, Infamous) and 26 made-for-television movies/series (Alias, Discovery Atlas: Italy Revealed, Iconoclasts, 30 Rock, Treme, The Blacklist). Her debut screenplay was her mischievous and witty film, My Dad is 100 Years Old, a pretend dialogue about the essence of film. In it, Ms. Rossellini appears as herself, speaks her father's words, and also brilliantly portrays Fellini, Selznick, Hitchcock, Chaplin, and her own mother, whom she strikingly resembles.
In 2008 Robert Redford's Sundance Institute commissioned Ms. Rossellini to make a series of short films to address the issues of the environment. She chose the mating habits of bugs and called her series Green Porno, which has been celebrated in film festivals here and abroad. Rossellini wrote, performed in and directed the films, which went on to win a Webby award (honoring excellence on the internet). She then adapted them into a funny 75-minute monologue that she now delivers around the world.
Ms. Rossellini lives on a 30-acre farm on Long Island, 90 minutes outside the city, and is studying for a masters degree in animal behavior and conservation. She has written three books: Some of Me, Looking at Me, and In the Name of the Father, the Daughter and the Holy Spirits: Remembering Roberto Rossellini. Between movie and film making projects, she lectures at performing arts centers throughout the United States, Europe, and Canada.
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