In a short but impressive career, Sara Serraiocco has taken Italian cinema by storm, currently starring as a determined synchronized swimmer faced with tragedy in the coming-of-age drama Chlorine. Since making her on-screen debut in 2013 as a blind girl who falls in love with a hitman in the critically acclaimed film Salvo, Ms. Serraiocco has worked with such Italian luminaries as director and screenwriter Liliana Cavani. During a recent stay in New York while promoting her movie, featured in the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 2015 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema series, we had the opportunity to get acquainted with the up-and-coming actress.    

In Chlorine, there are some intricate synchronized swimming scenes. Are you athletic in real life?

Yeah, I was a dancer. I studied classical and modern dance for a few years. When I was nineteen years old, I taught dance. For this role, I studied synchronized swimming for seven months.

Did you do your own stunts?

I had a double, but I studied a lot. I also swim in the movie.

Are you now interested in synchronized swimming?

Yeah, I’m going to the swimming pool every day.

How did you prepare for this role?

I spent a lot of time in the swimming pool with the other girls. I spoke a lot with the director [Lamberto Sanfelice] about the character to search the feelings, the emotions and the background of the character. Where she comes from. What she does.

What interested you about the role?

I was very interested because she’s a dancer. There’s a lot of things that are similar in my life and the life of the character, Jenny. At seventeen years old, she wants to become a synchronized swimmer. She has a strong determination, and I think [Sanfelice] was able to draw out my true personality, my strength, my determination, like Jenny.

What would you like to imagine happening to Jenny after the movie ends?

I think she grows up, and she’s thinking about her life, her brother, her family.

Do you think she fulfills her dreams?

I don’t know. I don’t want to [think about it]…I just think that Jenny is growing up.

Were you sad to leave the character?

Yeah, a little bit when the movie finished. I was sad because Jenny gives me a lot of things, but I started [work on] a new movie. It was really difficult because of my internal emotions, my feelings. I had searched for a lot of internal feelings and emotions about me and about the character.

How did you let go of Jenny once filming ended?

It’s really difficult. It was a physically demanding role. The training was very rigorous. Now I’m going to the gym every day. (Laughs) I never left the character!

How was the atmosphere on the set?

There was a great energy on the set with the other actors, with the director. It was so cold [because of] the altitude of the mountains.

You are not originally from the mountains, right?

No, I’m from the sea, like Jenny! I'm from Pescara [in the Abruzzo region of Italy]. She hates mountains, like me! She spends most of the time [before moving to the mountains] with her friends by the sea, like [I did].

Both of your film roles in Salvo and Chlorine are serious. Would you say you lean towards more dramatic roles?

I’ve made dramatic roles, but I’d like to make another experience in a comedy, for example, or an action [film]. We don’t have a lot of action movies in Italy.

Would you consider doing a movie in English?

Yeah, I acted in English. I did Liliana Cavani's [remake of Francesco, her 1989 docudrama about the life of Saint Francis of Assisi that starred Helena Bonham Carter and Mickey Rourke]. We shot it in English.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a new project. The story is about a young woman who is a Jehovah’s Witness, who is falling in love with an outsider. This is a theme that Italian cinema has never explored. This is a film that I care about very much.

What aspect of the film hasn’t been explored before?

Well, it’s a coming-of-age film (laughs), but she’s very religious and has an aggressive family. She wants to escape from the family. She wants to fall in love with an outsider. She wants to be free.

Do you travel often?

Yeah, yeah. Lots of traveling.

What have been your favorite destinations so far?

New York, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin. I like very much to visit a new city. To go to the museum, to go shopping, go to a restaurant, to see the culture. I like it. I don’t like going to the mountains. (Laughs)

What has been one of your favorite experiences as an actress?

It’s always great. For example, I am here. I am talking with you. I’m in New York, and it’s my first time here. It’s a great experience. A month ago, I was in Tokyo. It was a great experience. I shoot a movie, and it’s also a great experience. (Laughs) I’m very happy for the [Open Roads: New Italian Cinema] festival and media opportunities. lt’s very important for Italian cinema. We already have American distribution too, so I’m very happy about that and happy to be here!

Chlorine played as part of Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at the Film Society of Lincoln Center.