“Will tea be okay?” Otherwise, I order water. In the photo, you might think it’s vodka. ” Seated one late afternoon in September at the restaurant of a four-star Parisian on the Grands Boulevards to defend her autobiography Anatomy of a wild heart (Hors Collection, 320 pages, 19.90 euros) just translated, Asia Argento tastes her joke, going so far as to discuss the choice of glass with the photographer.
Naturally disarmingly simple, the 46-year-old Italian artist has put her image of eternal rebel in the closet. On his smartphone, the “I am sober” application lists 105 days without a drop of alcohol. And too bad for drunkenness.
She seems calm, takes her time to answer in French, sometimes looking for words through English or Italian. Yet she has come a long way. In 2018, she lost in quick succession her companion, Chef Anthony Bourdain, who committed suicide, and her “Adored grandmother” before facing the death of her mother at the end of 2020. She who has already conquered fibromyalgia in the past, combining chronic pain and intense fatigue, is now fighting to clear her head.
“The problem with me is this committee of votes that meets and says’ Tu have to do that ”, “Tu didn’t do that ”, “PWhy did you say that? ”, she confides. Younger, to silence these angels, I had alcohol, drugs, sex. Now it doesn’t work anymore so I had to find something else. ”
As a result, she meditates morning and evening, likes to take care of the green plants that brighten up her Roman terrace and to spend time with her children, surrounded by her books and her music. She got closer to her father. And found the perfect plan for his old days: buy a house on the wild island where his old friend Pietro lives to fish in peace. Ultimate satisfaction, her shrink agreed with her to put an end to sixteen years of analysis. “I’m fine here. I hope it will last and that I will not fall back to hell ”, she blurted out with a hint of concern in her voice.
Abandonments, betrayals, ghosts
It is true that, reading her story, Asia Argento encountered misfortunes and demons more often in her life than in her turn. “I spoke more about the people who hurt me because I made this book to forget”, she justifies herself. Written in a punchy style on the advice of her shrink, Anatomy of a wild heart is inhabited by abandonment, betrayals and ghosts. “For a long time, I was ashamed to show my vulnerable part, my traumas. It was easier to play the strong girl who couldn’t care less. “
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