Making Waves: Madalina Bellariu Ion

Romanian actress Madalina Bellariu Ion is making bigger waves as she becomes more and more present in the world of international cinema. Born in 1993 in the southern Romanian city of Pitești, her past credits include staring in Paolo Sorrentino’s The Young Pope (2016), Ricardo Chemello’s Dampyr (2022) and several episodes of Coronation Street, the long-running British soap opera. Her latest role is in Nick McKinless’ new sniper feature, Take Cover alongside Scott Adkins, Alice Eve and Jack Parr. Bellariu Ion speaks five languages, which makes the European film industry her oyster, and explains why she has such a presence in movies and TV shows outside of Romania.

We sat down with Bellariu Ion to discuss shooting almost an entire film in one room, how having an accent is slowly becoming a greater advantage in auditions, and the surreal experience of acting on Paolo Sorrentino’s set opposite Jude Law.

How did you get on board with Take Cover, and how do you find working on more international projects?

For Take Cover, I had three rounds of auditions. I did a self-tape initially, then jumped on Zoom with the director, Nick McKinless, and the casting director. I finally went for a callback, where I had to do another scene. All auditioning was over Zoom, which I got thanks to my agent in London. I found out that I got the part after a month, and straight away, I was at the table-read with Scott Adkins, Jack Parr, and Nick.

Director Nick McKinless is from a stunt background, and he has an insane resume in that department, but he’s also dipping his toes into directing. Take Cover is an action film. Did you find that his more technical experience influenced his style of directing differently compared to someone with a creative background?

I didn’t have that much action in the movie. I’m playing the victim. Much of the stunt discussions were with the cinematographer and Scott, but I found that he was very understanding. He gave me a lot of freedom to try new things as an actor. If he wanted to change some things, he would discuss it with me after the second take. I felt like I already knew him. I never felt nervous. We discussed the character arcs, but he let me act through my interpretation.

Perhaps coming from stunts, the director was more open to being spontaneous?

Take Cover was produced by Signature Entertainment. The producer had a lot of say, and he was often on set guiding us. Signature Entertainment was a big supporter not only of the actors, but of Nick as a first-time director.

Would you say your acting career benefits differently from being able to do an accent, or speak a different language?

One hundred percent. When I was auditioning ten years ago in London, there were fewer roles for people with accents. They were more stereotypical roles. Italians and Eastern Europeans were often put in a basket, whereas today, most auditions don’t mention a particular accent. It’s becoming more of a benefit in auditions, and there are now more opportunities. I worked in Romania, Italy, and London which has opened me up as an artist, as I work differently in Italian than Romanian. Languages influence me as well. For example, if I speak Italian, I may have a slightly different – not necessarily personality – but perhaps flavour.

The film is set entirely in one room for your character, so there had to be a lot of planning and choreographing to work out where and how all the actors interacted in the room. How did you work together to make the best and most logical use of the space, as there’s so much going on, and it also needed to accommodate a whole shoot crew?

We filmed in a studio. The hotel room was a build. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do much rehearsing and blocking because of the little time we had and it being a smaller budget film. I also remember that not everything was quite ready before we started. We had to rehearse in a room with our scripts and read through some scenes. Before filming each scene, we rehearsed and worked out where the characters would like to move. Nick then guided us with the camera, and that’s when we could change or block the choreography. He let us explore the characters, which I loved.

Romanian is close to Italian, so does this allow you to take part in films set in Italy, require the language, or have a mainly Italian cast? Are you exploring that territory as well?

I’ve already filmed in Italy. I speak Italian as a native, and have an agent in Italy. Thanks to him, I got the role with Paolo Sorrentino on the The Young Pope (2016). I know that they were casting worldwide, including in London. Italian casting director Annamaria Sambucco found me through my agent, and that’s how I got to work with Paolo Sorrentino. I did three rounds of auditions. One was a self-tape, then an audition with Annamaria Sambucco and her assistant, and finally with Paolo. Being in Rome was important, so I stayed there a little longer. I love this connection between the two languages.

Romania has produced some spectacular films as well, such as Cristian Mungiu’s R.M.N., Radu Jude’s Bad Luck Banging Loony Porn, and Alexander Nanau’s Collectiv. Why do you think Romania has such strong films that easily compete with English-speaking films?

Romania has talented directors who stick to their culture. In every Romanian movie, you feel the realness, and that’s why they go to so many festivals. The stories remain true to their origins and the culture. Some directors often go out of their way to find talent from the right region and the accurate accent. I wish there would be more funds in Romania to offer more opportunities to new directors. We have some talented directors who are well-known internationally, and at film festivals. Our films are often emotionally raw, and the stories are deep and touching. As a Romanian actor, I’m proud when I see Romanian directors succeed.

What’s next for you?

MADALINA BELLARIU ION: I’m auditioning, I can’t mention what for, but I can tell you that it’s again accent-heavy. I need to do a French accent. You sometimes need to adjust your accent accordingly, and because I speak more languages, I can play with that to be in my favour. I’m also waiting to hear some news on a project that will be filmed in Romania, but in English. Finally, I’m reading a Romanian book, which might turn into a movie. So let’s see! The Romanian tax rebate was a little blocked these past few years, so there were fewer opportunities for international films to be shot in Romania. However, I’m hearing there might be some changes, so hopefully, more international projects come to film in Romania. We have beautiful landscapes, and when I met Jude Law on the set of The Young Pope, he mentioned how much he loved Transylvania when he filmed Cold Mountain, there.

Take Cover is now available to watch on Amazon Prime.