- Inferno is a classic masterpiece. Which feelings have you seeing it after years?
- I like it more with each time that I see it, and lately, I’ve been meeting more and more people who are fans of the film, and who have, through their admiration of the film, and my work in it, become new friends. There is nothing I treasure more than that, loving friends.

- Do you meet Argento before film? Was he known in USA, as film-maker?
- Yes, it was in Los Angeles at Fox Studios. I remember being taken to an office by my agent and waiting for Dario. When he finally arrived, we were curtly introduced to one another. Without saying a word to me, he immediately started walking around the chair I was sitting in, touching my hair and clothing, as if trying to assess my value. Then he nodded to one of the executives in the room and left. The meeting was very strange. I didn’t know what he thought of me until a couple of days later when my agent called to give me the good news that I was being offered the role of Rose in this film called “Inferno”.

- It’s well-known that always Argento relationships with actors aren’t simple (Tony Musante, Cristina Marsillach, ecc.). How were your relations with him on the set of Inferno?
- I didn’t really get to know Dario while working on Inferno. He seemed occupied with other aspects of making the film and never sat down with me for a coffee or to discuss anything. The relationships I forged were mostly with costumers, hair and make-up artists and the crew working on the film. They were very loving and kind to me.

- What do you remember particularly about that period and during filming of curious?
- It was a particularly happy time in my life. I was making a film with a director respected for his artistry throughout the world. He already had a strong reputation in America as someone very daring and innovative. I was living in Rome, which was one of my favourites places in the world, and I was in love with an Italian man, who treated me wonderfully. What more could I ask for?

Do you shooting scenes only in New York or in Rome too?
- We did spend two weeks in New York, to shoot some scenes in Central Park. Most of our time filming was in Rome, which made me very happy. I love Rome and have many friends there.

- It was complicated filming the scene in which you immersed in the water?
- Not at all. In fact, there was a heat wave in Rome at the time of shooting the underwater scenes, so I was thrilled to be able to spend my days at work in the cool water. I’ve always been a great swimmer and just imagined myself a mermaid in those days in the water tank. This was the most interesting and fun part of filming with “Inferno”.

- Someone has written that you were very ill on the set and for this reason you lost your hairs. Is it true?
- I was perfectly healthy during the filming of “Inferno”. What did happen, is that a month or so before meeting Dario and signing on to make Inferno, I had a brief bit of influenza which caused a very high fever, so later, when I started working on Inferno in Rome, I suddenly started losing some of my hair. I was horrified, waking up to find clumps of hair on my pillow, and later found out that it was the high fever that had caused a shock to my system.

- What did Argento think about this problem?
- The tragedy is that Dario assumed that I had a terminal disease, thinking that I’d betrayed him by not disclosing an illness, but he never talked to me about it or asked me why my hair was falling out, so I was not aware of his erroneous assumption (that I might be ill), and did not understand why he seemed angry and avoided me. This was especially hard, because it was easy to see, even from a distance, that he is a tender man and I wanted to collaborate with him, to help realize his vision. We were both too shy then to cut through the accidental barrier between us. Ironically, my hair grew back, thick and beautiful as ever soon after filming “Inferno”.

- Who did solved your “hair” issues?
- It was Giancarlo de Leonardis (my make up artist) who solved my ‘hair’ issues. He created little springs that he could tie hair onto and thus pull the springs, which then would attach to my hair, giving my hair a natural look underwater. Brilliant invention! My fondest memories with the making of Inferno are of Giancarlo’s compassion and understanding towards me (I felt very worried and insecure about my hair, and nervous about how I’d look on film). His kindness and attention to making me feel as beautiful as possible will always stay with me.

- After someone has written in that you was probably died... naturally, and luckily, it isn’t true. Why Irene Miracle - after that film - is completely disappeared?
- Well, I am happy to say I’m alive and well. I made several films and television appearances after Inferno, then took some time off to care for my mother while she was dying. Since then, I’ve been developing my own film projects, including writing, producing and now directing. I have now developed a very dreamlike, dramatic film – “an intimate epic” about the poet Ovid and his conflict with Emperor Augustus – that I plan to direct in Italy.
Funny, I never realized this connection before, but Ovid wrote about the fantastic terrors (and pleasures) of “Transformations” and that is exactly Dario’s aim in “Inferno”.

- The scene of your homicide in the film is bloody. What do you remember about that scene in the set?
- I only remember the long hours of make-up, and the stickiness of the syrup that is used for the blood. I couldn’t wait to wash that stuff off! And the hours of having to lay very still for the head-chopping scene was uncomfortable. I remember thinking that I’d never want to have to actually ‘see’ my own head cut off like that. It was fascinating though, to see how these special effects and techniques are accomplished in films.

- Have you seen Suspiria (1977) and The third mater (2007) of Trilogy directed by Argento?
- I have seen “Suspiria”. It was a very well received film and had gotten rave reviews at the time that I was offered Inferno, and indeed, it was based on Dario Argento’s ingenuity, his eye for beauty and innovative use of objects in “Suspiria” that attracted me to working with him on Inferno.

- In Italy Inferno is a classic film and mythic is character of Rose Elliot. Do you know about this?
- I am only just beginning to learn of Inferno’s ‘classic’ standing in terms of horror genre films, and it’s been a lovely surprise to find that a film I was involved in has gained such honours in the world. I feel very privileged to have played Rose Elliot in Inferno, and only regret not having had the chance to know Dario better – had we not suffered the pressures unique to that production, I am sure we would be dear friends today. One can see from his work that he is an extremely sensitive man with a rare talent—a “kindred soul.”

- When will you return in Italy?
- I will be in Italy the first two weeks of September 2009 for the Selento International Film Festival. I have written, produced and directed a short film called, Terra Del’Alba, which has been selected for competition in the best female director category and very excited about that. I love Italy and feel most at home with the Italian people, my goal is to one day live there again. Perhaps my “Ovid” film will attract that opportunity. I miss Italy very much.

Giovanni Aloisio

Sito ufficiale di Irene Miracle internet: www.dawnland-movie.com