My essentials: Antonella Axisa’s cultural picks

1. Newspaper/Podcast

When I have time, I listen to a podcast which my friend Rachel had recommended called Modern Love. It’s based on the New York Times’ weekly column, telling touching, unique and personal stories about love in all its complex forms and meanings. The majority are read by actors, but sometimes by the writers themselves. I must admit that I cry almost every time: it’s so well-written, well-edited, and well-performed that it tugs at every listener’s heartstrings.

2. Film/TV

Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve watched an incredible amount of Netflix series and films and it’s hard to choose one. With my partner, we were actively trying to watch European series in their original language, and some favourites were Call My Agent!, Money Heist (of course), Undercover, Suburra, Ragnarok, Borgen, Occupied, Better Than Us, Unorthodox and many more. However at the moment my heart belongs to all the characters in Sex Education. I love them so much! It’s a fantastic script with incredible actors and great everything.

3. Internet

I use Facebook and Instagram and follow lots of bands, famous actors, casting and voiceover pages, Iris Apfel, The Guardian and more. Recently I was reading some articles about female film directors, and one of them was a conversation between Olivia Wilde and Emerald Fennell about their ‘no assholes policy on film sets’ and how they navigate the male-dominated film industry as actresses-turned-directors – this and everything else they were saying really resonated with me.

4. Music

In general, I listen to pop, rock, indie, industrial, electro music, anything in between and anything that’s remotely ‘whiny’. But if I have to mention one artist, then it will have to be Belgian artist Stromae. His music is fun, witty, uplifting, contemporary, touching. He is sensitive to what’s going on in the world around us and writes stories about it, making them personal and real. Despite the fact that he tackles sad or serious subjects at times, he always manages to make us dance, but also think. He’s a genius.

5. Place

I’m inclined to say that my favourite place in the world is on a stage or on a filming set, however I’ll refrain. A place where I spent a lot of time in the past two years is on my sofa watching Netflix, while eating an Asian take-away with my partner. It’s rather simple, but it makes me feel safe and happy. Having said that, watching all those TV series from all over the world, does make me crave travelling, so I’m dying to travel to Asia or anywhere exotic in the near future.