Sofia Milos: I’m Italian but few people know

From CSI Miami to The Border, a special agent in a new CBC series

Beautiful and unapproachable, Sofia Milos sports the ‘physique du role’ of a Hollywood actress and a most Italian heart. Well known as CSI Miami’s Yelina Salas, in January she’ll appear in The Border, a new TV series from CBC where she will play a Department of Immigration special agent who must tackle the national security issues raised after the 9/11 attacks.
“The Border is an action movie where I have a role alongside James McGowan and Graham Abbey,” said Milos. “My character is agent Bianca LaGarda, a strong, smart and courageous woman with a Cuban father and an Italian mother. Her heritage therefore resembles my own, as does her story; she immigrates to the United States, obtains the citizenship and builds a future for herself. LaGarda is very grateful towards the USA, which have offered her an opportunity to get an important position.”
Like agent LaGarda, Sofia Milos – born in Zurich from an Italian father (from Potenza) and a Greek mother – immigrated to the United States in 1990 in order to further her modelling career, which she had started in Milan and continued in Tokyo, Paris, Monaco, and Vienna.
After New York, she went to Los Angeles, where the climate reminds her of Italy and where she began acting in movies. “In Switzerland I went to school and university (Economy), growing up with a French family; then I moved to Rome, where my mother has been living for 30 years. Then came America. I toured the world and lived in many different places, but I must confess that Italy will always be home for me. I feel 100% Italian. I am grateful for the opportunities I got in the States, much like those of my character Bianca LaGarda; I live in a beautiful home on the hills above Hollywood, and I got every opportunity to be myself, however, Italy remains the place of my dreams. Who knows, maybe some day I will return there, where I still have a mother, many friends, my fiancé, designer Alessandro Martorana, and my brother, who lives in Potenza.”
In the TV series, Bianca LaGarda is a special US agent stationed at the Canadian border. In her past there is the flight from Cuba and the journey to Florida on board a small boat, an experience that led her to see the United States as a ‘promised land.’ Nowadays she’s a woman of temperament, determined, self-assured, never afraid to speak her mind. She has plenty of courage and is unafraid to use her powers to try to improve things around her, even though she occasionally has to break the rigid rules imposed on cross-border traffic of cargo and people. “LaGarda was sent to Toronto because she has irked a few powerful people in Washington, so now her assignment is here in Canada, where she works with her counterpart, the head of the ICS (Immigration and Customs Security) Unit, major Mike Kessler, played by charismatic James McGowan.”
Bianca’s and Mike’s job consists in trying to stop people deemed dangerous or threatening for the security of Canada. “Yes, and sometimes they have to face hard choices, which force them to wonder how they can use their extraordinary powers in the framework of immigration policies and customs laws, since some security measures do not square up with legal instruments,” explained Sofia Milos. “From time to time, the protagonists have different visions and methods, as they represent two different countries and have jurisdictional clashes; having to deal with difficult and dangerous issues, conflicts are unavoidable. LaGarda does not hesitate to raise her voice with her colleagues, and despite these conflicts, she and Mike Kessler have great respect for each other.”
The script had been written before 9/11, and the issues are very close to reality.
“We are at the border, and all the issues shown in the series are the same that real officers deal with every day; they are not Canadian or U.S., issues, they are global issues, especially in a country like Canada, with borders stretching over 10,000 km, the world’s longest demilitarized border, and with 75 percent of the population living within 250 km from the U.S. border. The cases we present closely resemble reality; our mission is to identify criminal activities and eliminate vulnerabilities threatening our border. So, we mention organ trafficking, exploitation of minors, smuggling, kidnappings, drug trafficking, money laundering. The script had indeed been written before 9/11, but the series was shelved, so it required a few rewrites about terrorism. This series deals with the Canada-U.S. border, but many stories are based in reality, so they lead us to wonder. In this world, so full of violence, what would we like to change, what could be improved, what does justice mean, where do tales end and reality begins. We are sure that audiences will wonder about these questions, and so did we, the actors.”
The 13 episodes of The Border were produced by Peter Raymont, who’s made over 100 documentaries in 35 years and was recently awarded an Emmy for Shake Hands with the Devil: the Journey of Romeo Dallaire, and his A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman has recently been pre-selected by the Academy. “Raymont once again has managed to highlight human rights issues, not to increase paranoia but to raise awareness.”

You went from Yelina Salas to Bianca LaGarda; how did you become part of this team?
“As I mentioned, production had been shelved, then CBC chose to turn it into a miniseries. The pilot was shot in October 2006, then the cast was assembled, and I was asked to join it. We shot the first two or three episodes. At Mipcom, in Cannes, I met the top managers of CBC; the international response, including from Italy, was phenomenal. The show is very well made, and I worked with very talented actors.”

One month before airing, the show was bought in France. Will it be distributed in Italy as well?
“I think so, there have been several contacts and very positive signs of interest. For me, this would be a real satisfaction, especially because Italian TVs air CSI Miami, a show that is broadcast in 180 countries; I hope that in future Italian audiences will see more of me on TV.”

What do you like the most about Italy?
“Are you ready? The list is real long... Joking aside, I love everything of Italy; places, food, people. I miss my Italian friends, my family, Rome, I miss all Italian restaurants, I miss real mozzarella, I miss strolling around. I go back whenever I can. Over the past six months, while shooting in Toronto, I went twice to Sardinia, Spoleto, Pisa, Milan, Turin, Sorrento, and Rome. I am lucky enough to have a fiancé who loves travelling. We’ll wrap up shooting for The Border on December 15, and by the 18th at most I’ll be on a plane to Rome; I’ll spend Christmas with my mother Angelica.” In Italy you have a past as a model. Who are your favourite fashion designers?
“My fiancé Alessandro Martorana, who even designed a few items of clothing for The Border [she laughs]. I like Missoni, Dolce & Gabbana; I have no absolute preferences, let’s say that I like designers who manage to valorize my essence.”

Let’s go back to your acting career; will you have a role in the new season of CSI Miami?
“I shot the first episode of the sixth season, but then hopped on a plane to Toronto. We tried co-ordinating schedules to allow me to shoot a few episodes, but it wasn’t possible. In April more episodes will be shot, and I will be in them. I’m very grateful to CSI; my role as Yelina Salas let me transmit emotions to my audience. One year ago I went to Hong Kong, thinking, ‘Nobody knows me here.’ Actually, people stopped me in the streets and talked about the show; I spent four days doing PR, and the same happened in Australia. That made me realize that sometimes a fictional role can somehow bring people together. Also thanks to detective Salas, I managed to do other very important things, such as becoming the spokesperson in the U.S. for CCHR, Citizens Commission on Human Rights, an organization dealing with human rights, forgotten minorities, kids victimized by psychiatric abuse. This organization exists in Italy too, where is known as CCDU; it launched a campaign against psychiatric drugs, and the spokesperson was my dearest friend Elisabetta Armiato, former prima ballerina of La Scala, who left the scenes on November 12 of this year precisely in order to devote herself full-time to this campaign, which is also supported by many other Italian artists.”

You star in tough roles, but in the past you did not shy away from comedic roles, such as the one you played in Lo Zio d’America, opposite Christian De Sica.
“I had a lot of fun; Christian is the sweetest guy, and timetables in Italy are very relaxed. Just think that yesterday, here in Toronto, I spent 15 hours on set, appearing in every scene. In Italy a chaffeur picks you up around 7, 7:30 am, by 6 pm you’re done, there are coffee breaks, cappuccinos... the rhythm is different, and we really enjoyed it. I’d love to shoot something else in Italy.”

What can you tell us about your experience with Mel Brooks and Ezio Greggio?
“I haven’t seen Ezio in years. He wrote the part for me when I was still living in Rome, as a sexy killer. The evening before shooting started we met with Mel Brooks at Ezio Greggio’s home, and we built the characters over dinner, improvising a lot. You can’t imagine how we laughed, it’s an experience that I will keep in my heart forever.”

What about your former role as Annaliza Zucca from the Sopranos?
“I played this woman, a camorra boss; another strong role. I like strong women; I resemble my grandma who’s 96 years old, bore 12 children, and never complains. She’s 5 foot tall and is power personified. Let’s say it out loud, women are very strong, even though sometimes – due to education, religion or personal choice – they don’t let this strength show. Do you know what did Eleanor Roosevelt once said about women? ‘We are like tea bags. We don’t know how strong we are until we were thrown into hot water.’” —P.B.

The Border will air Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBC beginning on Jan. 7, 2008.

Publication Date: 2007-12-16
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=7936