Willem Dafoe’s latest filmed in Rome under ‘sort of romantic’ quarantine

Willem Dafoe’s latest role is playing a man in Italy with a wife and daughter. He really is a man in Italy with a wife and daughter. He phoned from Rome about his Kino Lorber film “Tommaso.” You can watch it as part of Kino Marquee, which attempts to emulate the moviegoing experience by showing …

Willem Dafoe’s latest role is playing a man in Italy with a wife and daughter. He really is a man in Italy with a wife and daughter. He phoned from Rome about his Kino Lorber film “Tommaso.”

You can watch it as part of Kino Marquee, which attempts to emulate the moviegoing experience by showing films digitally at specific times on dedicated Web pages headed by the marquee of a particular theater, in this case Lincoln Center.

Dafoe: “I’ve lived in New York over 40 years but also in Rome because it’s where my wife’s from. Here filming ‘Tommaso,’ at the beginning of the virus, was sort of romantic. Quarantined. Stuck indoors with my wife. But of course we had to wash hands and wear gloves.

“This movie’s about an American artist here with a wife and daughter. Done with a small crew, it’s guerilla style improv made in a neighborhood we know.

“ ‘We’ includes director Abel Ferrara, with whom I’ve worked often, and we have a special relationship. I’m godfather to his child, and we even shot in his apartment. It’s the daily life of a guy in Rome. My character’s cooking with his wife. They fight, he’s unfulfilled, romance cools, he hasn’t worked in a while, he teaches acting.

“There are autobiographical elements, like one scene with a homeless guy actually happened to Ferrara. It’s mostly in English but does have Italian subtitles. I speak Italian but I’m not confident, not fluent enough in it.”
Dafoe’s made more than 100 films. Does he remember his first?

“Sure. ‘Heaven’s Gate.’ I was a glorified extra, and during a lighting experience I laughed. They fired me on the spot. Then I got on ‘The Loveless.’ I had no representative at this point. I didn’t want director Kathryn Bigelow to know I knew nothing, so I asked a friend what to do. I was to ride a motorcycle.

“I’d never ridden a motorcycle before — and this was a low-budget one.

“Oh, yes, I definitely remember my first films.”

If you’re planning to travel . . .

Dial-a-Fligh, a Brit advisory, advises those wildly rushing to travel that there are certain ancient rulings we may not know — but you’ll have to do the traveling to find out which ones are actually enforced.

Like: Illegal to swim in a fountain in Italy. Selling chewing gum in Singapore means jail. Few will break this next law, but in France it’s not allowed to carry live snails on a high-speed train unless you purchase them tickets.

To get you locked up, if our own NYC prohibitions aren’t enough, include:

Greece — Don’t take a sword to a Turk
Singapore — No obscene songs, and make sure you flush the loo or you get fined
Turkey — Cannot strike anyone with a small sword except on alternate Mondays
Fresno, Calif. — Park visitors cannot “annoy” lizards.
Spain — No driving in flip-flops or hanging your underwear outside
Germany — No piano tuning at midnight or running out of petrol on the Autobahn
Milan’s antique law says you must smile in public except during funerals or hospital visits
Long Beach, LI — Only cars can be stored in garages
Queensland, Australia — Taxis are required to carry a bale of hay in the trunk
California — A woman cannot drive in a house coat (or, for Kim Kardashian, your Skims cozy knit robe)
Australia — Bars must feed horses
Cádiz, Spain — Cannot be shirtless in a city center
Turin, Italy — Walking a dog at least three times a day is mandatory

Meanwhile Dial-a-Flight says low deposits, flexible airfares and hotel deals are available next year.

And if you’re staying here, in the best place there is, you should know: In New York state, it’s illegal to greet someone by putting your thumb to your nose and wiggling your fingers.

Only in New York, kids, only in New York.

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