The career of Ottaviano dell’Acqua represents a singular and fascinating path in the world of Italian entertainment, characterized by a rare combination of physical skills and stage presence. Born in a family of circus artists for generations, his first experiences developed in the circus environment, where he has refined acrobatic techniques and trapezium numbers. This solid base in the movement and control of the body has constituted the launching pad for an unexpected transition to cinema. Adnkronos Tech & Games had the opportunity to interview him on the occasion of the Molfest 2025 in Molfetta, the pop culture festival organized by Leg, Live Emotion Group.
How did your career started in the entertainment world?
My life began literally in flight. I come from a family of circus artists, from generations. My debut was in the circus, making evolutions to the trapeze, acrobatic numbers … In short, a school of life and discipline. Then, there was a jump: from the circus tent to the film set. I started very young, reciting in a Fellini movie, SatyriconI think it was 1969. Shortly after I was chosen for a western, “A minute to pray, an instant to die“Here I interpreted James Coburn as a young man, in the flashbacks in which he remembered the killing of the parents.
When did you decide to move from the role of actor to that of Stuntman?
It was a natural passage. My acrobatic skills led me to specialize as stuntman. It is a completely different job than that of the actor: there is a huge mental preparation. As stunt you have to be shiny, evaluate the risks in real time. The actor studies the script and transmits emotions. The stuntman instead often works in extreme conditions, poised between entertainment and danger.
You worked with directors like Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento, Bruno Mattei. Is there anyone who remained particularly in your heart?
All, after all. But Bruno Mattei has a special place. He shot films with a very low budget, yet a large family was always created on the set. For three years we have worked in the Philippines, shooting horror and action movies. Few money, so much enthusiasm. And yes, even with Fulci I had a great relationship: we esteemed, we had already done several things together.
Among the cinematographic genres, of the water nourishes a particular affection for two productions that have marked his career: the trend of zombies and films with Bud Spencer. His involvement in the famous “Zombi 2” (1979) by Lucio Fulci, where he played one of the most iconic zombies.
The zombie with the worms in the eye in zombies 2 of Fulci you are you, right?
(Ride) Yes, it’s me. Fulci had had this crazy idea of the zombie with the worms and said: “I want it to be Ottaviano. I like it how it moves.” My brother was the coordinator of the stunt, my whole family was involved. It was an important film, also because in that period Italian cinema looked a lot about the American model. After the night of Romero’s living dead, we also started working on the genre.
A movie that remained in your heart?
One is without a shadow of a doubt “
They called him bulldozer
“With Bud Spencer, where I interpreted Gerry. There I put the circus tamer there to focus on the profession of stuntman and actor. I was chosen among many, the director Michele Lupo said:” The role is of Ottaviano, I don’t want to see anyone else “. We shot everything live in English, with coach every day. It was a beautiful period: young, enthusiastic, full of desire to do. Bud Spencer. [Spencer] He worried about me, because I was the youngest. He said: ‘Be careful, that you don’t hurt! Be careful more! ‘. Then, we were in America, and to some point – since he wanted his stuntman staff always with him for dinner, one evening I say to him: ‘Master, can I ask you for a courtesy?‘. He makes me: ‘Tell me’. “We are in America, it’s not that you only live to eat! There are also discos, there are beautiful girls! ‘. And he replied: ‘You can do it, but don’t get used to it. Every now and then you can go to the disco, but you have to be with me. He was very jealous of his group.
An anecdote that particularly impressed you?
Look, there is an episode that I would call fun but not too much. We were in America to shoot the movie ‘Whoever finds a friend finds a treasure’, always with Bud Spencer. The director asked me to climb over a fence and throw myself into a pool of water. For me, that I was very agile, even a four -meter wall would have been a walk. We were in a disused zoological garden, it was closed.
While I approached to climb, suddenly the head of the zoo came out, starting to scream like a crazy: ‘What are you doing? Stop!’. Bud and I stopped, without understanding why. He said to us, ‘Now I’ll show you why’. He took a hen and pulled it beyond the net. He jumped out a crocodile of at least eight meters, huge! He saved my life, he was the only animal who had not been able to take away.
How has Italian cinema changed compared to those days?
A lot has changed. Once we had horror, western, action movie, popular genres. Now let’s do, apart from some rare exceptions, almost only comedy or dramatic films. But I believe that the problem is upstream: there are no more screenwriters. It is a change that I honestly did not understand. Maybe now the market asks for something different. For ten years now, we are no longer able to [a produrre come prima]and then there is no more whoever writes, which is the big problem. There are no more screenwriters, nobody writes anymore, nobody wants to waste time. This is because maybe on ten scripts, only one is chosen. Instead, when I started, ten were written: the main one that made the film took a certain amount, but all the other nine still took a refund expenses.
There is a structural problem of cinema, how the funds reported, of how the funds are assigned, and how … as the state also [interviene]. There is an example now, of a fact that in itself is striking: that American [Kaufmann]involved in the murder of Villa Pamphili, asked and over 800 thousand euros were granted for the realization of a film which, in fact, has never been distributed.
You also participated in series that tell the story of our country …
Yes. I shot the mafia hunter, three seasons shot in Sicily, with a script written by a real judge who worked with Falcone and Borsellino. We told the background of Totò Riina, the brusque brothers … it seemed to be really there, it was perceived that they were somehow “guests”. Then there is Piazza delle Cinque Lune with Donald Sutherland, on the story of Aldo Moro. Or violent Rome, armed Italy. We have a lot to tell is crazy that we can tell only certain aspects of Italy. Of films on the Roman Empire, just to give an example, certainly the Americans have made more than we have made it, paradoxical. And even our way of telling things, of doing cinema was an example. Look at Tarantino, it may be liked or not but it is he himself who says more about loving the Italian cinema of the thirty years from the 1960s to the 1980s. He took a lot from those films, from Enzo Castellari above all. And he admits him too.
What projects are there for the future?
I worked with Zampaglione at a horror film, The Well (the well), and has already told me that in October it is started again for an even more “stronger” new project. There are many proposals, I just have to decide where to go. The profession has changed, the communication is also different. First they came to interview to America: Famiglia Cristiana, Il Messaggero. Today a post is enough, and often people don’t even know who you are. As happened here in Molfetta for the Molfest 2025. We were here and nobody understood who we were and we did … a post was sufficient and the uproar was unleashed in a crowd.
What do you think of social media and the way you communicate today?
In some ways they help. But above all I am worried about the reverse of the medal. Young people have lost curiosity and manual skills. They seem to look inside a black hole when they have a smartphone in hand. They don’t write anymore. Every year I get a agenda from the bank and write everything by hand every day.
How did you experience participation in Molfest 2025?
Marcello Vicini called me: “Do you want to be with us?”. I accepted with pleasure. I also needed a period to put ideas back in order. The cinema is joy, show, sharing. We have to go back to telling our stories, real to people and Molfetta was a way to return to meet people. Because that’s what I like about my job: to give unique and unforgettable moments.