“A friendship was born. And the genesis of the film, which the director traces back to a Venetian memory, is curious … Even more unusual are the recollections of the encounter with Delfina: ‘We shot The Visitor in a weekend in a Manhattan hotel room, carrying the camera and equipment into the hotel, hidden in suitcases. The actress, Delfina Marcello, whom I had picked to play the chambermaid for her beautiful face and a mystery about her, turned out to have come from Venice. At the end of the shoot, she told me that we had already met. Years before, while studying in London, she had worked as a coat check girl in a restaurant and had always remembered a shy school girl, who had handed her a coin and smiled. I didn’t recall our encounter but it was, indeed, the restaurant, where as a teenager, I used to meet my father.’”
Delfina’s Cinema, Which Was in a Hurry by Roberto Ellero
Self-portrait by Delfina Marcello, in collaboration with Jeff Cowen. From the Love Accessories: Delfina Marcello catalogue.