
Already a children's idol on the Cartoonito channel with the Miracle Tunes series, where she played the role of a warrior who fights evil by singing and dancing, 19-year-old Emily Shaqiri, the daughter of Albanian dancer and choreographer Ilir Shaqiri and actress Emanuela Morini, has now grown up. enough to play the role of a teenager in the second season of Di4ri, a series for young people, released on Netflix since December 6.
"I play the role of Katia, a very special girl, fragile and at the same time very stubborn, almost violent", confesses Emily.
"As soon as he arrives in the new class, he immediately catches the eye and becomes more and more problematic. But after this attitude of hers as a bully, Katia hides the suffering caused by her parents' divorce, from her mother who ignores her because she is focused on a new family. As a result, everything she does is dictated by the need to attract attention."
Is this your first real test as an actress?
"Yes, and I really liked it. It wasn't easy. There were some scenes that tested me and I overcame them thanks to the help of the directors and actors. Before we met on the set, we had many meetings to see how we would integrate my character into a well-established team. So we decided not to bring Katia into the series with exaggerated or negative tones. It was a very formative experience for me."
Even before shooting D4ri, you experienced an adolescence on stage
"I started working when I was very young, sometimes I accompanied my mother to the theater. Miracle Tunes gave me some kind of popularity among the youth, but my parents were very good at telling me the way, and as a result I lived all this as a normal teenager. I divided my life between school, dancing, singing and various commitments. I graduated from high school last year, I have a very united group of friends who have nothing to do with the world of the show, who do not burden me or make me notice differences in our everyday life.
You often appear as a ballerina on social networks
Dancing is my way of expressing myself. Guided by my father, I studied classical, modern and contemporary ballet and experimented with hip hop. Dancing is in my family's DNA. My paternal grandparents were both stars in the Albanian Opera and Ballet Theatre, as were my father and uncle. They really wanted me to continue, even though they have now accepted my choice to be an actress. I know it's a journey. Hardly, so much so that I've got a Plan B ready: I've just enrolled at University to study Psychology. I like it and it helps me to get inside the characters".
You seem to have very clear ideas
"I am part of a generation that has become aware and is attentive only thanks to social networks. We have learned to use them, to be informed, to create networks and to express our opinions. Nobody would have listened to us until a few years ago, while today we have a following and the world of cinema, art and literature is finally paying attention to us". / "D" (La Repubblica)