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The third key member of the revamped cast is Fabrizio Gifuni<\/strong> as Nino Sarratore, Lila and Elena\u2019s schoolmate turned roguish intellectual. Nino has had intimate relationships with both friends; at the end of the third season, he lured Elena away from her husband and children. \u201cFabrizio is really courageous, because to be Nino Sarratore in the fourth season after we know how much he\u2019s hated by everyone, this is a real challenge!\u201d Costanzo says with a grin. \u201cYou see, through Fabrizio, what it means for a man not to be able to be what anyone expected him to be. I know how much effort he put into loving this character, which is not easy\u2014to make him human, to make it real.\u201d<\/p>\n Costanzo began developing the series in 2016. Almost nine years later, he still hasn\u2019t met the mysterious Ferrante. \u201cIn the first season she wrote the scripts with us,\u201d he says. \u201cI asked her opinions about some actors, and that wasn\u2019t the right choice. She\u2019s not a director and she has her own image [of characters], so it\u2019s hard for a writer to be involved. Also, she\u2019s kind of a ghost, so you cannot really have a discussion with her.\u201d<\/p>\n Ferrante continued to collaborate on scripts, but this season she was a bit less involved. Costanzo speculates that it\u2019s because Bispuri, a woman director, was at the helm of the series. \u201cI remember when Maggie Gyllenhaal<\/strong> made The Lost Daughter,<\/em> Maggie told me Ferrante sent her an email saying, \u2018Whatever you do, it\u2019s okay because you are a woman, and I respect what you have to say.\u2019\u201d This attitude encouraged Bispuri to make her own creative mark on the season. \u201cLaura was free to experiment with the show\u2019s grammar, and I really liked the way she did it. She doesn\u2019t want it to look like anybody else, she wants to be herself,\u201d Costanzo says, comparing it to the way Elena\u2019s character forges her own literary style. \u201cThis is exactly the story of My Brilliant Friend.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n