JAMES JAGGER, one man, ten answers

As a child he would listen on repeat to Chuck Berry’s song “Johnny be good” and to this day he confesses to go crazy for gangster movies. James Jagger, son of a better known Mick, has started his career in film. He is also an environmentalist and took part in “The Wave Walk” project, which involved artists, sculptors and designers creating various artworks around NYC to raise awareness on marine life protection. While we’ll have to wait to see him in a Christopher Nolan movie (James’s big dream) we will be able to see James soon in his new lm “747”.

The debut Already in high school, at the age of 16, whilst playing in a school drama I understood that somehow this could be an option, it could be my path. So I enrolled in an acting course in London and then in New York (the truth is that at that time I spent more time at the parties rather than reading the scripts) but part of me felt something and I knew i wanted to take it further. Everything is ready for the new movie 747 It was a great experience, I met great friends and great professionals. I do not have great expectations for its success because the mix of ingredients that makes a movie successful is too vast. You have to be talented and lucky for everything to t perfectly but I have to say that I’m really happy and satisfied with the result.

The big dream There are many, but if I had to choose one, right now, I’d say I’d love to work together with Christopher Nolan: Inception, Interstellar, they are all unbeatable films. He is a prodigious talent and for me it would really be a dream to work with him. He is one of those directors who even with huge budgets will still take risks on innovative and edgy scripts. The problem with contemporary cinema is actually that the most beautiful things are done with low budgets by emerging authors who struggle to establish themselves, while the bigger productions don’t always hit the mark on quality. It’s often more a matter of entertainment rather than a form of art.

A true activist The truth is that we are a very small organisation. There are only six people involved and we are looking for new sources of crowdfunding for our projects: each year we are fighting for a specific cause related to the protection of coastlines and against marine pollution. Now, for example, we started a very interesting project in New York, in partnership with La Mer, called “The Wave Walk”. It involves artists, sculptors and designers making artworks throughout the city to raise awareness with the passers-by, tourists and the local community, on the protection of the marine environment.

The face of Armani fragrances Shooting the short movies for Armani fragrances was certainly satisfying. Fabien Constant is an extraordinary director, and the wonderful thing is that besides promoting a product, the perfume, there is a script behind his idea, there’s a real story, filled with emotions and feelings. And for an actor this is pure life. With Matilde Lutz, my partner in the movie, we immediately found a connection and a chemistry, so much that Fabien often filmed us even during our breaks. The spontaneous and natural behaviours that happen on set are important to creating an authentic product.

Private life? Yes, please It’s going great, I would say. I love my wife, we met seven years ago. She is a very private person, she does not like me telling much about our relationship and I understand and respect her. I can only say that we are really great together. The “places“ I love For getting inspired I would definitely say Tokyo, the most cosmopolitan and exciting place on the planet (at least for those who, like me, grew up in Europe). But America also has a big pull on me, I’m very fond of New York and Los Angeles. Perhaps I would not live there permanently, because they are cities where normally I work in but both are still wonderful places.

Fashion maker I hate trends, this out of control obsession with following trends and to wear the same clothes as everyone else. Personally I have my own fashion icons, like Nick Cave to mention one, who you certainly wouldn’t call “influencers”. It was just their way of being chameleon-like, always different, never predictable - I have to think of David Bowie as well - that makes us think of them as icons, today. In the shop windows, on catalogs, on the street, all we see cloned people, each a reproduction of the next.. I don’t like that, I hate it. I have a jacket I bought when I was 19 years old: it’s been such a long time. I still wear it with the same pride and gusto as back then. Being stylish is really just being authentic!

Mick Jagger, who? I had to work hard to get rid of the “son of” label and nd my own path. Apart from small roles and cameos, my parents were never really actors, so I can say that I am the first in my family to have embarked on this path. Certainly the risk of being considered only by my name and my past is always there and that is why I have not changed or denied a thing of what are my true colours. I still listen to punk music, as when I was 16. The cultural and family heritage that I have within me ... is an added value to my path. But what I build now, as an adult man, what I’m learning and creating, it’s all my work. Tattoo-victim I’m actually ink-addicted: if it were up to me, I would have my whole body and face tattooed. I got tattoos almost everywhere in the world, from Ibiza to Buenos Aires. They are all connected to important people who have crossed my life, like one of my best friends who unfortunately passed away a few years ago. They are signs of existence, words, moments. Actually they tell my life.

Photo Courtesy Nicholas Arcay for Emporio Armani Fragrances ®All Rights Reserved