Movie blogs and fashion e-magazines have announced the new Netflix show as a must for Bridgerton and The Empress fans. But The Law According to Lidia Poët is much more than a costume drama featuring a beautiful lead actress, amazing couture dresses, a glamorous interior design and historic buildings and mansions in a former royal city. It reinterprets the true story of Lidia Poët, Italy’s first female lawyer, by combining it with Agatha Christie-style whodunnit, witty dialogues, love stories, elements of the women’s rights movements in the 19th century and the discrepancies between upper and working class.
The Law According to Lidia Poët is Italy’s best Netflix show that has taken viewers around the world by storm since its launch on 15 March 2023. A few days later, it was the most watched Netflix show in Italy and Switzerland and it ranked in the top 5 of many countries. Who is the lead actress? In which exclusive locations was the series shot? Is it based on a true story? Did Lidia Poët really exist? Discover 17 facts that go beyond Feminism and couture according to Lidia Poët.
Matilda De Angelis, who plays Lidia Poët, is a 27-year old actress from Bologna, Italy. She started taking guitar and violin lessons at the age of 11. Five years later, she joined the band Rumba de Bodas as a singer. The same year, she landed her first leading role in the film Veloce come il vento alongside Stefano Accorsi and was awarded two film prizes. She continued to act succesfully in a TV series, in music videos and films, e. g. I ragazzi dello zecchino d’oro and L’incredibile storia dell’Isola Delle Rose. In 2020, she had a minor role in The Undoing starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant.
The actress, who graced the cover of Vogue Italia in August 2022, has 685’000 followers on Instagram. She’s in a relationship with Italian singer Alessandro De Santis (24).
Lidia Poët is not a fictional character. She lived from 1855 to 1949 in Northern Italy and was the first female lawyer in Italy. The court of appeal in Turin revoked her lawyer’s license in 1883 because she was a woman. As a suspended lawyer, she could only work as her brother’s assistant. According to lead actress Matilda De Angelis, Lidia Poët helped underprivileged and oppressed people, mainly of the working class.
The murder cases of the show and Lidia’s relationships are fictional.
Jacopo Barberis, a journalist of the Gazzetta Piemontese who helps Lidia Poët to solve various murder cases, is played by Eduardo Scarpetta. The 30-year-old actor from Naples grew up in a family of actors. The most famous one was his grandfather of the same name. Eduardo describes Jacopo as an anarchic alcoholic.
Eduardo Scarpetta had roles in L’amica geniale, Carosello Carosone, Qui rido io and the TV remake of Le fate ignoranti by Turkish film director Ferzan Özpetek. The actor has 82’500 followers on Instagram.
Eduardo Scarpetta describes the show as “an Italian Sherlock Holmes series; Lidia is Sherlock Holmes and I’m Watson”. One of his favorite locations was the huge opium salon, in which people used to make themselves comfortable on big cushions and smoke opium.
The Netflix show The Law According to Lidia Poët was shot in Turin, one of Italy’s former royal cities. The plot is set at the end of the 19th century.
Turin was the first capital of the Kingdom of Italy (1861-1864) and the heart of the Kingdom of Savoy. The Unesco World Heritage List includes 22 of the administrative and recreational palaces and villas built by the Savoy dukes, 11 in Turin and 11 from around the city.
“I spent five months wearing a corset every day,” says Matilda De Angelis. “The clothes of that period limited a woman’s freedom of movement. But it improved my posture, I learnt how to straighten my back.”
Pier Luigi Pasino plays Enrico Poët, Lidia’s elder brother. Enrico is married to Teresa Barberis, Jacopo’s sister, with whom he has a daughter, Marianna. Even though the respectable lawyer is skeptical of his sister’s idea to be his assistant, he soon realizes that she’s not only a good lawyer, but also an excellent detective.
Pier Luigi Pasino is a 42-year-old actor from Alessandria (Piedmont, Italy). He studied acting in Genoa and has played in nearly 40 theatre productions. He also had minor roles in a few films. The actor is 1.88 m tall and has 2860 followers on Instagram.
The Law According to Lidia Poët was created by Guido Iuculano and Davide Orsini and directed by Matteo Rovere (episodes 1 and 2) and Letizia Lamartire (episodes 3, 4, 5 and 6).
Andrea Caracciolo, Lidia’s lover who emigrates to the United States at the end of episode 6, is played by Dario Aita, a 36-year-old actor from Palermo, Sicily. He started his acting career in 2009 and had mainly roles in RAI TV series like Grand Hotel, L’allieva and Don Matteo. Dario Aita has 75’000 followers on Instagram.
Marianna Poët, who is Lidia’s niece and Enrico’s daughter, is played by Sinéad Thornhill. She began studying acting in 2022, when she was in high school in Monza (2017-22). Sinéad’s acting career premiered in The Law According to Lidia Poët. In 2022, she played in Brennero, a TV film that is still in production. She has 790 followers on Instagram.
Sara Lazzaro plays Teresa Barberis, Enrico Poët’s wife and Jacopo’s sister. The 38-year-old actress grew up in Italy and California. Her mother is American. Sara studied acting in Venice and London. She has starred in 14 movies (The Young Messiah) and 13 TV series (Doc nelle tue mani). Sara has 102’000 followers on Instagram.
More infos will be published in the next few days.
Photos: Courtesy of Lucia Iuorio / Netflix © 2023
If you liked our article Feminism and couture according to Lidia Poët, read our articles about Netflix shows and haute couture.
Follow VERTIGO Mag on Youtube and Instagram.
VIDEO: THE STYLE OF LIDIA POËT
Feminism and couture according to Lidia Poët focuses on the cast, the locations and a few facts about the real Lidia Poët, Italy’s first female lawyer. But there’s much more to discover about this amazing new Netflix series. Watch the backstage video and the interview with the two leading actors.
