Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
An acclaimed actor in her native Italy, Cristiana Dell’Anna truly inhabited the role of America’s first saint when she crossed the Atlantic to star in the 2024 biopic.
Ah, classic films. They just get better with age, like the wines of Tuscany. They’re life-altering and perspective-establishing. The actors become part of our families, with regular visits on phones, computers and flat-screen TVs. “They just don’t make ’em like that anymore” is a common refrain.
Some films become classics over time, while others are classics the moment they hit the theaters, touching our hearts, feeding our souls and inspiring change. In 2024, “Cabrini” became, for me, an instant classic. But allow me to start at the beginning.
In 2023, Fr. Richard Fragomeni, the spiritual leader at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, called to tell me about a film in the making. The producer, Zachary DeCarlo, had reached out to him to discuss ways to engage the Chicago-area Italian-American community in advance of its theatrical release. Knowing the benefits of spreading the word through the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, Father put Zachary in touch with me as its president, and I was excited to learn more about the project.
With the project in the final phase of production, Zachary flew into Chicago and showed me a rough cut of the trailer. The production quality was fabulous, even though it had not yet been mastered. The storyline moved me. But what really hooked me was the film’s star, Cristiana Dell’Anna, who played Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, America’s first saint.
To be honest, I wasn’t as knowledgeable about the life and journey of Mother Cabrini as I might have been. It was mind-blowing to learn how this diminutive woman, born and raised in Italy, came to America in the 1880s at the behest of a pope and battled prejudice against women and Italians on the way to establishing 67 orphanages, schools and hospitals around the world.
And this actor, with her captivating gaze and indomitable will, convinced me that she WAS the future saint, allowing me to know Cabrini as if she lived in my own neighborhood. It was an honor to host an early screening of the film at the Des Plaines Theatre, giving local audiences an early look at this rare talent.
Cristiana was born in Naples, Italy, and attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Her breakout role in Italy was on the Italian soap opera “Un posto al sole,” where she played twin sisters Manuela and Micaela Cirillo from 2012-16. A regular part in the crime drama “Gomorrah” and major roles in the films “Qui rido io” and “Toscana” followed. Today, Cristina is an acclaimed and established star in Italy, with several award nominations to her credit.
I continued to be tangentially involved with her first major stateside film, eventually meeting its visionary executive producer, J. Eustace Wolfington. The successful Pennsylvania entrepreneur was 93 years old and full of more vim and vigor than most folks half his age!
At a dinner hosted by the National Italian American Foundation, Eustace introduced me to Cristiana and her husband, Emanuele. I was once again mesmerized by her gaze, as though I was looking into the soul of Mother Cabrini.
We became fast friends and stayed in touch. As the 80th anniversary of the canonization of Mother Frances Cabrini approached this July, I was invited by the mayor of the saint’s hometown of Sant’Angelo Lodigiano to represent the city of Chicago at a special celebration of the milestone. I invited Cristiana and her husband to join me. It was an incredible event that was also attended by the Pope Leo XIV.
We strolled through the town together, stopping by the Cabrini home and touring her family residence. Relics, original photos and personal effects were abundant. It was a surreal experience for both of us: for her, visiting for the first time the home of a person she had come to be so spiritually close to, and for me, witnessing all of that.
When I asked her if she had a big press conference and blasted to her family and friends when she learned about the role she had been awarded, she replied: “I actually waited about a day or so before telling anyone. I wanted to keep it inside my heart for a time, this was such a special thing. I felt it was some kind of divine intervention.”
Cristiana spent countless hours preparing for the role. “Of course, I did as much reading and other research about her. But I wanted to get as close to her as possible. I showed up a month before the shoot. I saw the set being built and how it all came together,” she explained. “As much as I learned about Mother Cabrini as well as the time period of the film, I wanted to ‘feel’ her and what her surroundings could have been. And I have not stopped feeling her inner presence since.”
The most poignant part of the film for her was the aspect of women’s empowerment. “I truly felt a connection to her — one that got stronger each day from the moment my agent called me with the news that I had the part,” she said. “It got to the point where it became difficult to determine where my Cabrini experience ended and where I became me again.”
Cristiana is one of the most genuine individuals I have ever had the privilege of meeting. To share a few tears with her as we entered the Cabrini home and saw the first photo in her room was a moment that will stay with me forever.
“I am excited to work on projects that are very Cabrini-esque. Films about significant women that I will write and produce,” she said of her near future. “But I will also act in them, I must! My goal is not only to tell inspirational stories and entertain but also to deliver impactful messages.
“Acting is the very blood that runs through my veins, and I plan on doing as much as I can immerse myself into!” she added.
Cristiana, her husband and her dogs briefly moved from Italy to Los Angeles. From there she moved cross-country to New Jersey as she pursues a plethora of projects in an area of greater opportunity. “But what about Italy?” I asked.
“Italy will always be in my heart. Actually, it’s Naples that will always be in me, If I may be so bold, it is Naples that is first, Italy second,” she said, only half-jokingly. Her ancestral home in the region of Campania is like a third arm, an actual part of her.
I can’t say enough about the treasure of a person and a gift as an actor that Cristiana Dell’Anna truly is. Her performance in “Cabrini” was truly Oscar-worthy, but more importantly, it continues to touch the hearts and minds of the masses because of the touching, invigorating, awe-inspiring and empowering performance she gave.
“Cabrini” is available to screen at angel.com and other streaming services.
The above article appears in the October 2026 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.
To view a sample copy, click here.
To subscribe, click here.
