Article from the Daily Major Newspaper in Naples, “Roma”

Entertainment page, June 14, 2009

Esposito’s spirituality brought to the set

Naples.
Whoever imagines a traditional Zen monk with a bald head, draped in kimono, is grossly mistaken in this case. Pasquale Esposito, actor, has united the most spiritual aspect of the ancient oriental religion, with that of the most modern of the film world. He was in a Spike Lee commercial, and in September, will be the lead role in Italy’s Channel 3 prime time series, “The New Team” (La Nuova Squadra). Other films to be released with Pasquale are a production from Disney, an Austrian production about the life of Princess Sissi, where Pasquale is lead role, and a French film based on 19th century decadent painters. Esposito was also chosen to play a secret agent in Ron Howard’s “Angels & Demons”, but for bureaucratic reasons, this fell through. No big deal, according to Esposito. Zen Buddhism helps him overcome even the worst news. In fact, once he changes out of his actor’s clothes, he changes into his Zen monk’s clothes and among incense and ancient rituals, meditates on the highest systems and meaning of life. Many of his colleagues from the acting world, both famous and not, turn to Pasquale for insight because “Zen is not only a vision of life, but it is also the relationship each individual has with the external world”. In this delicate balance between individual and their surroundings, the monk-actor connects Zen philosophy and the world of cinema. “Based on the relationship you have with the surrounding world, you can allow certain changes to occur, and this principle is very closely related to acting in theatre and cinema”.