The heartwarming comedy film Nonnas has premiered on Netflix, but is it based on a true story? Read on for all the details.
The movie is directed by Stephen Chbosky, known for The Perks Of Being A Wallflower and Wonder, and it stars Vince Vaughn as Joe Scaravella, who opens an Italian restaurant named Enoteca Maria in Staten Island after the death of his mother.
Eager to preserve the cultures and traditions of home cooking, Scaravella decides that the restaurant’s kitchen will be staffed solely by grandmothers – or “nonnas’ – who will each bring their own family recipes.
Susan Sarandon, Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro and Linda Cardellini play the “nonnas” in the film, while Drea De Matteo and Joe Manganiello co-star.
Nonnas is Chbosky’s follow-up to his big screen adaptation of the hit stage musical Dear Evan Hansen, which was released in 2021 and starred Ben Platt, Kaitlyn Dever, Amandla Stenberg, Julianne Moore and Amy Adams.
Yes, Nonnas is indeed based on a true story. Joe Scaravella is a real-life Staten Island native who opened the Enoteca Maria restaurant after his mother passed away. The restaurant is open to this day, celebrating the culinary traditions of grandmothers from around the world.
The film has been written by Liz Maccie, known for her work on Siren and Make It Or Break It. She is also the wife of director Chbosky and she grew up in an Italian American family, which she says gave her a deep connection to the story. After reading about Enoteca Maria, she and Chbosky visited the restaurant before being hired for the project.
Recalling how she convinced the film’s producers to allow her to develop the script, Maccie told the Pittsburgh Tribune: “You have to let me pitch on this. This is my family: (We’re) an Italian-American, Jersey family. I was fortunate enough to get to have this opportunity, and then I dragged (Chbosky) along with me”.
Maccie has called Nonnas a love letter to her family, while Chbosky has described it as a love letter to his wife.
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