Frank Sinatra has been called many things — The Voice, Ol’ Blue Eyes, the Chairman of the Board. But for Rico Simonini, the actor who portrays the legendary entertainer in the new biographical drama Sinatra! Eternity, none of those titles were the starting point. The human being behind them was.
PAGEONE Media correspondent Arne Gershwin Gogo with Simonini and Hemdale Films and Hannover House CEO Erick Parkinson on the sidelines of the film’s Cannes premiere screening, where the two spoke candidly about the challenge of immortalizing an icon, the film’s surprise distribution deal, and why Sinatra’s story still matters to this generation.
Breaking Down The Legend
When asked whether he was intimidated to take on one of the most recognizable names in Hollywood history, Simonini was refreshingly grounded.
“I think at the beginning it can be intimidating,” he admitted, “but at the end of the day you want to break somebody down to the human that they were. When I looked at the character of Frank Sinatra, I said, this is an Italian-American man who basically was madly in love with a woman, so much so that it totally distorted his life and changed his life, and dreamed of things that were impossible.”
That reframing, Simonini explained, was what made the role accessible rather than overwhelming. “He dreamed of becoming an actor, which nobody wanted to give him a shot to do. So to me, if you break it down to the basic wants and needs, then you’re no longer playing this iconic person that’s out of reach.”
According to Simonini, the secret to shedding the intimidation was stripping the icon down to his most basic human wants. Sinatra, he explained, was simply a man desperately in love with a woman he could not have, chasing an acting career that nobody believed he was capable of. Once he anchored the role in those two fundamental truths — longing and an impossible dream — the larger-than-life legend became someone he could actually inhabit. The mythology fell away, and what remained was a human being not so different from the rest of us.
Why Tell The Story Through An Interview
Sinatra! Eternity takes a distinctive narrative approach, framing the story through an interview with an aging Sinatra as he looks back on his life, a structural choice Simonini described as deeply intentional.
“The challenge of trying to take someone’s life, like Sinatra’s, has so many aspects, so many facets, and so many moments,” he said. “I always thought that looking at the man when he was older, at the end of his life, when we reflect, we always think about the things we did and the things we didn’t do.”
At the center of that reflection is Ava Gardner, whose relationship with Sinatra forms the emotional spine of the film. “Ava Gardner always was the love of his life,” Simonini said. “That brief encounter, fiery and tumultuous as it was, still stayed with him for the rest of his life. And actually, if it wasn’t for Ava Gardner, he wouldn’t have become the legendary singer and actor that he became. The one sentence is that by breaking his heart, she made him the great person that he was.”
A Message That Transcends Time
Arne also asked Simonini what he would want a young filmmaker or actor to take away if they discovered the film two decades from now.
“I want them to see it for what it was — an honest approach to trying to tell a story of a famous person, but the human part of that person,” Simonini said. “To make us realize that no matter who we are, how famous we are, we’re all human. We all have the same things that connect us. The wants, the needs, love, disappointment, heartbreak — it’s all there.”
He also noted the timelessness of Sinatra’s legacy itself. “His music changed people. The way he fought for underdogs changed people. Just because it’s been 50, 60, 70 years ago doesn’t mean we should forget them. And maybe that could inspire someone to be the next Frank Sinatra.”
A Deal Done On Day One
Fresh off confirming Hemdale’s acquisition of the film’s North American distribution rights on the very first day of Cannes, Parkinson was in high spirits when interviewed with PAGEONE Media correspondent and characteristically candid about the festival atmosphere.
“The Cannes experience is insane as always,” he laughed. “It’s like 200 people in a room built for 100. So we’re ready to go.”
On the release plan, Parkinson confirmed that Sinatra! Eternity is set to hit American theaters in October, with a streaming release to follow in December or January. “Frank Sinatra is such an iconic and legendary figure in both music and in movies. A whole generation hasn’t really got to know him much. Rico does a fantastic job embodying Frank Sinatra.”
Parkinson also drew a colorful comparison to frame the film’s appeal. “The whole idea of Michael Madsen as the interviewer talking to an aging Frank Sinatra about looking back over his career — it kind of reminds me of Little Big Man, where they’re interviewing him and he’s going back and talking about all the interesting different things. And I think audiences are going to like this movie.”
The Pinnacle Of Human Achievement
Like Simonini, Parkinson was posed the question of how he would want future generations to receive the film.
“That’s the interesting thing about doing a biopic — the history doesn’t change,” he said. “What Frank Sinatra did and lived in his life, and the experiences he had and the people he touched, that’s always going to be there.”
He then offered what may have been the most memorable line of the afternoon. “We all have a short period of time on this life, anywhere between 75 and maybe 95 years if you’re lucky. And to be able to touch people artistically and creatively — to me, that is the pinnacle of human achievement. To create something artistic that transcends the next generation.”
He closed with a characteristic wink at his leading man: “I’m hopeful that people will see Rico and they’ll say, ‘I don’t know what Frank Sinatra looked like — I bet he wished he looked like Rico Simonini.’”
Sinatra! Eternity is set for theatrical release in the United States and Canada in October, with a streaming release to follow. The film is produced by Crisis Cinema and distributed in North America by Hemdale Films and Hannover House.
A Son Carries His Father’s Legacy To The French Riviera
The premiere carried an added layer of emotion with the presence of Christian Madsen, son of the late Michael Madsen, who traveled to Cannes to honor his father’s final screen performance as Robert “Bob” Nelson, the journalist whose interview with an aging Sinatra anchors the film’s narrative.
Michael Madsen, one of Hollywood’s most recognizable character actors, passed away last year. Christian, who was attending Cannes for the first time, spoke to PAGEONE Media about what it meant to be there in his father’s place.
“He loved Cannes,” Christian said. “I would get a photo sent from him once a year. This place changed his mindset. He had so much fun here. The whole industry is here at one point, so he just loved to cherish the memories here and the time here.”
The younger Madsen had his own reason for being on the French Riviera, with a short film screening at the French Riviera Film Festival. But the convergence of his own work and his father’s final film made the trip feel like something greater than coincidence.
“I found myself here for a short film playing at the French Riviera Film Festival, and so to come here and the poster for the reception is a movie he was in,” Christian said. “It’s almost like he’s here with me, kind of in a way. I’m just here to honor him and celebrate him.”
He recalled the moment he ascended the famous Palais Steps and felt his father’s presence in a way that was difficult to put into words. “I felt like I was walking with him a bit. It’s very nice to be here and honor him in any way I can. It feels like a nostalgia.”
As for the Cannes experience itself, Christian admitted the festival’s legendary intensity had caught him somewhat off guard. “It’s been incredible, but it’s like being in a rock concert with a lot of French people. Five days feels like five weeks, but it’s something I wish I would have done five years ago.”
For Michael Madsen, whose decades-long career spanned some of cinema’s most iconic films, Sinatra! Eternity stands as a fitting final chapter. For his son, walking the same grounds his father once cherished, the film is something more personal than a credit. It is a conversation still continuing across time.
Sinatra! Eternity arrives at a moment when the world could use a reminder of what it means to chase something with everything you have, knowing full well you might lose it all. Simonini brought that truth to life on screen. Parkinson is betting audiences will recognize it. And Christian Madsen, standing on the same steps his father once climbed, proved that some legacies do not end with the last frame. They keep walking forward, carried by the people who loved them most.
