Italy’s Lux Vide has unveiled first-look images of the second series of “Good Morning Mom,” starring Raoul Bova and Maria Chiara Giannetta.
The show, which debuted in 2021, sees Bova as a father who tries to keep his family together after his wife falls into a coma. But her presence, albeit a silent one, is still very important to everyone around her.
The first season sold to multiple territories, including Hungary, Croatia, Brazil and MENA territories.
Everything will change for the Borghis in the show’s second outing, promises Lux Vide’s chief Luca Bernabei at Mipcom, with the audience treated to a new mystery and finally able to discover details about their complicated past.
“Something big happens to this family. It’s like an atomic bomb, dropping on all of them. This season, everything will be different.”
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Bernabei, fresh off announcing his company’s move into unscripted, calls “Good Morning Mom” one of the shows he is most proud of.
“It’s about waiting. What does it mean, to wait in life? Waiting for love, for friendship. These days, we don’t like to wait anymore, but these people decide to do it. In this fast world, they try to stay together as a unit.”
Bova, coming off a successful outing in “Don Matteo” Season 13 – the next one is currently in the process of writing – embraced the chance to play an “imperfect” father, he says. And husband.
“I fell in love with this series because I was wondering how this man can love this woman so much that, as Luca said, he just decides to wait for so long. And deal with all these problems, with the children, hoping he will get to talk to her again.”
He was “shocked” by the second season’s twists and turns, he admits.
“We will see a completely different side of this family. It’s an intense show, very emotional. You think you know one thing only to be proven wrong.”
One of Italy’s most recognizable actors, he has also appeared in the likes of “The Tourist,” “Under the Tuscan Sun” or “All Roads Lead to Rome” alongside Sarah Jessica Parker.
“One of my friends went through something similar. I saw how it affected him or his children, how difficult it was, also financially,” he admits.
“What goes through your head in a situation like that? What helps you accept it? It’s weird with Luca, because sometimes I am going through something and then he appears with a script that reflects it.”
The show is based on a true story of a woman who stayed in a coma for 29 years. In “Good Morning Mom,” Maria Chiara Giannetta’s character is revealed through flashbacks.
“The actual father of that family told me: ‘I wasn’t a father and a mother.’ Despite her condition, his wife was still at the center of this family, everyone was talking to her,” says Bernabei.
“I was surprised when the show became a hit because it was risky. But then Raoul became a priest and [Giannetta] became a star thanks to [another show] ‘Blanca’,” he jokes, adding that Bova, despite his star status, is looking for different roles now.
“In the first season, he was emoting strength. Now, he is not afraid of weakness. He has been brave as an actor, refusing to play the same character over and over again.”
“You change, once you get older. When I was 18, I wanted to be an action star. Of course I am looking for something different now,” says Bova.
“Luca is right – we were scared to talk about this series at first. What’s interesting about a woman who just lies in bed all the time, who doesn’t talk? At first, we wouldn’t even mention her being in a coma. We would just talk about this family. About how they refuse to give up.”