Yuri Tuci Opens His Heart: “I Still Hope That The Right Person For Me Will Come Along”

Rome – “There is a lot of talk about inclusiveness , but it is often just nice words. People’s ignorance is stagnant, like water where tiger mosquitoes live”. Yuri Tuci is like that. He talks about his life, his experience, his suffering in a sometimes poetic way, when you least expect it. Last night he won the Nastro d’argento for best actor in a comedy, ex aequo with Pietro Castellitto. An important award, which for the first time has been given to an autistic actor . Because Yuri suffers from high-functioning autism . There have been, in the history of cinema, films in which autistic characters have been played by great actors, such as Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man , or Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, or Sean Penn in I Am Sam. And we can also talk about Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump.

But it is rarer for a character like this to be entrusted to a truly autistic actor. And instead Yuri Tuci does it, and he does it great. He plays Omar, the character inspired by Damiano Tercon, the young man with Asperger's syndrome, author of the book Mia sorella mi rompe le ballse. He does it in the film La vita da grandi by Greta Scarano, and he perfectly interprets the anger, the confusion, the sudden decisions, the obstinacy of the character. A character at the same time close and distant from him.

He is happy, of course, with this award. “But the biggest condemnation for me is loneliness . I don’t think I will easily have a woman by my side,” Yuri tells us. “I would like it very much, because loneliness is an open-air burial . There are those who choose it. But I am not part of that group.”

Yuri Tuci during the photocall for the Nastri d'Argento 2025 at the Maxxi Museum in Rome, 16 June 2025. ANSA/RICCARDO ANTIMIANI

When did Yuri discover the condition he suffers from?

“It was clear that something was wrong ever since I was eighteen months old, crying and screaming so loudly and refusing to be touched, hugged, caressed. But until I was 18, none of this had a name, for me and for my family. Then, finally, it did have a name.”

“High-functioning autism.” But what does that mean to you?

“I had a time bomb ticking in my head. Now, after the diagnosis, with various medications, everything is better. But the first 18 years of my life were hard.”

Also for relationships with others? Have you experienced bullying?

“Only two, but terrible ones. A teacher, seeing me restless, literally pinned me to the wall, humiliating me in a way I will never forget. And a classmate literally tried to strangle me: I defended myself in a way he will never forget.”

Overall, did you feel welcomed by the class?

“In general, yes. I never felt that class kept me at a distance. But we also know that society is racist. That it has no mercy for those who are a little different.”

How did your personal relationships with the opposite sex go?

“I had a girlfriend: I left her, because jealousy – hers! – was ruining everything. But now I'm alone, and this weighs heavily on me. I will never start a family, I feel it. My family is my cat Tigre, who sleeps all day. I still hope, though, that the right person for me will come along. The fact is that you have to find them with a magnifying glass, like Sherlock Holmes!”

But now, around Italy, he has seen so many people, he has met spectators, both male and female...

“Yes, but in reality you are always alone. However, it was wonderful to meet President Sergio Mattarella. He complimented me: I would have hugged him, for his patience in managing that Beagle Boys that are Italian politicians”.