THE NEW MOVIE "CABRINI" IS THE AMERICAN HISTORY LESSON THE COUNTRY REALLY NEEDS TO LEARN RIGHT NOW. CRISTIANA DELL'ANNA STARS AT MOTHER FRANCES CABRINI, THE FIRST U.S. CITIZEN TO BE CANONIZED AS A SAINT BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WHO MADE IT HER SACRED DUTY TO PROTECT IMMIGRANTS. TAKE A LOOK. >> I NEED TO SPEAK TO THE MAYOR. >> OH, DO YOU? >> THIS MONEY BELONGS TO THE POOR. I WILL SPEAK SO THE MAYOR, SENOR. >> WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? >> I AM A WOMAN AND I AM ITALIAN AND I AM DONE WITH LITTLE MEN LIKE YOU WITH HEARTS THE SIZE OF A PEANUT, TOO BLIND TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH TO KNOW THAT WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS. WE ARE ALL THE SAME. CHILDREN OF GOD AND YOU DISMISS US AT YOUR OWN PERIL. [ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ] >> Whoopi: PLEASE WELCOME CRISTIANA DELL'ANNA. [ APPLAUSE ] >> I FELT THAT. >> Whoopi: I'M TELLING YOU, IT'S SO GOOD. IT'S SUCH A GOOD FILM AND MOTHER CABRINI CAME TO THE UNITED STATES FROM ITALY IN 1889 TO HELP PEOPLE IN NEED. TELL US A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHO SHE WAS AND HOW SHE WAS ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH ALL THAT SHE DID. >> WELL, SHE WAS A VERY FRAGILE LITTLE WOMAN. THAT'S WHAT SHE WAS BUT SHE HAD A REALLY STRONG WILL AND POWER OF MIND. AND THAT'S WHAT I MAINLY LIKED ABOUT HER WHEN I FIRST READ THE SCRIPT. I TRIED TO MIMIC THAT PHOTO. >> Sara: YOU LOOK LIKE HER. >> Whoopi: YOU DID A BEAUTIFUL JOB. >> I BELIEVE THAT SHE HAD SUCH HIGH VALUES AND IDEALS THAT SHE HELD ON TO WHENEVER SHE FELT, YOU KNOW, SHE NEEDED STRENGTH THAT TO HAVE SUCH A STRONG VISION, I MEAN, OF WHAT SOCIETY SHOULD LOOK LIKE, I THINK THAT'S WHAT WAS A MAIN STRENGTH AND HELPED HEIR TO ACHIEVE WHAT SHE WAS ABLE TO DO. >> Whoopi: THAT AND GOD. >> OF COURSE, HER FAITH IN GOD, FOR SURE. I THINK OF MY ACTING POINT OF VIEW BUT, OF COURSE, SHE HAD SUCH FAITH IN GOD AND, YOU KNOW, FOR THE BEST AND SHE WAS A NUN. GUYS, YOU CHOSE FAITH. >> Sunny: SHE CHOSE FAITH. I AGREE WITH WHOOPI. THIS MOVIE HAD ME AT HELLO. I THOUGHT IT WAS WONDERFULLY DONE AND YOUR PERFORMANCE WAS FANTASTIC. ESPECIALLY IN THE SENSE THAT MOTHER CABRINI FACED A LOT OF OBSTACLES, RIGHT? FROM THE MEN THAT WERE IN POWER AT THE TIME, BUT SHE NEVER GAVE UP AND THEN MADE SURE ALL OF HER INSTITUTIONS WERE RUN BY WOMEN. >> Whoopi: YES. >> Sunny: ACTUALLY AND YOU SAID THIS STORY SHOULD BE A MESSAGE TO WOMEN TO TRUST THEIR INSTINCTS. >> UH-HUH. >> Sunny: WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? >> WELL, I MEAN THAT, YOU KNOW, SHE BECAUSE SHE WAS SO FRAGILE AND KNEW SHE HAD VERY LITTLE OPTIONS, AT THE TIME HOW MANY THINGS COULD YOU CHOOSE TO BE? YOU KNOW, FOR HER TO BECOME A NUN, IT MEANT THAT SHE COULD REALLY COUNT ON HERSELF BECAUSE SHE WOULDN'T BE OWNED BY ANYONE. >> Sunny: THAT'S RIGHT. >> SHE WOULD BE HER OWN BOSS WHICH MEANT THAT SHE HAD TO RELY ON HER OWN RESOURCES, YOU KNOW, SO THAT'S -- THAT'S A STRENGTH THAT SHE HAD. HERSELF. >> Sunny: YEAH. >> AND THE FACT THAT SHE WAS SURROUNDED BY SUCH STRONG WOMEN AS WELL. IT WAS A COLLECTIVE OF WOMEN THAT CARRIED ON TOGETHER. >> Joy: IT WAS A GOOD OPTION FOR WOMEN IN THOSE DAYS TO NOT BE UNDER THE THUMB OF MEN. >> ABSOLUTELY. YOU CAN NARROW IT DOWN TO VERY LITTLE -- FEW THINGS. YOU COULD END UP AS A PROSTITUTE, AS AN ACTRESS WHICH PROBABLY MEANT THE SAME THING. >> Whoopi: SAME THING, YEAH. >> YOU COULD, YOU KNOW, BE A MATRON OF A HOUSE AND STILL BE OWNED BY A MANAGE OR YOU COULD BE A NUN. >> Sunny: A NUN. >> AND TRAVEL THE WORLD AND DO GOOD AND DO IT YOURSELF. >> Joy: YES. >> Sunny: SOUNDS PRETTY GOOD. >> NOT A BAD OPTION. >> Joy: SO MOTHER CABRINI, SHE CAME TO NEW YORK CITY AT A TIME WHEN ITALIAN IMMIGRATIONS WERE BEING TREATED BADLY, SEGREGATED. MY PEOPLE. THOSE ARE MY PEOPLE FROM CALABRIA. THEY WERE TREATED BADLY EVEN THERE BY THE NORTH. THEY STILL ARE TO MANY SO EXTENT BUT THE ITALIANS WERE SEGREGATED TO THE FIVE POINTS PLUM WHERE THEY LIVED IN SQUALOR AND FACED DAILY DISCRIMINATION BUT THE ITALIANS WERE ABLE TO INTEGRATE THEMSELVES INTO SOCIETY SINCE THEN. 100 AND SOME ODD YEARS AGO AND LIVE BETTER LIVES, BUT NOW THEY'RE STILL VILIFYING IMMIGRATIONS IN THIS COUNTRY. AND OTHERS ALSO, NOT ITALIANS ANYMORE BUT OTHER PEOPLE, SO WHAT CAN WE LEARN ABOUT THE TREATMENT OF IMMIGRANTS FROM THIS MOVIE? >> BECAUSE IT'S ALWAYS THE LATECOMERS, ISN'T IT? SO THAT WE'VE MIGRATED THE ENTIRE HUMAN HISTORY. IT'S IN US TO MOVE FROM ONE PLACE TO THE OTHER. WE ARE EMIGRANTS AND IMMIGRANTS FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER. ALL PEOPLE HAVE -- >> Sunny: SEEKING OPPORTUNITY. >> AND A BETTER LIFE, OF COURSE. SO, IT IS PART OF OUR CULTURE GLOBALLY, AND IT'S ALWAYS THE LAST COMERS, BECAUSE THE ITALIANS WERE THE LAST COMERS AND, IN FACT, THIS REMINDS ME OF SOMETHING THAT I'VE READ NOT LONG AGO, THAT ITALIANS WERE THE BEST SUBSTITUTES FOR BLACK LABOR. >> Sunny: YES. >> ONCE SLAVERY WAS ABOLISHED THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO COULD ENDURE SUCH LONG HOURS, THE HEAT, THE EXPLOITATION WERE THE ITALIANS. >> Sunny: THE SOUTHERN ITALIANS. >> Joy: SOUTHERN ITALIANS. NORTHERNS DIDN'T COME HERE. THEY HAD MONEY. >> THEY STAYED. >> Joy: YEAH. [ LAUGHTER ] >> Alyssa: YOU STAR IN THIS MOVIE WITH A FRIEND OF THE SHOW, JOHN LITHGOW WHO PLAYS THE MAYOR AND I HEARD THAT JOHN WOULD READ YOU POEMS BETWEEN TAKES. WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT? >> Joy: THAT'S RIGHT. >> HE'S SO SWEET. HE WAS COMING OUT WITH A BOOK. >> Sunny: WITH A BOOK, YEAH. >> I GUESS HIS SECOND ONE WHICH I STILL HAVEN'T READ UNFORTUNATELY, I MUST CONFESS BUT HE WOULD READ ME POEMS FROM IT AND LITTLE EXTRACTS FROM THE BOOK, ESPECIALLY THE POEMS. >> Sunny: THEY'RE FUNNY. >> VERY FUNNY. I MEAN, I HAVE TO SAY, SO MUCH OF IT WAS AMERICAN POLITICS, SO IT DIDN'T REALLY QUITE GET EVERYTHING BUT I DO -- I'M INTERESTED IN POLITICS BUT, YOU KNOW, IT'S MORE -- IN A MORE GLOBAL WAY OBVIOUSLY BEING AMERICAN HE KNOWS SO MUCH MORE THAN ME SO SOME PARTS I WAS LIKE, YAY. THAT RHYMES REALLY WELL. [ LAUGHTER ] >> Sara: YOU'VE HAD A SUCCESSFUL CAREER IN ITALY BUT "CABRINI" IS YOUR FIRST AMERICAN FILM SO HOW DOES THAT FEEL? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU AND WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO NEXT? >> OOH. THAT SOUNDS LIKE MY DAD'S QUESTION. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NEXT? DAD, TO THIS DAY I'M A GROWN-UP. NO, WELL, IT MEANS EVERYTHING. I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO WORK HERE. THIS IS, YOU KNOW -- I HAVE -- I GREW UP WITH FILMS, I MEAN, SO MANY OF THEM THAT COME FROM THE AMERICAN INDUSTRY. >> Joy: OF COURSE. ACCOUNT CASABLANCA." YOU'VE SEEN IT, I'M SURE. >> SO MANY OF THEM, AND, JUST I WANT TO BE WORKING HERE. >> Whoopi: YEAH. >> IT'S -- >> Sara: WE'LL TELL YOUR DAD THAT. >> Sunny: THIS IS A VERY GOOD START. >> Alyssa: A FABULOUS START. >> Whoopi: YEAH, AND IT'S A HELL OF A MOVIE, SO, LISTEN, Y'ALL, OW THANKS TO CRISTIANA DELL'ANNA. "CABRINI" IS IN THEATERS NOW, AND IT IS A GREAT MOVIE TO SEE OVER THE WEEKEND, BECAUSE IT IS EASTER WEEKEND. SO THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO SEE IT, BUT IF YOU DON'T MAKE IT FOR EASTER, THEN MAKE SURE YOU GET YOURSELF OUT THERE TO SEE IT, AND GO DOWNTOWN. YOU CAN SEE THERE'S ALSO A MEMORIAL TO MOTHER CABRINI, AND THERE'S ALL KINDS OF
