Luigi Ferrara and the media that made them

The mythic behind @sonotroppoannoiato videos talks fake crying, Pretty Little Liars, and why acting on TikTok is anything but superficial.

Luigi (Lulu) Ferrera is not a TikToker who overshares. Their videos—absurd, emotional, often ripped straight from the cinematic subconscious—are less confessionals than performances. They feel like transmissions from a parallel universe: suddenly you're watching someone sob over a violin, or whisper a Buffy line like it's prophecy. There’s a theatrical remove to Lulu’s TikTok that somehow makes the connection even more intense. Instead of sharing GRWMs or daily vlogs, Lulu’s videos are quick hits of energy, caught in the middle of a moment with little to no context. Their mysticism is part of the allure—like you know them without actually knowing anything about them.

In this conversation, the Italy-based creator talks about what drives their videos, their obsession with American media, and how acting online has given them a much-needed creative outlet.

FAN MAIL: Thank you for talking to Fan Mail, Lulu! Jumping right in: when or why did you first start making videos?

Lulu: I made videos when I was 13, but I was so scared to post them. I didn't want to post anything online. I wasn't out to my family. But a year and a half ago, I started posting videos in Italian, and they kind of blew up, and I was like, “Okay, why not do English?” Because I’ve always watched everything in English. I don't do well with Italian. I live here and I speak Italian. All my exams are in Italian, but I don't know how to speak it properly. My sister always tells me, “You're much more intelligent when you speak English.” I'm telling you, when I speak Italian, I dumb everything down.

I noticed there’s a lack of self-disclosure in your videos. You're not sharing specifics about your life. They catch you in the middle of a moment. And then you started showing your cat and then the violin video, and everyone was like, “We unlocked a new version of you.” I find it really interesting how you've been able to connect without diving deep into everything about you.

That's what I think is so cool about being online. I don't necessarily think that for you to be out there on the internet that you have to share everything about your life. And on TikTok, everybody's always posting “What I do at a whatever,” that kind of stuff, but honestly, I was like, “Can I just act?”

Do you step into a character to make your videos?

Kind of. When Chappell Roan first blew up last year, I read a tweet saying, “We need more theatrical people.” And I've always been like that. I've always been a drama queen. And I was like, “Fuck, why am I not posting?” I love movies, so almost every video I make is about a movie or TV show I just watched. For example, the video where I go “When will I see you again?” was from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

And some people can clock it too, in the moments. It’s like a little secret.

I think it's so cool. Just being creative and having fun with it. Life is too short to give a fuck.

How do you view your TikTok in the grand scheme of everything else in your life?

So I’m at uni. I study languages, but because I love English, I just learned it by heart.

Did you grow up consuming American media?

Yeah, Pretty Little Liars. That show basically raised me. I was eight years old watching that. I was so obsessed with it. I started streaming it online as it was airing in the USA. They were with subtitles, so everything was in English, and I was pulling all-nighters every day. I found a site where you could watch it in Italy as it was airing in the US. So it would be 4:00 in the morning, I was 12 years old watching Pretty Little Liars, and I needed to know who the fuck A was. Did you watch?

I did, but I never finished. I was in middle school for the early seasons, and everyone was just obsessed.

The first three seasons, I think, are top-tier television gold.

Like Spencer and Toby. Even that was formative.

Toby was my gay awakening. I was kissing him daily as my pillow, and I was thinking, “Oh my God, maybe I shouldn't be doing this. I should be kissing Spencer.” He was so hot, though. I still remember.

He was like a blueprint for a kind of messed-up man. Putting that in all 12-year-old brains. They're like, “You love a tortured soul.” Wait, so can we go back to the violin for a sec? Because that was crazy.

I've been playing the violin for 10 years. Yeah. I was nine years old, and I was like, “Mom, I want to play the violin.” Honestly, looking back at it now, I probably wouldn't have, just because I think classical music world is fucked up. Everything is about perfection. Everybody's always like, “You could be doing more,” which is exhausting. I've been doing this for 10 years, and I am graduating in the fall. When I'm done with this, I may need a year or so to really figure my shit out and see if that's what I want to do with my life. I do love it. But everybody wants so much from you. Have you watched Whiplash?

Oh yes. I grew up playing the flute, so I have an idea.

Oh, you get it. I don’t need to explain it. It’s fucked up.

It's really exhausting, and it's very easy to burn out.

Even comparison, you're always competing with somebody. I don't want to do that. I don't want to be that. So it's like, “How can I take that as a creative career without me being exhausted every fucking day?”

So is that separate from your language studies?

It's basically two universities at once. Everything Everywhere All at Once, literally. My maestro is like, “You have to pick a struggle.” But I don't want to. I don't know.

I’m actually shocked you are doing two degrees and TikTok. How do you feel like you prioritize things in your head? Or even looking towards the future?

The most important aspect of my making TikTok videos in English was me speaking and practicing my English. Because I do everything in English. I read English books. I watch English media. I was like, “Let me practice speaking it, otherwise I'm never going to.” I want to move, I don't know, where, maybe Amsterdam. Call me delusional, but I would love to combine everything that I've done up to this point—music and theater and TikTok, and English. I don't know if it's possible, but whatever. If you don't dream, then what's the point?

How long from when you made your first couple of videos until you got to the point where you're like, “Okay, I'm going to keep doing this because people seem to like it”?

In the back of my mind, I always had the thought of—this sounds egotistical, but “I need to be creating.” And for a while, I wasn’t. I was doing things by default. I'm playing the violin because that's what I've been doing since I was ten. I’m studying because that's what you do. So I was like, “Let me create without being attached to whatever is going to happen,” because even if this is not going to take me anywhere, it's cool. Because the moment I'm creating, even if it's just a silly little video, I feel time stop. The power that we have just with a phone, and your mind is everything. You don't need anything else. You don't need external validation. You just need your mind, your creativity. That’s what I want to prioritize.

Do you have a schedule for posting, or are you just doing it when the moment strikes?

I do everything at night. I need to not be thinking about anything else. I study, I do my work. At night, I feel so free. It's like a one-hour space in the day where I just get to create, which is everything. I am not lying. It may sound stupid, but if I didn't do that, then I might go crazy, because that is the only creative outlet that I have right now.

Do you have a favorite video of yours that you've done?

I don't watch them. That's scary because then I would be like, “Oh my God, I look so hot here. I don't look cute here.” But my sister watches, and she says I’m really good at fake crying. I made something about powers, like, “I have a headache. That's not a headache. That's powers.” And I was watching Charmed when that video popped into my mind. Like, let me make that. Have you watched Overcompensating?

Oh, I've watched it multiple times. I also bought the Slut Slayer Berlin sweatshirt. So don't even.

I've been quoting Hailee since forever.

“Pisses me off.” No, she's so funny. I think Holmes is the comedian of our generation. She needs an Emmy. Do you feel like you've noticed a difference in terms of people who are following you and then people who are happening upon your videos? I mean that in the way some people realize that you’re acting, and then other people don't. Are you in the comments?

I don't read them. I'm not opening them.

It’s mostly everyone saying, “I love you. You're saying what I'm thinking. You’re the voice in my head.”

I love that because it feels like a TV show. I sometimes feel like a TV show.

People will literally comment, “My show is on.”

The main thing about me is that even though I'm not being myself, not talking about myself. It’s just those moments in TV shows that I love. I do feel like it's me being a director, an actor, and everything put together. It's not that serious.

Are you aware of the scope of your audience?

Yeah, I think so. I think I like being dramatic. But sometimes I get too much in my head, and that's when everything gets fucked up. Never get too much in your head.

Some Fan Mail-themed questions: Who would you send Fan Mail to?

Oh my God, Violet Chachki. She follows me, and I've been trying not to make myself go crazy, just writing, “Oh my God, I think you're iconic.” Also, Sarah Michelle Galer, because I love Buffy. And Lana, of course.

Who would you freak if you got Fan Mail from?

Trixie Mattel.

Who or what do you think deserves less Fan Mail?

Benson Boone, I don't like him. I don't care. I'm going to name names. Also, Harry Styles,

You're done. You're over it. Who deserves more?

Addison Rae. I do think she deserves everything. Twitter is so mean to her.

Love her.

What's your favorite Sex and the City season?

There's a season where her hair just looks phenomenal, it’s long and curly, and she just looks great.

Okay, yeah, the third season.

That bitch is so embarrassing though. I love those memes of her showing up at Big's door. “Get it while it’s hot!”

Please. That was so cringe. I sometimes fully need not watch scenes because I get secondhand embarrassment so bad. I'm like, “What the fuck am I watching?”

Are you watching And Just Like That…?

Please. I watch. I feel embarrassed to admit that, but I like it.

Yeah, it's a hate watch, but it's really entertaining.

I don't like the whole Samantha thing. That's fucked up. I saw some interviews on TikTok where they've been asked, “Do you think Samantha is missing?” And all three of them are like, “I don't think Samantha is that important.” I'm like, “You're lying.”

She was the best part of the show.

She was. Also, Miranda, I live for her.

I really loved Charlotte when I was watching.

Yeah, she's cute. I like her. Have you watched Twin Peaks?

Oh my God, yes. It’s so good. RIP, David Lynch. You need to watch in this order: seasons 1 and 2 of the original show, the Fire Walk With Me movie, and then the 2016 reboot. Do not watch the movie first.

Is it gay?

Not really, but it's moody and there are definitely some queer coded characters. I love Kyle McLaughlin. He's a national treasure.

Honestly, him singing Lorde's songs on TikTok. Every time I'm like, “Fuck yes.” Is it a fall TV show?

Absolutely.

Have you watched—last thing, I'm sorry—have you watched Winx?

Yes! I have. I was like five watching it, like, “These girls are so cool.”

I am obsessed. That made me realize that I was a fairy, and then everything was meant to be. Believing in magic and everything. The first three seasons are it.

I'm sorry. I feel like I kept you on the phone for a while, but—

Honestly, I love talking to you. Meeting new people makes me feel joyful and like, “Life is worth living” [to the tune of the Justin Bieber songbite]. It's a dream. When I tell my sisters, “I talked to a girl from New York.” And they’ll be like, “You're kidding. You're lying.”

Come here and sleep on my couch, please.

Bitch, if you're ever in Italy, this is everything for you. We're going to go to the beach because it's here. We've got to go to the club. “When I go to the club I wanna hear those club classics” [to the tune of Charli XCX’s “Club classics”]. What's your favorite song from Brat?

Okay, justice for “Hello, goodbye.”

You're the only one, I think.

I know, and I don't care. It scratches an itch, and I love it. Obviously, the “Girl so confusing remix,” but actually “Sympathy is a knife.” I didn't listen to it for a while, and then I listened again recently. I was like, “holy shit.”

I love that song. Honestly, even the remix with Ariana.

“Issa knife.”

“Issa knife.” I think it's perfect. I think Charli just knows how to make good music. Even Crash. I think it's good. Justice for Crash.

She wants to throw it to the wayside, and I love it.

“Sorry if I Hurt You”??? I love it.

Oh my God. The deluxe Crash songs. Let's talk about it.

“Selfish girl.” Sorry.

“How Can I Not Know What I Need Right Now”? Come on.

If those songs were on Brat, people would be eating that shit up. I don't think they even know they exist, so it's like, you need to do your research. You need to do your homework.