He was six years old when he made his debut on stage in Eduardo Scarpetta's comedy 'Miseria e nobiltà'. In a scene of the comedy, all characters eat a huge plate of pastasciutta. The very young De Vico, who didn't know that the spaghetti were 'stage-spaghetti' (actually little strips of rubber band), gulped a handful down, and only the quick intervention of his father (one of the actors) saved him from suffocating.