One of the Cinderella stories of this Oscar season is undoubtedly the success of Walter Salles’ acclaimed I’m Still Here and its star Fernanda Torres. Not only did the film get nominated for Best International Feature but, in a surprise, also for Best Picture, a rare and first-time event for Brazil. Torres, who won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama — a first for a Brazilian actress — and also nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, only the second Brazilian actress to do that, the first being her legendary mother Fernanda Montenegro for Salles’ Central Station in 1998.
Torres joins me for this new edition of my Deadline video series The Actor’s Side and talks about all of it, noting that her nomination has been a point of national pride in Brazil, even as the highly political film has sparked outrage on the extreme right. It is set in the early ’70s and tells the true story of the military takeover and how they forcibly removed Eunice Paiva’s family and congressman husband, detained them, and then imprisoned her husband who was never seen again. Torres plays Paiva, who spent years fighting for justice and uncovering the truth of what happened; until now, with the film and the book by Paiva’s son (written 26 years later) the real story had not come out. The film has remarkable relevance today, not just for Brazil, but for the world at large as history seems to be repeating itself globally.
Torres also is happy that her mother, still working at age 95, briefly turns up playing the older version of Paiva, and as for that Oscar nomination told her “I am just glad I am still here to see it.” We also talk about Torres and her successful decades-long career, the power of this role and her fierce unforgettable performance, and the meaning of Oscars in her home country. She notes the ceremony takes place the same time as Brazil’s wild Carnival, where everyone dresses up and parades in the streets — many she notes as Fernanda Torres(!) so deep is the affection for what she achieved with this role. She says there are plans to even project the Oscars on screens in Rio during Carnival, something she says could be dangerous should she not win. “I just want everyone to be happy,” she says as the city is already urging people to act responsibly.
There is so much in this interview including the funny revelation of what Torres believes is the biggest flop she ever had, one that had her rethinking a career as an actress. We are glad she kept at it.
To watch our conversation and get the “actor’s side” of things from Fernanda Torres, watch the video above.
Join me during Oscar season for more episodes of The Actor’s Side.