FERNANDA TORRES STARS ON THE COVER OF NUMÉRO NETHERLANDS’ FANTASY
interview by MAREK BARTEK
FERNANDA TORRES is a Brazilian theatre, cinema and television actor and writer with a career spanning over four decades. She began acting young, and her natural talent was soon recognised when at only 20 she won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival. Recently, she’s had yet another career-defining moment portraying Eunice Paiva in the film I’m Still Here, which landed her a Golden Globe, among other awards and nominations.
full look CHANEL
Growing up in a house where theatre and cinema were part of daily life, what kind of dreams or imaginary worlds shaped you as a child?
My father was an actor, director and theatre producer; my mother, an actress. Much of their lives took place on stage, in theatre performances or rehearsing the next play. They worked on weekends and holidays, and I grew up backstage beside them or at the rehearsal table. I felt that a huge part of their lives was there by choice, for pleasure — their work was a life achievement, not a bureaucratic obligation. And for a child, this make-believe that carries on into adulthood is incredibly appealing.
Today, I sense I have an intuition for dramatic events born from my childhood. But my professional choice was not only because of them but also my generation — friends who, like me, started young and were inspired by the strong theatre movement in Brazil during the 1970s and ’80s. I became an actress through both family and generational influence.
Your role in I’m Still Here dealt with grief and resistance. How do you protect yourself emotionally while embodying such an intense, real story?
I spent over a year in Eunice Paiva’s skin, and she became second nature. You don’t have to protect yourself from your characters. You choose to be an actor because living just one life is very boring. The chance to be someone else — to exist outside of yourself — is so pleasurable, even when you face a tragic character. Eunice taught me a lot about restraint, about avoiding melodrama, about internalised feeling. The part where she spends two weeks in prison — dealing with the panic and fear — was not easy. But the sense of having overcome it is so beautiful, so deep. In the end, what remains is accomplishment, the wonder of having been someone else. It’s a remarkable profession. I think it would be harder in an industrial process, like television. I prefer to do comedy on TV. Humour helps you handle the long shoots and seasons of a series. Cinema is a craft; it’s gentle, even in a heavy drama like Eunice’s.
READ THE WHOLE INTERVIEW IN OUR PRINT ISSUE #13.
full look CHANEL
left:
earrings and rings FERNANDO JORGE
dress and bracelet FENDI
right:
hat LUCIANO PINHEIRO
collar JUM NAKAO
shirt, corset, blazer, and skirt DIOR
shoes FERRAGAMO
earrings FERNANDO JORGE
dress and bracelet FENDI
cape ROBER DOGNANI
trousers and shoes FERRAGAMO
yin and yang eggs SOFIA BARTOLOMEO
left:
hat LUCIANO PINHEIRO
collar JUM NAKAO
shirt, corset, blazer, and skirt DIOR
shoes FERRAGAMO
right:
full look CHANEL
left:
earrings and rings FERNANDO JORGE
dress and bracelet FENDI
right:
corset CAMILA PEDROZA
bra, dress, and shoes DOLCE&GABBANA
left:
hat LUCIANO PINHEIRO
collar JUM NAKAO
shirt, corset, and blazer DIOR
right:
full look CHANEL
full look CHANEL
left:
hat LUCIANO PINHEIRO
collar JUM NAKAO
shirt, corset, blazer, and skirt DIOR
right:
full look CHANEL
left:
corset CAMILA PEDROZA
bra, dress, and shoes DOLCE&GABBANA
right:
full look CHANEL
full look CHANEL
TEAM CREDITS:
talent FERNANDA TORRES
styling and creative direction ALEXANDRE DORNELLAS
photography FAMKE VAN HAGEN
beauty IVAN BARRIA
film GABRIEL NOVIS
second unit direction of film LIZ DOREA
film photography direction BERNARDO NEGRI
fashion production KAIO BERGUER and FERNANDA MANDUCA
beauty assistant RAPHAELA CRUZ
first camera assistant JOAQUIM TORRES
second camera assistant JOÃO GABRIEL (KIBE)
gaffer RODRIGO GRAF
colorist JOÃO HOMEM
electrical assistants LEONARDO GRAF and MATHEUS JAIME
set design YASMIN PU W ASKMAN
set design assistants AMANDA VEIGA, FLORA PU, and ANDRÉ RICARDO
against rules AMANDA CAROLINE SILVA and ANDRE RICARDO DOS SANTOS
production coordination PEDRO OLAYA, BERNARDO PORTELLA, and LUCAS NEVES
location COPACABANA PALACE
executive production DEAR STRANGER FILMS and COSMO CINE
editor TIMOTEJ LETONJA
interview MAREK BARTEK
cover design ARTHUR ROELOFFZEN
special thanks to JANEIRO HOTEL
