As the daughter of the legendary actor Fernanda Montenegro, Fernanda Torres is practically Brazilian royalty. But while, at 59, she has been revered in her home country for decades, she’s only just receiving the Hollywood recognition she deserves, thanks to her star turn in I’m Still Here. The film, written and directed by Walter Salles, tells the true story of Eunice Paiva, a mother of five who lost her husband under the tyranny of the Duarte Regime in Brazil in the 1970s. Anchored by Torres’s stellar performance as the real-life housewife turned activist, the film has become one of Brazil’s biggest box office hits this century. Now it’s in Golden Globes contention for best foreign language film with Torres landing her first nomination for best actress. Here, Torres talks about acting alongside her 95-year-old mother—who plays an older version of Paiva in the film—and her long-running collaboration with Salles.
How did you meet Walter Salles?
Walter has always been there. In 1994, we did Foreign Land, a film that we shot in Brazil and Portugal. That was a formative movie for us—Walter discovered what kind of director he was. I discovered that improvisation could be a way to write. He did Central Station with my mother and the film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, in 1999. In I’m Still Here, we’re all together again—Walter, my mother, me. It’s very touching.
I’m Still Here tells an important story—the film simultaneously gives the narrative of the Paiva family and of the destructive impact of a dictatorship.
Nobody knew about Eunice Paiva. She’s a great Brazilian, a great woman, but she never did anything to be noticed. She starts out as a perfect housewife from the ’50s: She serves the coffee, she takes care of her five children. But when tragedy comes, it changes her totally, and she’s able to reinvent herself. I think Eunice’s smile is a kind of weapon—she makes you want to fight for your family and your beliefs.
Your mother is the only Brazilian actor to be nominated for an Academy Award. Was it daunting for you, as her daughter, to decide to become an actor?
My mother almost feels pity for people who don’t know the pleasures of theater. Theater gave her a thousand lives. She was the daughter of a very simple family, and through theater she had the lives of queens, killers—whatever she wanted. I was raised in the wings of theaters. My father, Fernando, is also an actor and producer. And they named me Fernanda. So I couldn’t escape, you see? I paid a lot of hours in shrinks, and I really don’t know how I did it, but I did it. I started working as an actress from the time I was 13 years old.
You turned out so well-adjusted.
I find it a miracle. Isn’t it a miracle? Even now, to be here with this film. The other day, I saw Judi Dench saying that there is a lot of luck involved in this business, and I think she’s right.
Have you ever acted in an American production?
I acted in Mexico. I did the last bad movie of Anthony Hopkins. We climbed a pyramid together, and he told me, “Isn’t it amazing they even pay us to be here?” That was the closest I got to Hollywood.
Do you dream in Portuguese or English?
I think I dream in Portuguese. But if I stay in America for a long time, it changes. Today I had a dream with Marlon Brando. I think it was in English.
Have you always been fluent in English?
The first time I went to the Cannes Film Festival, I was 17 years old. I had a movie there, La Semaine de la Critique. I discovered that I couldn’t communicate with anybody. I studied English and French in school, but I mean, to really communicate—to be myself in another language—is another thing. It took me a long time. And a relationship with an avant-garde theater director for four years.
What was the first movie you remember seeing?
Donkey Skin, with Catherine Deneuve. The next one was 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s a great child’s movie. When I had my kid, it was the first film I showed him. You have the monkeys, the spaceship.
What is your pet peeve?
People who talk about their lives on the Internet. Falling in love, and then they fight, and then they have to explain themselves, and then they fight someone else and they have to tell about it. It’s a sickness nowadays.
Do you watch any reality shows?
I find reality shows strange. It’s a sick thing, too. There’s one I like: Naked and Afraid. People naked in the forest. And it’s always a couple. The guy comes and says, “I want to hold her during the night because it’s really, really cold.” You see? And the woman comes and says, “I’m not comfortable with him holding me.” I love it. They don’t even get paid. I could not stop laughing.
Torres wears a Marni dress and shoes; Erin Fader Jewelry earrings; Patricia von Musulin bracelets; Graff ring.
Makeup by Mark Carrasquillo at R3 MGMT. Makeup assistants: Nanase Ito, Claire Brooke.
Style Director: Allia Alliata di Montereale. Hair for portfolio by Paul Hanlon at Dawes & Co.; makeup for portfolio by Sam Visser at Art Partner; manicures for portfolio by Michelle Saunders James. Set design by Gerard Santos at Lalaland.
Creative producer to Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott: Leonard Cuinet-Petit at January Productions; producer to Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott: Kevin Isabelle; produced by AP Studio, Inc.; executive producer: Alexis Piqueras; producer: Anneliese Kristedja; associate producer: Kimmy D’Ancona; production manager: Hayley Stephon; production coordinators: Miranda Dos Santos, Susan Lucas; photography assistants: John Neate, Jed Barnes, Chris Whitaker, Kendall Peck; digital technician: Niccolo Pacilli; digital assistant: Cassian Gray; postproduction by Dreamer Post Production; fashion assistants: Tyler VanVranken, Molly Cody, Celeste Roh, Raea Palmieri, Tatiana Isshac, Haleigh Nickerson, Lauren Marron, Savannah Steilner, Sage McKee, Frankie Benkovic, Kaley Azambuja, Tatum Sanchez; production assistants: Gigi Rosenfield, Lily Cordingley, Eli Cash, Lex Vaughn, Anderson Renno, Kat Saravia, Kyle Dekker, Wyatt Noble, Brandon Martin, Moose Krupski, Josh Muwwakkil, Bradley Gonsalves, Drew Carter, Thomas Lynch, Alex Kofman, Jackson Schrader, Anatalia Zavaleta, Joseph Wride, Matt Flynn; first AD: Steve Kemp; location manager: Kyle Hollinger; hair assistants: Kim Garduno, Ben Gregory, Marco Iafrate, Hyacinthia Faustino, Chris Foster; makeup assistants: Shimu Takanori, Laura Dudley, Brian Dean, Beatrice Sandoval; manicure assistant: Cheyenne Vander Schuur; set design assistants: Seth Powsner, Denver Stoddard, Ryan Johnson; tailors: Irina Tshartaryan, Ripsime Vartanyan, Jackie Martirosyan at Susie’s Custom Designs, Inc.
