Selton Mello and Fernanda Torres have identified one another for many years. Mello had a visitor arc on Torres’ Brazilian present “Regular Individuals,” which ran from 2001-2003, earlier than attaining large fame as each an actor and filmmaker. He had additionally labored along with her brother, filmmaker Cláudio Torres, and her mom, legendary actor Fernanda Montenegro — maybe best-known to American audiences for her Oscar-nominated flip in Walter Salles’ 1998 movie “Central Station.” Says Mello, “I actually really feel like a part of the household.”
Now the pair are taking part in husband and spouse Rubens and Eunice Paiva in Salles’ acclaimed drama “I’m Nonetheless Right here,” based mostly on the memoir by Marcelo Rubens Paiva. Paiva is a well known author in Brazil, and his 1982 autobiography, “Glad Outdated 12 months,” particulars the accident that led to him changing into a tetraplegic. That e book additionally mentions how in 1970, when he was 11 years outdated, his father, Rubens, disappeared and was presumed murdered by the Brazilian army. “We knew of his father solely as a headline,” says Torres. “We knew he had been tortured and killed by the army and the physique was by no means discovered, however we by no means knew the complete story.”
It wasn’t till 2015, when Paiva printed “I’m Nonetheless Right here,” that the world realized not solely the main points of his father’s disappearance, however the inspirational story of Eunice, who additionally survived torture and imprisonment to begin a brand new life with their 5 kids and grow to be a profitable lawyer and human rights advocate. “It was then I realized that not solely was his father this superhero,” says Torres, “however I found the journey of his mom, this nice heroine.”
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“I’m Nonetheless Right here” could be very totally different materials from Mello and Torres’ first collaboration, however the pair have earned raves for his or her delicate portrayals for the reason that movie premiered in September on the Venice Movie Competition, the place it gained finest screenplay. Torres simply gained a Golden Globe nomination for finest actress in a drama, and the movie is shortlisted for the worldwide function Oscar. The movie might be launched in U.S. cinemas Jan. 15 by Sony Photos Classics.
Although she had labored with Salles earlier than and her mom was already forged because the elder Eunice, Torres wasn’t his first alternative for the half. That could be as a result of large success of her 2011 collection “Slaps & Kisses,” during which she performed a romantically flawed bridal store worker. “In fact I’m a drama actress, however I grew to become so well-known for 2 large sitcoms,” Torres notes. “I believe I did an excessive amount of comedy for Walter to consider me.” So, when Salles requested her to learn the script for “I’m Nonetheless Right here,” it was as a colleague, not as his potential Eunice. “My mom was already within the movie, and he stated he needed my opinion,” says Torres. “It was a tremendous script, however I by no means thought he was going to ask me. Which is nice, as a result of there was no stress between us.”
Nonetheless, when the director did finally provide her the function, she admits she wasn’t completely shocked, and fortunately accepted. And the earlier relationship between the 2 actors and that comedy background got here in useful on set. “Fernanda is hysterical,” Mello raves. “She’s tremendous humorous, and even with the tragic backstory to this movie, she might be hilarious. We may have enjoyable behind the cameras, which is ideal.”
Torres was thrilled that their off-screen chemistry got here alive on display. “Generally you don’t know if it is going to be there, however on this case, it occurred,” she says. And since the movie was shot chronologically, she was ready to make use of the absence she felt when Mello left the set. “The scene the place I come again and he’s gone, I’m actually feeling the loss,” she reveals. “I’m touched as an actress and as a personality and I believe you may [feel] it within the movie.”
“After I smile and go away on the display, I left the movie,” Mello recollects. “They usually keep in the home, and so they miss Rubens, and so they miss me. It was a fantastic bond we created with us and with the children. And Fernanda is the perfect companion.”
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Mello, who has by no means shot a movie so as earlier than, liked the method — and that the remainder of the movie got here as a shock to him. “I noticed the film like an viewers member,” he says. “And once I go away, I see what occurs, and I’m shocked and heartbroken.”
Regardless of the difficult materials, Torres says engaged on the movie was a pleasure, largely as a result of Salles creating an surroundings that “was virtually sacred.” Salles himself had a deep private connection to the fabric — as a baby he performed with the Paiva kids and visited the very home depicted within the movie. Torres notes that no one was on their telephones on the set, and the younger actors taking part in the Paiva kids had been often solely instructed what can be occurring in a scene shortly earlier than taking pictures. “Walter is aware of the actor is the guts of a scene so he’s so respectful and useful,” she says. “He created a world, not a set. That home we shot in is a personality — it smells like a house, it looks like a house.”
The actors had been additionally impressed by the way in which that the movie, regardless of detailing a tragedy, is designed to encourage. “I hate films that you just go away feeling worse than once you arrived on the cinema,” says Torres. “It’s robust to see what this household went by way of, however they survived. And that household created this boy that wrote this stunning e book and the movie is a continuation of that household. I believe it’s a really hopeful movie.”
And it’s a film that individuals all around the world have been responding to. It opened at No. 1 in Brazil, besting each “Venom: The Final Dance” and “Purple One,” and has performed to rhapsodic audiences at festivals worldwide.
Each actors are deeply touched by the way in which the movie has resonated with audiences. When it premiered on the Venice Movie Competition and so they first noticed the response — which included a 10-minute standing ovation — Mello says he had a realization. “I stated to Fernanda, ‘Oh my God, this movie is the physique,’” Mello recollects. “The physique that they by no means discovered is the movie. As a result of now the justice was accomplished. All of the Brazilian folks and audiences all around the world [are] watching this movie, giving a tribute to him and to her.”