‘Pantanal’: Interpreter of Zefa, Paula Barbosa would be another character in the plot

Actress Paula Barbosa, 35, timidly entered the soap opera “Pantanal” and is gradually gaining more space in the plot, originally written by her grandfather, Benedito​ Ruy Barbosa, and updated by cousin Bruno Luperi. In the next chapters, Maria Bruaca’s maid (Isabel Teixeira) will show that she can be a person of dubious character.

In addition to making small intrigues in the bosses’ family, Zefa is going to “blackmail” Bruaca so as not to reveal to her husband, Tenório (Murilo Benício), the extramarital affair that the housewife has been having with one of the farm’s pawns. “I wanted to ask this question in this first moment to the public. Is Zefa bad or naive? Those who watch the soap opera will soon see that she is good. A little futriqueira, but silly that only”, she says.

In exchange for the silence of Bruaca’s romance with Alcides (Juliano Cazarré), Zefa asks to be taken as one of the guests to the viola circle on Zé Leôncio’s farm. She even likes singing, but what she really wants is to be close to Tadeu (José Loreto) the “master pawn” of the surroundings.

“Zefa is enchanted with Tadeu since the first day. He is the example of a man and she thinks she doesn’t even have a chance with the guy. But the game changes”, she jokes. After Guta, he gets involved with Zefa and the theme of the couple’s plot will be the girl’s virginity. “I haven’t filmed the scene yet, but it happens before the wedding. She has this thing of wanting to marry a virgin. There will be that game of ‘I want’, ‘I can’t’, ‘it’s a sin’, but she can’t resist”, says Paula. , curiously, was scheduled to play another character in the plot.

The actress explains that when the remake of ‘Pantanal’ was decided, her grandfather had raised the possibility that Paula would play Guta. With the definition of the cast, she learned from her cousin Bruno that she had stayed with Zefa. “I loved it. Despite not having watched the soap opera for 32 years, I know the whole story (laughs). I always heard everything about it at home. Before starting the recordings, I marathoned ‘Pantanal’ on Youtube and Zefa was one of the characters that I I had loved it more.”

Paula praises her cousin who, according to her, had already shown signs of following in his grandfather’s footsteps since he was little. “We are 11 grandchildren and Bruno has always read and studied a lot. He and Marcos, who are my aunt Edmara’s children, basically grew up in my grandparents’ house and, of course, it was a natural process. They are very talented writers”, he says. Paula is the daughter of Edilene, Edmara’s sister.

The actress reveals that the family is surprised by the success of the soap opera. “Back at home, everyone was insecure about what it would be like 30 years later to tell the same story to a younger audience. We knew it would be nostalgic for those who saw the first version, but the good repercussion among younger people surprised us”, he admits. . This is the fifth telenovela in Paula’s career, the third [‘Paraíso’ (2009), ‘Meu Pedacinho de Chão’ (2013)] under the signature of the Barbosa family.