‘Pantanal’: ‘It doesn’t offend me’, says author’s cousin about thinking he ‘won’ role

Mareliz Rodrigues, 51, who recently took on the role of executive Matilde in “Pantanal” (Globo), does not face the difficulty of most actors who enter the middle of a successful soap opera. After all, she is in the family in the serial originally written by her uncle, Benedito Ruy Barbosa, and updated by her cousin Bruno Luperi.

Before the soap opera, the actress participated in other Globo productions, such as “Meu Pedacinho de Chão”, “Cabocla” and “A Teia” – most of them written by family members. Despite this, Mareliz says she never heard that she was in the cast because she was related to the author.

“It doesn’t offend me that they think that because for sure the first indication I had of him [Benedito Ruy Barbosa] it was fundamental for my whole journey”, says the actress. She also works as a casting coach, which means that she is sometimes forced to decline invitations. “I get devastated when I have to turn down soap operas.”

Rodrigues says that the best part of making “Pantanal” has been the closer contact with his cousins ​​Luperi and Paula Barbosa (Zefa), with whom he ended up losing a little contact because he has lived in Rio de Janeiro for many years, while the rest of the family It’s in Sao Paulo. “Paula [Barbosa] is here in Rio and we get to see each other more, at the launch party we were all together.”

In the plot, the character Matilde is an executive who lives in conflict with Davi (Lucci Ferreira), who does not let her take a stand. Barely debuted in the plot, the character has already stirred social networks with netizens commenting that Davi suffocates Matilde out of machismo and insecurity because she has more interesting ideas than his. “I see people on Twitter talking a lot that they won’t let me talk about the company”, says the actress, laughing.

In the 9 pm soap opera, the actress had a double shift, as she also guided the child actors who played the roles of Juma, Jove, Tadeu and Muda in the first phase. As a result, when she debuted in the Mareliz plot, she already knew the entire script and the various nuclei of the novel. After finishing her participation as an actress, she reveals that she will return to the role of preparer of new child characters – the children of couples in the serial.