Samara Felippo on TV harassment: ‘Girlfriends lost roles because they couldn’t’

Actress Samara ​Felippo, 43, spoke about situations of sexism and harassment that she has seen and faced in her years working in television. The artist spoke about her experiences in an interview with the comedian Rafinha Bastos, 45, on the YouTube channel.

“Today I look back and see the abuses I went through, machismo, things that we never saw at the time. I see friends who lost roles because they didn’t give them to the director. There was this place”, began the actress during the interview without citing names of directors or broadcasters.

“There was a place where I sat down to get a part and the person said: ‘You were going to play the main character, but you don’t look like a virgin.’ Does a virgin have a face?”, he asked. Felippo continued by saying that it is difficult to talk about the subject openly, as it can harm other actresses and his own career.

“It’s a bizarre pressure, in every way. For women, especially. I think that’s still happening, we have complaints that you never thought could have happened,” he pointed out. “It’s a little bit of this hole that we go into. It’s a hand on your thigh at dinner, it’s a ‘just come and talk you and me,'” he said.

“All the role I had to be two kilos thinner. And I’ve always been thin. Now comes the aesthetic pressure for the girl”, completed the actress. During the conversation, she also points out that working at Globo was like a “dream machine”.

“I really like the ‘vibe’ of the studio, soap opera, receiving chapters. Globo was a great company for me. I have access to places and access to projects because I came from work at Globo. But today it is very liberating to be able to produce from home “, complete.

The actress has been in productions such as “Chocolate com Pimenta” (Globo, 2003–2004), “A Casa das Sete Mulheres” (Globo, 2003), “Da Cor do Pecado” (Globo, 2004) and “José do Egypt” (Record, 2013).