Flávia Reis says she hears reports from mothers after virtual harassment of her daughter in ‘Travessia’: ‘Scary’

“Scary”. That’s what actress Flávia Reis, 48, thinks whenever she watches scenes of Karina (Danielle Olímpia), her daughter in “Travessia” (Globo), being harassed by a man over the internet. In the role of Marineide, she reveals that, until she became aware of it through Gloria Perez’s text, she had no idea that this type of crime could exist in Brazil.

“I was quite scared, especially when I saw how this virtual rape happened in the soap opera, through a program that makes a pedophile impersonate another person”, she says to F5. “I thought this case in history would happen another way, with a little boyfriend who would elude her. It was quite scary.”

Flávia says that, as much as it is a harsh reality, it is important to put this type of drama on TV to alert all mothers about what their children have been doing on the internet —and with whom they have been talking. She states that the subject has helped her in the education of her own daughter, Cecília, six years old.

“I was already a mother very concerned with social networks,” she says. “My daughter consumes very little internet and only watches cartoons on television. She does not have access to a computer, tablet or cell phone on her own. The difficult thing will be in adolescence. But I had a lesson, in front of the soap opera, and I intend to keep the attention and care with her.”

In a playful and light way, the actress reveals that she approaches sexuality with the little one and that the topic is not a taboo. “I talk to her about who can approach her, touch her and how she can and should talk to me. Pedophilia is a delicate issue, but present. I adjust the approach based on her age group.”

For being so present in the heavier core of the soap opera, Flávia says that she has served as a kind of coach on this subject. “Many mothers stop me on the streets and send messages to talk about this alert. Some girls told me that they went through situations similar to Karina’s. It’s great that the soap opera brings this topic that sometimes is in a somewhat obscure place in society.”

Best known for her comedic side, the actress celebrates the possibility of showing another side of her work. And “Travessia”, which enters its last week on Globo, has also been important for the artist to exercise her versatility.

For her, it is not difficult to “turn the key” to interpret a denser narrative. “I like to study the scenes at home and, on the day of recording, have some concentration time to delve deeply into this mother who suffers from not knowing what is going on with her daughter”, she says.