‘My son taught me to say no’, says Fernanda Vasconcellos about resuming her career

Fernanda Vasconcellos, 39, took her first major break since she began acting at the age of 13. The actress who gave life to remarkable characters from the last two decades decided that, when she had a child, she would stay at home for six months. She ended up staying almost three years.

“When Romeo was born, I imagined, in my fantasy, that I would soon go back to work, but I discovered myself as a mother who can’t let go of her child”, she says in an interview with F5. Romeo is the result of an 11-year relationship with fellow actor Cássio Reis, 46, and was born in June 2022.

The pregnancy gave way to the confinement required during the coronavirus pandemic, in which she remained confined. The months passed and desires and priorities changed. Therefore, she allowed herself to enjoy motherhood calmly.

“I had never said ‘no’ — and it was important for me. My son taught me to say no. Now, a project has to be good for me and for him,” he says. Therefore, no intense script readings, 12 hours of endless recording and weekends dedicated solely to work.

This Saturday (4), the actress resumes her career with the premiere of the new season of the play “Mrs. Klein” at Teatro Bravos, in Pinheiros, west of São Paulo. The project addresses the toxic relationship between Melanie Klein (Ana Beatriz Nogueira) and her daughter Melitta (Fernanda).

Playing opposite Ana Beatriz, with whom she worked in “A Vida da Gente” (2011), was what most convinced her to accept the invitation, as she turned down other proposals during the break, but being able to have flexibility also counted. Text readings are done via video call and presentations will only be on Saturdays and Sundays.

In the play, Melanie and Melitta are psychoanalysts and live in a dysfunctional relationship that comes to a head after the death of Hans, their son and brother, respectively. “They live in a very conflictive relationship with contradictory feelings”, she assesses. “Melitta is aggressive and, at times, she wants to be the mother and, at others, they are jealous of her.”

The actress admits that the text is complex even for those who analyze it, which is her case. “I’ve been doing it three times a week for eight years and if I could, I would do it more,” she says with a laugh. “Feeling takes work, it’s deep and takes time. I believe it deserves dedication, like everything that matters in life.”

Fernanda will turn 40 in September this year and has had a career of almost three decades. She is excited to define herself as a CDF, a characteristic that is part of the enthusiasm she feels for the profession. “I don’t just like the acting part, I like the dedication. I love investigating the character, the study time to understand it”, she says. “During this period I was away, I missed it all the time, but I wanted to dedicate myself to my son.”

For the new phase that is approaching, she wants to learn to live less and less automatically, have more patience and accept that you cannot control life. Cautiously, she reflects that getting older is not a concern.

“I’m going to leave it open so as not to contradict myself; I don’t know if I’ll have the same answer in the future”, he says. “I enjoyed my 20s, I enjoyed it a lot. [Com o passar dos anos] you win as well as you lose. Getting older shouldn’t be an easy task, you deal with losses and frustrations. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be bad.”