‘It was challenging’, says Bruno Montaleone about playing Ney Matogrosso’s partner in a film

As soon as he heard about the film “Man with an H”, a biopic by Ney Matogrosso, Bruno Montaleone wanted to participate in it. Soon after, he got on the casting producers’ radar, auditioned and ended up with one of the central characters in the singer’s life. He is the one who plays Marco de Maria, Ney Matogrosso’s companion for 13 years, who died as a result of AIDS.

“Marco was a person who loved the sea, he was a doctor, a dedicated student, a serene person”, describes Montaleone. “I start the story at a very young age and, later, there were challenges in the passage of time, as he became weakened due to the HIV virus. His mood and way of living life changed, but the connection that the two had, did not. It was challenging”, recognizes the actor, who is now looking forward to the film’s release, with no scheduled date yet.

During the recordings, Montaleone was responsible for a remarkable moment: Ney himself crying in the studios. “During all the preparation and filming, I hadn’t met Ney — until one day he stayed with us at the recording and came to the scene. It was me, Esmir [Filho, o diretor]Ney and Jesuit Barbosa [que interpreta Ney no longa]” recalls.

The report continues: “He was directing us until he got up and asked for a moment. I was afraid I had gone too far or something.” However, the pause was just to give him a kiss and joke that nowadays it is calmer than at the time the plot focuses on. “It was like I had his blessing to be able to play Marco. I will never forget that moment and feeling in my entire life,” he says.

Montaleone also talked about what it was like to film a film set in the 1970s. “It was great. We heard a lot about the time, especially me who lives here in Rio. I heard stories from my parents about fashion, events… Cinema It’s a great tool to understand how much we’ve evolved in certain subjects — and not in others”, he points out.

In addition to the film, the actor was recently in “Amor Perfeito” (2023) and has been working on streaming platforms. Even so, he says he is not dazzled by the good phase.

“I have the energy and humility of someone just starting out, there is a lot to study and achieve,” he says. “Children’s dreams, those that seem impossible, that I have to at least try. There are still different characters and facets for me to try out, genres that I want to explore as an actor, colleagues that I look forward to working with.”