Joana Fomm says she is against remakes: ‘I don’t want anyone to play my characters’

Joana Fomm, 84, is not the type of person that the cultural crowd usually finds at events, which is why the actress’ presence at the Association of Theater Producers (APTR) awards ceremony last Monday (1) was celebrated by her colleagues.

Much harassed and celebrated, she is still recovering from a domestic accident that caused her hip problems. Always sitting down, Joana said she is surprised by the number of remakes on Brazilian TV.

“They’re really going to remake ‘Vale Tudo’, right? I’ve heard that they want to make other soap operas too and I ask myself: why? I don’t like remakes”, she states categorically. “I think a new soap opera is always refreshing and classics should be kept”, says the actress who plays memorable characters in Brazilian television drama, such as Yolanda, from “Dancin’ Days” (1978), Perpétua, from “Tieta” (1989), and Rita, from “Porto dos Milagres” (2001), all on Globo. “I don’t want anyone else to play my characters. Only myself”, she declares.

Despite being against remakes, she says she would like to be part of the cast of the new version of “Elas por Elas”, just like Esther Góes and Reginaldo Faria, with whom she worked in the original version of the soap opera, written by Cassiano Gabus Mendes (1929-1993). At the time, she played Natália, Mariana Santos’ role in the reinterpretation by Thereza Falcão and Alessandro Marson, which ended in April. “They didn’t call me. I was bedridden, but I would have liked to have participated and would have participated anyway.”

Having not done any soap operas since “Malhação: Pro Dia Nascer Feliz”, which aired in 2016 (she has only made a few sporadic appearances in the last eight years), Joanna says that she is “in a good frame of mind” and would like to work again. “I want to play a villain again. Oh, I love playing villains. I’m almost in good shape now and I’ll go back,” she promises. “I got older and they didn’t call me anymore… the invitations were decreasing. Are there no more roles for me?”