‘First Lady’ of São Paulo, Mara Carvalho says she knows about the club’s signings before everyone else

If there is one person at São Paulo FC who is most aware of the negotiations and the future of the club, it is Mara Carvalho, 53. The actress is dating the team’s president, Julio Casares, and for some time now has started to act as a judicious intermediary between the tricolor fans and the president.

“Fans sometimes ask me to tell him things, they want a t-shirt, a ticket to a game, they put me as a hotline and I always pass everything on to Julio, with the exception of the harshest criticism. I only pass on good things,” he tells F5.

Furthermore, she says, on several occasions, she is kept up to date with the most secret signings or speculated departures before everyone else. “I consider myself a São Paulo fan, I follow all the games and it’s an energy that is contagious. I don’t take a position in the club, but sometimes it does. [Julio] “He tells me when an athlete is going to leave or who might arrive, but I don’t give any advice, I just ask questions. When the last coach was fired, he had already told me,” says Mara, about Thiago Carpini’s resignation from the command, in April.

Her love for São Paulo came from her father. Now, following it more closely, she realizes how fervent the fan’s passion can be. “On Instagram you read everything, praise, criticism, envious people, others who love São Paulo unconditionally. But I’m used to it, I just didn’t imagine it would be so strong.”

Alongside all this, Mara says she tries to put her life in sports aside for a while to spend time with her family and her son, actor Bruno Fagundes, 35, from her previous marriage to Antonio Fagundes, 75. The actress says that one of the most memorable moments in her life as a mother was when he decided to open up and tell her that he is gay.

“As a mother, you have an intuition, but that was never a focus for me. His sexuality doesn’t matter, because the word that governs me is respect. I don’t make value judgments. This revelation was natural. He was a little repressed, he wouldn’t look me in the eyes, it seemed like he was running away, and when he told me, it was a relief for both of us,” she recalls.

“What matters to me is that the person has character, is polite. I’ve never been bothered by two men kissing. Bruno saw that day that he had another ally. But it was difficult for him to work as a soap opera heartthrob, to deal with prejudice. Today he’s better,” he adds.

MUSICAL ABOUT SUSI

In addition to her personal life, her professional life is also busy. Mara is preparing the script for a musical about the doll Susi, who for many years was labeled as Barbie’s ‘Brazilian rival’. At the moment, she is talking to some actors to get the production to premiere in São Paulo after Carnival 2025.

Mara says that Estrela, Susi’s manufacturer, authorized her to use her original name. The play will be called “Susi: Time Runs Out”. “Susi is a Brazilian doll that was representative when it was released, and she brings diversity with her, and she brings up very current issues. In the 1960s, she came with a Brazilian look, with a body that was more similar to that of Brazilians. In the play, I want to talk about the dictatorship of social media, where you need to have aesthetics to be accepted.”