People think I choose soap operas because I’m my father’s son, says Bruno Fagundes

Last weekend, Bruno Fagundes, 35, made news because he announced the breakup of an almost two-year relationship with fellow actor Igor Fernandez, 27. The breakup happened in April, and since then he has avoided talking about the relationship. subject, I wanted to keep a low profile. Bruno states that he still hasn’t managed to get used to people’s interest in his privacy.

Nothing is easy in the life of the son of Antonio Fagundes, one of the greatest and most respected artists in the country. Work became rare — whether on stage, in cinema or on TV. “I hope there wasn’t homophobia because they didn’t choose me. It would be absurd”, he tells F5.

Bruno told his parents (and the world) about his sexual orientation in 2022, when he played the toxic Renan in “Cara e Coragem” (Globo). From then on, he didn’t receive any more chances; the invitations disappeared.

He says that the issue is not choosing the dream project — the dream now is to work. “There is no big or small role. It’s funny that people think I choose or not to do a soap opera because I’m Fagundes’ son, and that’s never been true.” Check out excerpts from the interview below.

Are you thinking about returning with the play ‘A Inheritance’, which won several awards?

At this moment, this return is still embryonic. I have the feeling that there was coitus interruptus, if I can use that example. It was a very popular show, we had a lot of spectators in the nine months we were running. There were 13 actors, 27 people in total on the team, coordinated by me and another person. It was a musical structure, but with the money of an alternative play. At the end of 2023, we had to stop.

And now?

We decided that we will only return when we have good funding and sponsorship. But until today I haven’t been able to. Although the Rouanet Law is efficient, it is difficult for the project to be approved, as companies consider pieces of prose that are not blockbusters less interesting. But I don’t give up.

What are your plans for the end of 2024 and the 2025 season?

I will premiere another play in São Paulo in March 2025 called ‘Intervention’, with text by an English author. It will be with Bianca Comparato. For this work, we won’t need a lot of money to fund it, the text is 50 minutes long. It’s about two friends who are in love with each other. It addresses possession, jealousy, limits of a relationship and has other layers. One of them is politics and polarization. It also talks about addiction. In the plot, one helps the other with a big twist at the end.

You recently complained about the lack of opportunities on TV.

What I said was that the market as a whole is scarce, we don’t have a well-defined industry. Streaming is dry, we were impacted by the US strike. I have the impression that the platforms have not reached their potential in Brazil yet. This reduces the possibilities. And on TV we only have Globo practically producing soap operas in a larger volume. If you’re not on Globo, you’re nowhere and that’s cruel. There are no jobs for all of us.

His last soap opera was “Cara e Coragem”. Why didn’t you act more?

I didn’t do any tests this year, 2024, can you believe it? Me and 90% of the actors. Talking to more people, from executive production to [produção] casting, they say everything is a bit at a standstill. That’s why I can’t choose. Any character is a character at this point in the game. There is no big or small role. It’s funny that people think I choose whether or not to do a soap opera because I’m Fagundes’ son and that’s never been true. It’s been a 16-year career. Many assume that I am part of the ‘nepobaby’ phenomenon, but it has never been a reality.

About 2 years ago you came out as gay and, since then, you haven’t acted on TV anymore. Do you think it’s related?

I don’t know, because I am me, I’m just simply living my life, and living fully is not performing a false heteronormativity, a lie. Now, if other people decide not to cast me, that’s a problem with them and, well, a serious problem that should be fixed. But I can’t say, I hope there wasn’t homophobia because they didn’t choose me. It would be absurd.

What was it like for you to reveal your sexual orientation?

This was the agenda of my year in 2023. For you, I will speak about this for the last time, as the subject needs to move. I don’t know of a story that was easy, as we live in a society structured around oppressive thinking. My parents [Antonio Fagundes e Mara Carvalho] They were part of this structure as we all are. Even though they were more open-minded, it was challenging.

What do you remember from that moment?

I had no emotional vocabulary, I was young, 15 years old. Of course it was uncomfortable, I was trying to understand everything myself. There was confusion, fear of rejection, I went through all these common feelings. Not everything was rosy, I didn’t receive immediate approval from them, although today they understand and the wounds have been healed. Since then, our relationship has evolved a lot.

You just said that you ended your relationship with Igor Fernandez. Why did you decide to speak only now?

We finished in April. Once you open up your personal life, you start having to show all the steps. We were very happy during this period and had a wonderful relationship. We didn’t speak beforehand, as we didn’t feel we needed to explain. We’re friends now, rooting for each other.

When you said you had an open relationship, did interest in your life increase?

Yes, I spent the year receiving messages and comments. A lot of people asked why I didn’t post trips with him, but we were never that couple who posted everything. We were discreet, and that’s why it made national news.

Does your private life being ‘news’ bother you?

I confess that I still haven’t gotten used to it, but we simply went about our ride in the way that I consider to be the healthiest, preserving our intimacy. Last weekend I received 14 questions about my relationship and I decided to talk about a time we broke up six months ago. It was even important to not turn it into something else, speculation.