Giulia Bertolli on her mother, Lilia Cabral: ‘I learn from her every day’

In testimony to Martha Alves

“My mother, Lilia Cabral, has always been very honest with me about everything. When I decided to be an actress, she asked me: ‘Do you want a career or fame? theater, soap operas, cinema. You have to find a way to feed yourself on all kinds of art, commit to it being serious. It’s different from being famous.’

I tried to follow your advice and now, a few years later, we are playing together for the first time, with the play ‘A Lista’. It’s a project that we were both invited to do remotely during the pandemic to help theater technicians who have become unemployed.

We went to face-to-face in 2021 and we are doing great, with full houses, having a lot of fun. And how much do I learn from her every day? It is impressive because we always say that the text may even be the same, but the play is not. Every presentation is different, it depends on the audience’s response and how you are in the day. We discover new ways of talking and my mother does it with mastery, she has incredible knowledge. I die of pride.

I get a lot of work tips from her, always in a generous and respectful way because, despite being mother and daughter, we have different processes. She is extremely dedicated. If something is not good, she stays there thinking, reflecting and trying to improve until she gets it right. I’m different, I like to come home and think about it a little bit the next day.

We are very good friends, we talk about absolutely everything. My mother gives me a lot of advice, but she has one that I take with me for life: ‘Everything has its time’. She always tells me this and explains that sometimes things just don’t happen because they weren’t meant to be. It doesn’t mean they won’t happen soon or that I won’t make it. It means that this was not the time. I never forget that, it’s another teaching from my mother, who I love so much”.