Brazil's soap opera industry is the secret agent behind powerful films at the Oscars

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Hollywood actors might rule the silver screen — as Sunday’s Academy Awards are poised to prove — but Brazil’s path to stardom often starts under the bright lights of a TV studio rather than a sprawling movie set.

Since at least the 1960s, the telenovelas, or soap operas, produced by the country's leading broadcaster TV Globo have evolved from simple daily dramas into a multi-million-dollar industry with 13 studios, three set towns, 122 edit bays and reaching up to 60 million of Brazil's 213 million people every week.

Many Brazilian actors associated with Oscar-contending films — such as “Central Station” (1998), “I’m Still Here” (2024) and this year’s four-category nominee “The Secret Agent” — first became household names via TV Globo. Actors like Wagner Moura and Fernanda Torres gained broad national visibility through soap operas.

In contrast, Brazil only has about 3,500 movie theaters, mostly located in major cities and where U.S. blockbusters feature prominently. This creates an ecosystem where success on TV may lead to big cinema roles, which then circle back to popular soap operas, and then on to movies again.

Telenovelas fuel fame

Moura, the lead actor in “The Secret Agent," starred in the telenovela “A Lua Me Disse” (The Moon told Me) 21 years ago. Similarly, Fernanda Torres, the star of “I’m Still Here,” which won Brazil’s first best international feature Oscar, was already a beloved actor due to two major TV Globo comedic series that many in the public see as soap operas.

“Globo’s telenovelas are key for Brazil’s audiovisual production," said Amauri Soares, director of TV Globo and Globo Studios, hailing them as “a continuous platform of creation and production of content.”

"‘The Secret Agent’ has actors and staffers who worked at Globo, who will work at Globo again and the film itself has Globo investment despite being independent,” Soares said.

TV Globo broadcasts three soap operas simultaneously from early evening to prime-time. They are produced at studios in Rio de Janeiro and often run for six months from Mondays to Saturdays, involving more than 1,000 people. A telenovela finale can turn into a national viewing event, with bars, restaurants and gyms airing main episodes.

The industry requires adaptability. With some episodes written only days in advance based on audience ratings, telenovelas allow viewers to indirectly co-create the narrative. And their economic impact is powerful: a remake of the hit “Vale Tudo” (Anything Goes) reportedly generated over 200 million reais ($38 million) in advertising — fourfold the global box office of “The Secret Agent.”

Dozens of actors scouted every year

Each year, TV Globo recruits up to 70 new actors from theater, film and regional productions. Soares says they hone their skills with high-end equipment and new techniques for a year. Then many leave for other productions, some just stay at the broadcaster for more soap operas, short series.

Dira Paes, a veteran actor and one of TV Globo’s frequent pundits during Oscars’ night, notes that Brazil’s soap opera and cinema industries are increasingly intertwined, as professionals can move from one to the other to create and also make more money. She was recently in another popular soap opera, “Pantanal” (Wetlands), and in “Manas,” a film praised by Julia Roberts and Sean Penn.

“Soap operas are not only about ratings, but also heart and affection. When you do it on prime-time, you experience the power of an entire nation watching you. When the public loves your character ... it is a very special popularity,” said Paes, the star of “Tres Gracas” (Three Gracas), a soap opera filmed in Rio but set in an impoverished area of Sao Paulo.

Mauricio Stycer, an author and critic of TV culture, says Brazil's inequality boosted free TV channels like Globo in a way that reduced the general public's interest in cinema. Ultimately, he argues, that led to “Brazilian cinema holding a grudge for not having the same reach of soap operas.”

TV a ‘safe haven’ for some actors

Stycer added that many actors have a Hamletian dilemma whenever recruited for a soap opera.

“To be popular and have a sure income every month or to take risks in a career that involves theater and cinema? TV was always a safe haven for most actors,” he said.

While rival Brazilian TV networks have tried to challenge Globo’s soap opera supremacy, few have achieved success. But even TV Globo productions are no longer as dominant as they were up until the early 2010s. And company executives have acknowledged they face growing competition from streaming video.

Even so, “Globo is still Brazil’s biggest company for actors,” Stycer said. “Up until the year 2000, Globo alone was responsible for about 50% of TV ratings in Brazil."

Actor and director Lázaro Ramos first appeared in soap operas after he had kicked off his career in theater and cinema. He says Brazilians have learned to love both telenovelas and films with the same intensity when they succeed in portraying the country’s joyful and sometimes dark personality.

“Brazilians see themselves in telenovelas, more and more. Our acclaimed writers created many of them based on literature classics,” Ramos said. “They are an investment in a national voice through characters, language and esthetics that viewers greatly identify with."

Ramos — a lifelong friend of Moura — will attend the Academy Awards but will fly back to Brazil soon after to continue working on his new soap opera, “A Nobreza do Amor” (Love's Nobility).

For him, the ability to transition between theater, cinema and TV is what keeps Brazilian performers afloat.

“An American actor could get $10 million for a film. That’s not the Brazilian reality,” he said. “But telenovelas are not a lesser product; they are a product of the highest quality.”

---

Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.