{"id":522333,"date":"2026-03-14T02:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T02:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/522333\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T02:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T02:23:11","slug":"in-brazil-the-tv-studio-rivals-the-silver-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/522333\/","title":{"rendered":"In Brazil, the TV studio rivals the silver screen"},"content":{"rendered":"

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) \u2014 Hollywood actors might rule the silver screen \u2014 as Sunday\u2019s Academy Awards<\/a> are poised to prove \u2014 but Brazil\u2019s path to stardom often starts under the bright lights of a TV studio rather than a sprawling movie set.<\/p>\n

Since at least the 1960s, the telenovelas, Latin American TV series often compared to soap operas<\/a>, produced by Brazil\u2019s 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\u2019s 213 million people every week.<\/p>\n

Many Brazilian actors associated with Oscar-contending films \u2014 such as \u201cCentral Station\u201d (1998), \u201cI\u2019m Still Here\u201d<\/a> (2024) and this year\u2019s four-category nominee \u201cThe Secret Agent\u201d<\/a> \u2014 first became household names via TV Globo. Actors like Wagner Moura and Fernanda Torres gained broad national visibility through telenovelas.<\/p>\n

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 telenovelas, and then on to movies again. <\/p>\n

Telenovelas fuel fame<\/p>\n

Moura, the lead actor in \u201cThe Secret Agent,\u201d starred in the telenovela \u201cA Lua Me Disse\u201d (The Moon told Me) 21 years ago. Similarly, Fernanda Torres, the star of \u201cI\u2019m Still Here,\u201d which won Brazil\u2019s first best international feature Oscar<\/a>, was already a beloved actor due to two major TV Globo comedic series that many in the public see as telenovelas.<\/p>\n

\u201cGlobo\u2019s telenovelas are key for Brazil\u2019s audiovisual production,\u201d said Amauri Soares, director of TV Globo and Globo Studios, hailing them as \u201ca continuous platform of creation and production of content.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018The Secret Agent\u2019 has actors and staffers who worked at Globo, who will work at Globo again and the film itself has Globo investment despite being independent,\u201d Soares said.<\/p>\n

TV Globo broadcasts three telenovelas 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 finale can turn into a national viewing event, with bars, restaurants and gyms airing main episodes.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cVale Tudo\u201d (Anything Goes) reportedly generated over 200 million reais ($38 million) in advertising \u2014 fourfold the global box office of \u201cThe Secret Agent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dozens of actors scouted every year<\/p>\n

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 short series.<\/p>\n

Dira Paes, a veteran actor and one of TV Globo\u2019s frequent pundits during Oscars\u2019 night, notes that Brazil\u2019s telenovelas 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 series,\u201cPantanal\u201d (Wetlands), and in \u201cManas,\u201d a film praised by Julia Roberts<\/a> and Sean Penn.<\/p>\n

\u201cTelenovelas 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,\u201d said Paes, the star of \u201cTres Gracas\u201d (Three Gracas), a show filmed in Rio but set in an impoverished area of Sao Paulo.<\/p>\n

Mauricio Stycer, an author and critic of TV culture, says Brazil\u2019s inequality boosted free TV channels like Globo in a way that reduced the general public\u2019s interest in cinema. Ultimately, he argues, that led to \u201cBrazilian cinema holding a grudge for not having the same reach of telenovelas.\u201d<\/p>\n

TV a \u2018safe haven\u2019 for some actors<\/p>\n

Stycer added that many actors have a Hamletian dilemma whenever recruited for a telenovela.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While rival Brazilian TV networks have tried to challenge Globo\u2019s supremacy in the genre, 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.<\/p>\n

Even so, \u201cGlobo is still Brazil\u2019s biggest company for actors,\u201d Stycer said. \u201cUp until the year 2000, Globo alone was responsible for about 50% of TV ratings in Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actor and director L\u00e1zaro Ramos first appeared in telenovelas 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\u2019s joyful and sometimes dark personality.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrazilians see themselves in telenovelas, more and more. Our acclaimed writers created many of them based on literature classics,\u201d Ramos said. \u201cThey are an investment in a national voice through characters, language and esthetics that viewers greatly identify with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramos \u2014 a lifelong friend of Moura \u2014 will attend the Academy Awards but will fly back to Brazil soon after to continue working on his new show, \u201cA Nobreza do Amor\u201d (Love\u2019s Nobility).<\/p>\n

For him, the ability to transition between theater, cinema and TV is what keeps Brazilian performers afloat.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn American actor could get $10 million for a film. That\u2019s not the Brazilian reality,\u201d he said. \u201cBut telenovelas are not a lesser product; they are a product of the highest quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) \u2014 Hollywood actors might rule the silver screen \u2014 as Sunday\u2019s Academy Awards are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[47403,941,14271,88,235504,793,32177,3140,235505,25222,206,90136,18598,1505,92,121903,965],"class_list":["post-522333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-academy-awards","tag-brazil","tag-central-america","tag-entertainment","tag-fernanda-torres","tag-general-news","tag-julia-roberts","tag-latin-america","tag-mauricio-stycer","tag-media-and-entertainment-industry","tag-movies","tag-sean-penn","tag-south-america","tag-television","tag-tv","tag-wagner-moura","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}