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Sônia Braga

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In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Campos and the second or paternal family name is Braga.
Sônia Braga
Braga in 2016
Born
Sônia Maria Campos Braga

(1950-06-08) 8 June 1950 (age 74)
Maringá, Paraná, Brazil
Citizenship
  • Brazil
  • United States
OccupationActress
Years active1967–present
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1970; sep. 1976)​
Antônio Guerreiro
​
​
(m. 1980; div. 1988)​
RelativesAlice Braga (niece)

Sônia Maria Campos Braga (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈsonjɐ maˈɾi.ɐ ˈkɐ̃puz ˈbɾaɡɐ]; born 8 June 1950) is a Brazilian actress. She is known in the English-speaking world for her Golden Globe Award–nominated performances in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) and Moon over Parador (1988). She also received a BAFTA Award nomination in 1981 for Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (first released in 1976). For the 1994 television film The Burning Season, she was nominated for an Emmy Award and a third Golden Globe Award. Her other television and film credits include The Cosby Show (1986), The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), The Rookie (1990), Angel Eyes (2001), Sex and the City (2001), American Family (2002), Alias (2005), Aquarius (2016), Bacurau (2019), and Fatima (2020).[1] In 2020, The New York Times ranked her #24 in its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.[2]

Early life

[edit]

Sônia Braga was born on June 8, 1950,[3] She is daughter of Afro Brazilian[4] Hélio Fernando Ferraz Braga and Maria Braga Jaci Campos, a costume designer from Maringá.[5] Sônia's siblings are Júlio, Ana, Hélio, and Maria. Sônia is the aunt of Alice Braga, an actress. Her parents and her four siblings moved to Curitiba and then to Campinas, São Paulo. When Braga was 8 years old, her father died, and she attended a convent school in São Paulo.

Career

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In her teens, she took a job as a receptionist and typist at Buffet Torres, a wedding reception and event catering company in São Paulo.[6]

Her brother Hélio presented the TV Tupi children's show Jardim Encantado. At age 14, Braga was invited by director Vicente Sesso to play small roles in children's programs and teleteatros on TV Tupi, including Jardim Encantado.[7] Braga then joined a theater group in Santo André, in the ABC region.[8] At 17, she debuted in the play George Dandin in Santo André.

In 1968, she was cast in the first Brazilian production of the musical Hair.[9] Sônia was, at first, turned down by director Ademar Guerra [pt], but at the insistence of producer/actor Altair Lima [pt], she joined Antônio Fagundes, Ney Latorraca, and the rest of the cast. Despite Institutional Act No. 5 being enacted by the dictatorship in Brazil, the musical ran for 3 years.[10] In 1977, Caetano Veloso wrote the song Tigresa in tribute to her: “She tells me she was an actress and worked on Hair. With some men she was happy, with others she was a woman”...[10]

In 1968, Braga was in the film O Bandido da Luz Vermelha. In 1969, she was invited to perform in A Menina do Veleiro Azul, a soap opera produced by TV Excelsior, but the network closed before the soap opera aired. In 1970, Braga was invited to join the cast of Irmãos Coragem, a soap opera written by Janete Clair, which aired on Rede Globo. Also in the early 1970s, she appeared in supporting roles in the films A Moreninha [pt] and Cléo e Daniel.[9] Despite the success on stage and acting in soap operas, it was in the children's television series Vila Sésamo, broadcast in 1972, that Braga became a household name.[11]

In 1975, Braga starred in the telenovela Gabriela, an adaptation of Jorge Amado's novel Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon. Directed by Walter Avancini, the soap opera was a great national and international success, establishing her as a sex symbol. Braga returned to embody another Jorge Amado character, starring in the 1976 film Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands directed by Bruno Barreto, alongside José Wilker and Mauro Mendonça. The romantic comedy was a box office hit in Brazilian cinemas and also received major recognition internationally. In 1983, she starred in the film Gabriela, alongside Marcello Mastroianni.[12]

In 1976, Braga participated in the cast of Saramandaia. The following year she starred in Espelho Mágico as Cynthia Levy. One of the highlights of the soundtrack of the soap opera is the cover version that Gal Costa recorded of Tigresa, music that Caetano Veloso composed in honor of Braga. In the late 1970s, Braga gave life to another renowned character in Brazilian television, Julia Matos in Dancin' Days (1978). In the storyline, Braga played an ex-convict who gets out of prison ready to win back the love of her daughter, played by Gloria Pires. In 1979, Braga performed in children's theater in the play No País dos Prequetés. The following year she returned to television in the telenovela Chega Mais alongside Tony Ramos.

In the early 1980s, Braga, who had already made films like Lady on the Bus (1978), decided to devote herself exclusively to the movies. In 1981, she starred in Eu Te Amo directed by Arnaldo Jabor, and won the best actress award at the Gramado Film Festival. She starred in the movie Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) alongside William Hurt and Raul Julia.[13] Her role led to a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actress and its success led to her international work.[14] She decided to leave Brazil for a career in the United States, where she lived for 14 years. In 2003, she obtained American citizenship.[15]

Melanie Griffith, Robert Redford and Braga promoting The Milagro Beanfield War at the Cannes Film Festival in 1988

Braga was the first Brazilian to present a category at the Oscars. She was announced by Goldie Hawn as one of the most glamorous actresses in the world, before appearing with Michael Douglas, who announced the result of the best short film.[16] Braga competed for many prestigious awards in the United States. For her performance in The Burning Season (1994) she was nominated for the third time for the Golden Globe for best supporting actress. In 1995, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for The Burning Season, but lost to Shirley Knight.[17] The film details the life of Brazilian activist Chico Mendes.[18] In 1996, she won the Lone Star Film & Television Award for best supporting actress for her work in Streets of Laredo directed by Joseph Sargent. That same year, director Nicolas Roeg offered her the lead role in the film Two Deaths alongside Patrick Malahide. Braga also had the lead in Tieta of Agreste (1996), directed by Carlos Diegues.

In 1999, after nearly 20 years away from Brazilian television, the actress made a cameo in the first 15 chapters of the soap opera Força de um Desejo (1999), by Gilberto Braga and Alcides Nogueira, in the role of Helena Silveira, mother of characters Fábio Assunção and Selton Mello. In 2001, she joined the cast of Memórias Póstumas directed by André Klotzel, based on The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas by Machado de Assis. For her performance in this film, she won the Kikito award for best supporting actress at the Gramado Film Festival.[19]

In 2001 Braga appeared in Angel Eyes, a romantic drama film directed by Luis Mandoki and starring Jennifer Lopez. In 2002, she appeared in American Family, a PBS series created by Gregory Nava that follows the lives of a Latino family in Los Angeles.[20] In 2006, she returned to work in Globo's telenovela Páginas da Vida, playing sculptor Tônia. In 2010, she starred in the episode "A Adultera da Urca" of the miniseries As Cariocas, and in 2011, made a cameo in Tapas & Beijos.[21]

Braga had a recurring role as Lorraine Correia in the sixth season of the series Royal Pains. Braga's scenes were filmed on location in Mexico and her episodes were aired in August 2014.[22] In 2016, she appeared in Netflix's Marvel show Luke Cage as Rosario Dawson's mother.[23]

Braga received positive reviews for her film Aquarius when it premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Braga plays a widow and retired music writer who lives in the titular apartment complex and refuses to leave when developers offer her a buy-out. Though the film did not earn an Oscar nomination for Braga, it did contend for Best Foreign Film at France's Cesar Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards. She ranked in the top five in IndieWire's 2016 critics' poll for Academy Award for Best Actress. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her #24 in its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.[24]

Personal life

[edit]

Braga is a naturalized American, living since 1990 in New York City,[25] while also having two homes in Brazil, an apartment in Rio de Janeiro and a beach house in Niterói.[26]

Braga was married twice: first to fellow actor Arduíno Colassanti from 1970 to 1976,[27] and then to photographer Antônio Guerreiro [pt] from 1980 to 1988.[28]

During the 1980s, Braga also had a relationship with actor Robert Redford,[29] She then had a relationship with Pat Metheny,[30] and with singer Caetano Veloso, who wrote the songs “Tigresa” and “Trem das Cores” based on her.[31]

In August 2016, Braga revealed in an interview with the Brazilian Elle that she never intended to have children due to professional ambitions. She went through four abortions, the first after her first sexual relationship at the age of 17 that led to a strong hemorrhage followed by a uterine infection that nearly killed her.[32]

Filmography

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Film

[edit]
Year Film Role Notes
1968 The Red Light Bandit Victim
1970 Cleo e Daniel Sandra
1970 A Moreninha Carolina
1971 O Capitão Bandeira Contra o Dr. Moura Brasil Boy
1973 Mestiça, a Escrava Indomável Mestiça
1975 O Casal Maria Lúcia
1976 Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands Dona Flor (Florípides) Guimarães
1978 Lady on the Bus Solange
1981 I Love You Maria
1983 Gabriela, Cravo e Canela Gabriela
1985 Kiss of the Spider Woman Leni Lamaison / Marta / Spider Woman
1988 The Milagro Beanfield War Ruby Archuleta
1988 Moon over Parador Madonna Mendez
1990 The Rookie Liesl
1993 Roosters Juana Morales
1994 The Burning Season Regina de Carvalho
1995 Two Deaths Ana Puscasu
1996 Tieta do Agreste Tieta
1999 From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter Quixtla
2001 Perfume Irene Mancini
2001 Memórias Póstumas Marcela
2001 Angel Eyes Josephine Pogue
2002 Empire Iris
2003 Testosterone Mrs. Alesandro
2004 Amália Traïda Amália Rodrigues Short
2004 Scene Stealers Celia Crouch
2005 Che Guevara Celia[33]
2005 Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School Tina
2006 Sea of Dreams Nurka
2006 Bordertown Teresa Casillas
2006 The Hottest State Mrs. Garcia
2010 An Invisible Sign Mom
2010 Lope Paquita
2012 The Wine of Summer Eliza
2016 Aquarius Dona Clara
2017 Wonder Lisa "Grans" Minel
2019 Bacurau Domingas
2019 The Jesus Rolls Mother
2020 Fatima Sister Lúcia
2022 Shotgun Wedding Renata Ortiz
2024 The First Omen Silvia

Television

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1969 A Menina do Veleiro Azul Telenovela
1970 Irmãos Coragem Lídia Siqueira Telenovela
1972 Vila Sésamo Ana Maria Brazilian TV series
1972 Selva de Pedra Flávia Telenovela
1972 Somos Todos do Jardim de Infância TV movie
1974 Fogo sobre Terra Brisa Telenovela
1975 Gabriela Gabriela Telenovela
1976 Saramandaia Marcina Telenovela
1977 Espelho Mágico Camila/Cinthia Levy Telenovela
1978 Dancin' Days Júlia de Souza Matos Telenovela
1980 Chega Mais Gelly Telenovela
1986 The Cosby Show Anna Maria Westlake 2 episodes
1987 The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains Emily Del Pino Pacheco TV movie
1991 The Last Prostitute Loah TV movie
1992 Tales from the Crypt Sophie Wagner 1 episode: ("This'll Kill Ya")
1994 The Burning Season Regina de Carvalho TV movie
1995 Streets of Laredo Maria Garza Miniseries
1995 Moses Sephora TV movie
1998 Money Play$ Irene TV movie
1998 Four Corners Carlota Alvarez
1998 A Will of Their Own Jessie Lopez De La Cruz Miniseries
1999 Força de um Desejo Baroness Helena Menezes de Albuquerque Silveira Sobral Telenovela
2000 Family Law Beatrice Valdez 1 episode: ("Echoes")
2001 The Judge Lily Acosta TV movie
2001 Sex and the City Maria Diega Reyes 3 episodes
2002 American Family Berta Gonzalez 11 episodes
2002 George Lopez Emilina Palmero 1 episode: ("Meet the Cuban Parents")
2003 Law & Order Helen 1 episode: ("Genius")
2005 CSI: Miami Dona Marta Cruz 1 episode: ("Identity")
2005 Alias Elena Derevko / Sophia Vargas 5 episodes
2005 Ghost Whisperer Estella de la Costa 1 episode: ("Shadow Boxer")
2006 Páginas da Vida Tônia (Antônia Werneck) Telenovela
2007 Donas de Casa Desesperadas [pt] Alice Monteiro Brazilian TV series
2010 As Cariocas Julia 1 episode: ("A Adúltera da Urca")
2010 Brothers and Sisters Gabriela 2 episodes
2011 Tapas & Beijos Helô Siqueira Episode: ("A Bolsa do Camelô")
2013 Meddling Mom Carmen Vega TV movie
2014 Royal Pains Lorena Correia Season 6[34]
Warehouse 13 Alicia Season 5, Episode 4 ("Savage Seduction")[35]
2016 Luke Cage Soledad Temple Netflix series

Awards and nominations

[edit]
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Sônia Braga

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Sonia Braga to Guest Star on USA's 'Royal Pains' (Exclusive)". Jethro Nededog. 4 August 2014. p. TheWrap-Covering Hollywood. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  2. ^ Dargis, Manohla; Scott, A.O. (25 November 2020). "The 25 greatest actors of the 21st century (so far)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Sonia Braga". Filmbug.com. 11 August 2002. Archived from the original on 26 August 2003. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Ebony". Johnson Publishing Company. February 1991.
  5. ^ Singal, Ruvin (27 July 2010). "Sônia Braga". Celebridades : Onde Anda Você?. DestaqueSP. Archived from the original on 27 December 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2021. She started her career in children's theater. And at just 15 years old, she was hired by the extinct TV Tupi to present the children's program "Jardim Encantado". At 18, she participated in the play "Hair", a landmark on the Brazilian stage...Then, she was hired by TV Globo to be part of the cast of the soap opera "Irmãos Coragem". One of her most outstanding works on television was the children's educational program "Vila Sésamo", in 1972, where she played the teacher Ana Maria. She did this work at the invitation of her friend, also actor Armando Bógus.
  6. ^ Eliane Trinidade (11 July 2010). "Sônia se despe do glamour de Hollywood". Folha de S.Paulo. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2014. "Sonia was a thin child and had huge eyes", says her brother Hélio Braga, artist and actor, who took her to the world of arts. He played a prince and she, one of the princesses, in the program "Jardim Encantado" on TV Tupi... She lost her father at age eight. Widowed and with seven children, her mother became a cashier at a gas station.... "I would wake up at 5 am, go to school, leave my two little brothers at the nursery, clean the house and then do my homework."...She decided to go to work, as her older brothers already did. A cousin found her a job at the traditional Buffet Torres in São Paulo, where she was a receptionist and typed budgets...At one of the buffet fashion shows, she met a makeup artist who took her to a model audition... Ronnie Von, the prince of the young guard, stopped to watch the rehearsal of that interesting girl with dark circles under her eyes...The photo of the two came out in a magazine...She was working hard as a secretary in a law firm, when director and translator José Rubens Siqueira called her to make the short film "Attention, Danger" in 1967...As Sonia lived far away, in Butantã, she lived in her friend's apartment in the Copan building, in downtown São Paulo. "I remember her posing nude for me in the kitchen, while my wife was making cassava soup," says the director...Back in 1967, Sonia was part of the director Heleny Guariba's troupe and went to play engaged theater at ABC. The director is part of the list of political disappeared from the military dictatorship... José Rubens encouraged her to audition for the musical "Hair". She wasn't chosen right away. Ademar Guerra, the director, was adamant about the 18-year-old aspiring who danced well but didn't sing...The director of the Brazilian production of the controversial show was persuaded to cast it...As soon as the musical arrived in Rio, she was asked by Daniel Filho for a role in "Irmãos Coragem", on Globo...With Arduino Colassanti, the leading man of the new cinema, she escaped to live an idyllic passion at the taste of the waves, when she starts the Rio chapter of her biography...Soon after, she was called to play the character of Jorge Amado on TV. "Gabriela" (1975) is the expression of a sensuality sung in prose and verse.
  7. ^ "Sônia Braga". Memória (in Brazilian Portuguese). Globo Comunicações e Participações S.A. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2021. Com um ano de idade, mudou-se para Curitiba com os pais e os sete irmãos. Em seguida, a família foi para Campinas e, depois, para São Paulo. Aos 14 anos, começou a fazer pequenos papéis em programas e teleteatros infanto-juvenis na TV Tupi. Um desses programas era o Jardim Encantado, apresentado por seu irmão Hélio. Em seguida, integrou um grupo teatral que se apresentava na região do ABC e ficou um ano em Santo André.
  8. ^ "Sônia Braga". Memoria Globo. 2013. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  9. ^ a b João Rocha. "Sônia Braga". Sônia Braga Online. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  10. ^ a b Santos, Esmeralda (8 June 2020). ""Vim ao mundo para apimentar histórias": Sônia Braga completa 70 anos". CLAUDIA (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021. Completando seus 70 anos hoje, dia 8 de junho, a multitalentosa nasceu em Maringá, mas seus pais Hélio e Maria Braga e os quatro irmãos mudaram-se para Curitiba e depois Campinas, em São Paulo. Foi no programa juvenil Jardim Encantado com apenas 14 anos que Sônia Braga começou seus trabalhos dentro da televisão. A arte a chamou com muito mais força e depois da sua passagem nos programas da TV Tupi, Sônia ingressou no grupo teatral que realizava apresentações na região do ABC, Santo André, em São Paulo. Um de seus mais brilhantes e barulhentos papeis ainda no teatro, foi com o musical da Broadway "Hair – The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical Smash", que levava para os palcos questões raciais, a nudez, liberdade sexual e a guerra às drogas. No brasil iniciava um dos mais sombrios e complexos momentos – em 1968 foi decretado o Ato Institucional nº 5, comumente conhecido como AI-5, um marco que inaugurava a transição que instaurou a ditadura no país.
  11. ^ Rose Saconi (11 October 2012). "Vila Sésamo marcou uma geração de brasileiros". O Estado de S. Paulo. Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  12. ^ Marcelo Miranda (25 June 2012). "A Gabriela de Sônia Braga volta às locadoras e lojas de DVD". Pipoca Moderna. Archived from the original on 8 June 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  13. ^ Roderick Mann (18 August 1985). "Sonia Braga: Bouquets for a Brazilian Bombshell". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  14. ^ Multicultural America: An Encyclopedia of the Newest Americans
  15. ^ "Sônia Braga, atriz latina pioneira nos EUA". Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  16. ^ [1] Archived 23 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine 'Braga was the first Brazilian presenter at the Oscars.'
  17. ^ "Lista completa dos indicados ao Emmy 2013 – Séries e Minisséries". Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  18. ^ [2] Archived 29 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine Primetime Emmy® Award Database @ Emmys.com. Retrieved 20 March 2011
  19. ^ ""Memórias Póstumas' vence o 29º Festival de Gramado"". 12 August 2001. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  20. ^ Teté Ribeiro (6 May 2002). "Falta de imaginação domina cinema atual, diz Sonia Braga". BBC Brasil. Archived from the original on 17 August 2003. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  21. ^ "Sônia Braga faz aparição em 'Tapas & Beijos' em papel de celebridade". O Estado de S. Paulo. 15 May 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  22. ^ Jethro Nededog (4 August 2014). "Sonia Braga to Guest Star on USA's 'Royal Pains' (Exclusive)". thewrap.com/. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  23. ^ ""Sonia Braga Joins the Netflix Original Series 'Marvel's Luke Cage'"". Archived from the original on 27 November 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  24. ^ Dargis, Manohla; Scott, A.O. (25 November 2020). "The 25 greatest actors of the 21st century (so far)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  25. ^ "Sônia Braga é cidadã americana". Diário OnLine. 15 July 2003. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  26. ^ Lu Lacerda (25 August 2016). "Sônia Braga se sentiu em casa na estreia de 'Aquarius' em Niterói". iG. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  27. ^ "Ator Arduíno Colassanti morre aos 78 anos, em Niterói, RJ". Globo.com. 23 February 2014. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  28. ^ Agência Estado (28 December 2019). "Morre, aos 72 anos, Antonio Guerreiro, o fotógrafo das estrelas". Correio Braziliense. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  29. ^ "Sonia Braga: Biography". Movies. Yahoo!. Baseline StudioSystems and AllMovie. Archived from the original on 14 May 2006. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  30. ^ "Pat Metheny fala sobre relação com a ex-namorada Sônia Braga: 'Vou amá-la para sempre'". TV Globo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 7 June 2021. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  31. ^ "É fã da bela Sônia Braga? Descubra curiosidades sobre a atriz brasileira". Rede Globo. 15 August 2012. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  32. ^ "Sonia Braga admite abortos e fala sobre processo que moveu contra a Globo". Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  33. ^ [3] Archived 4 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine IMDB, Che Guevara (2005), full cast
  34. ^ "Sonia Braga participará da série Royal Pains". Pipoca Moderna. 5 August 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014.
  35. ^ "Sonia Braga: dia de vernissage em NY". Caras magazine. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
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