Taiguara Nazareth, 35, the actor who starred in the 2001 miniseries Presença de Anita spoke with the column “Retratos da Vida”, from the newspaper Extra and talked about his career and the difficulties faced by black actors in the television market.
He had just returned from a stint in the US, when he discovered that he had passed an audition for the first and most important role of his career. Acting in Presença de Anita, Taiguara played the role of André, completely nude and next to actress Vera Holtz, one of the hottest scenes in Brazilian television.
At the time, at 24 years of age, the success led to the actor’s participation in the first edition of Casa das Artistas (House of Artists) (1), of the SBT TV network. Even without winning the award, he went on to several projects: theater, movies, commercials, recorded a CD and appeared in some novelas.
“I regret not having been more daring at that time. I thought people might think it was opportunism on my part to come out as a musician, for example. Today, I see that I should have been more opportunistic and capitalized on it,” said the actor, model and athlete.
Taiguara also said he is still struggling to overcome prejudices because of the color of his skin: “It’s hard to find characters that fit my profile. There are many leading men of my height (6’3″ or 1.91m), but black, no. This discourse that the market is heating up for black actors is a lie. Of the men, only Lázaro Ramos (2) is finding success. Even for the women, there’s a bunch of beautiful and talented (actresses) (3). The truth is that being a black actor is difficult.”
Another reason that led the artist to pull away from TV was the distance. “I live in Diadema (4), in São Paulo, (which is a) distance from Rio and I’m far away from the auditions that happen,” he explained, who lives alone in a house close to his retired parents, a soldier and a nurse.
Today, it’s been six years since Taiguara entered politics. This year, he ran for alderman of Diadema, but was defeated at the polls. However the experience gave him the invitation to work in the secretary of sports and culture of the city, a position he assumed in January.
“I will run again, but without leaving my acting career. I have a theater project for next year and I want to continue with my CD (project),” plans the actor, already dreaming of the next election.
But those who think Taiguara is only in the business of politics are mistaken. To supplement his income, he acts as manager for a real estate agent and accepts some modeling gigs. “It was the way I managed to find up my financial independence, as the acting career is difficult. But I will not give up,” he said.
Notes
1. Casas das Artistas was a Brazilian reality show on the SBT TV network between 2001 and 2004 with celebrities (singers, actors and models) competing for the top prize. The first season garnered the largest audience in the history of SBT.
2. Lázaro Ramos is perhaps the most successful current Afro-Brazilian male actor. Having appeared in numerous films and novelas over the past decade, Ramos was the talk of the media in 2011 when he portrayed the character André Gurgel in the Globo TV network novela, Insensato coração. As the rich, famous, women-collecting designer Gurgel, Ramos became the first black ladies/leading man in a Brazilian novela. Ramos is also married to Taís Araújo, Brazil’s most successful black actress.
3. For example, see Camila Pitanga, Sheron Menezes, Taís Araújo, or Juliana Alves
4. Diadema is a Brazilian city in the state of São Paulo. The city is part of the “Greater ABC Region” (some call it the “ABCD” region), the metropolitan region of the city of São Paulo along with the cities Santo André (A), São Bernardo do Campo (B) e São Caetano do Sul. It is located about 12 miles or 19 kilometers southeast of the city of São Paulo
Source: Yahoo TV Brasil
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