- Actress’s latest role was in the Globo TV novela “Salve Jorge”
Note from BW of Brazil: Back in January of 2012, the blog presented news that actress Neusa Borges had suffered a stroke. The actress would recover and eventually get back to work. Her latest role was in the recent successful Globo TV novela, Salve Jorge. In recent comments, Borges linked her stroke to depression and panic of not being able to secure permanent employment. As this blog has emphasized on numerous occasions the difficulty of being black in a Brazilian media that insists on presenting a white face, one can only wonder how difficult it must be to be an older black actress still trying to make it in this business. We wish Neusa the best of luck as the novela Salve Jorge recently ended two weeks ago.
With no contract, Neusa Borges says she always gets depressed when a novela ends
Neusa Borges, 72, said he is already preparing for the end of Salve Jorge, the Globo network novela (soap opera), in which she plays the gossipy character Diva. This is because, even receiving great reviews for her performances on television, she has no fixed contract with the network.
“Every time a novela ends I get depressed,” she told the Diário de SP paper. “Before finishing A Vida da Gente (2011 novela), I was so desperate that I had a stroke. Despair always hits me.”
“I’m 72, have no health insurance, I have nothing,” he declared. “How many people started after me and ‘suck’ on Globo TV’s tits?”
“I have to work, earn some money and save half of what I get and then I can support my family,” she said.
According to her, the tightest period was after the 2001 novela O Clone (2001).
“I’ve won awards, plaques and was unemployed four years,” she said. “I was hungry, had no money to buy a package of ramen noodles for my daughters.”
“For me, being an artist is like being street sweeper or maid. It’s work!” she compared. “So what do I get for staring at awards at home? Can I go to the supermarket or pharmacy with that? No.”
After the end of Salve Jorge, she says she will spend a season working at her daughters’ thrift store in Salvador, Bahia.
“It’s the only thing I have,” she said. “If anyone remembers that ‘this old lady’ is here with an open mouth waiting for work, I’ll go.”
Source: Folha de S.Paulo
Below is a short video in homage to Neusa Borges put to the music of singer Yzalú. The song is called “Mulheres Negras (Black Women)”.
Homenagem Neusa Borges/ Mulheres Negras by Yzalú
Homage to Neusa Borges/Music: Mulheres Negras (Black Women) by Yzalú
Congratulations to her, on her novella. Creative instincts are a gift from God, and cannot be humbled, and never will be.