Brazilian actor Tiago Marques, born in Vitória-ES, studied Dr. Carlos de Campos in SP and is part of the 8th Actors Workshop at the Cesgranrio Cultural Center, selected from over a thousand participants. Among the highlights of the theater are: “[Im]penetrável”, by Adilson Dias, which continues in the national season and was selected for the FETEG festival, in Minas Gerais; The show “A Ver Estrelas”, by João Falcão, directed by Mário Pérsico, in São Paulo; The shows “Brainstorming Anônimos” and “Romeo e Julieta” directed by Bia Oliveira in Rio de Janeiro; In addition to the performance, today it is part of one of the biggest productions of the Passion of Christ in Brazil, which took place in Vassouras-RJ.
He acted on television in 2017 in the soap opera “O Rico e Lázaro” directed by Edgar Miranda. In 2018, he joined the cast of the telenovela “Jesus”, also directed by Edgar Miranda. In cinema, he was part of the cast of short films: “Aqui Não Lugar Não”, directed by Yago Azevedo and Renan Rocha; and “Marina”, a project conceived and written by him and Valentina Bulc, directed by Vitor Cassini, which was selected for several national festivals and in 2019 won the award for best short film at the “Fest & Arte” festival. Check out the interview!
Born in Vitória, Espírito Santo, you graduated from the Dr. Carlos de Campos, in São Paulo, and was soon selected among over a thousand participants for the Eighth Workshop of Actors at the Cesgrnario Cultural Center. I would like to start by asking about what initially attracted you to art and how was the selection at Cesgranrio?
I always found this universe of cinema and television interesting. I was born in Vitória Es and lived there until I was 18. Then I moved to Sorocaba, in the interior of São Paulo. My mother enrolled me in fundec, which is a performing arts workshop. I started having panic attacks and she thought it was a good idea at the time. From then on, I never stopped (laughs). Being part of the workshop was amazing. The first selection takes place over the internet, and those approved take a second face-to-face test. I presented a text of the play that I was showing. At the end of the text the guy asked if I would do an improvisation on top of that story, I got really nervous, it was a text that I had already rehearsed a lot, he proposed that I do an improvisation, I accepted the challenge and it was an incredible experience , I only stayed 2 weeks on the course (laughs) and it was incredible.
Still in season, one of his greatest successes in theater is the show “[Im]penetrável”, which is on display throughout the country and was selected for the FETEG Festival in Minas Gerais. How has the experience of being on the project and working with Adilson Dias in the direction been?
Yes, this show was indeed a new cycle in my maturation as an actor, producer and artist in general. The process took over a year. We didn’t have a fixed place, so we rehearsed wherever we could. We rehearsed on the beach, on the street, at home, in some people’s apartments (laughs), Bia Oliveira, my teacher, director, and great friend, gave us the space where she taught so that we could rehearse, it was a very challenging process and helped us in the growth of everyone involved. It was a very good experience. Adilson is part of a very important theater group in Brasília called Teatro do Concrete. He also teaches theater at an NGO in Brasília, I had the opportunity to go there and get to know the space and the group of young students. Without a doubt, it was an incredible experience.
In addition to “[Im]penetrável”, you also starred in projects such as “A Ver Estrelas”, “Brainstorming Anônimos” and “Romeo and Juliet”. Evaluating your career, who do you believe was the character that gave you the most trouble on stage?
Everyone (laughs)! Each character is a new challenge. As obvious as it may be, when you start studying you discover layers, and each layer discovers new things. You discover new things until the last days of the presentation. I believe that what was most challenging was Romeo, because it is a very elaborate play, and it has a very elaborate text. Words I didn’t even know what they meant. We had just over 3 months of rehearsal (laughs). It was quite challenging.
In addition to theater, today you are a member of one of the greatest stagings of the passion of Christ held in Brazil, more specifically in Vassouras, in Rio de Janeiro. How did the opportunity to join this project come about?
I worked with Bia Oliveira on the show, Romeu e Julieta. She was the director of some editions of the passion of Christ. Through her came the invitation to be part of this beautiful project. Every year is pretty exciting!
Still on the biblical theme, in 2017, the public could see the soap opera “O Rico e o Lázaro”, and later, the following year, the soap opera “Jesus” from the same broadcaster. Reincarnating such consecrated moments of biblical stories brings a greater responsibility with the care on screen?
No doubt. When you have a work that is open, you can add, remove, change the order (depending on the screenwriter of course) to make it more natural. In cases of very famous plays and Biblical texts, we need to be careful. These are texts that everyone knows, and if you don’t, you’ve heard them at least once. At these times it is important to follow the text faithfully, so that the audience does not think that we are changing the story.
In cinema, you were part of the cast of the short film “Aqui Não Lugar Não” by directors Yago Azevedo and Renan Rocha. What was it like working with this duo?
It was a very good experience, we recorded it in the college studio. The short tells the story of a young man who is going through existential crises, with one foot in depression. He lives in a black and white world, something really sad.
In partnership with Valentina Bulc, you wrote and idealized the work “Marina”, which was selected for several festivals and received the award for Best Short Film at the Festival “Fest & Arte” in 2019. How was the process of conceiving this work?
Yes, we felt the need to self-produce. We started writing and the text and the story changed a lot in the process. We showed it to a friend who was a director and he was thrilled with the idea. We produced and recorded together with our friend and director Vitor Cassini who passed away last year in a car accident. We recorded and produced the short called Alcateia, during the pandemic. Vitor was one of the key people for both Marina and Alcateia to get off the ground. I am very grateful to have crossed paths with him on this journey.
In the musical universe, he participated in the clip “Você se Enganou”, by the singer Tais Alvarenga and in 2019, he participated in “Mais Amor” by the band Ponto de Equilíbrio. How do you rate your experience in the music industry?
The Tais clip was one of the most beautiful jobs I’ve ever participated in. He is poetic, strong, aggressive, sensitive at the same time. We recorded in 1 day if I’m not mistaken. Phill Mendonça was the director. He left us very free, sometimes we were doing something on the set and when he saw it, he started recording. (laughs)
Phill Mendonça was the one who invited me to the balance point clip with Tati Portella. We stayed 24 hours recording, we took a boat at 5 am in Paraty, and we arrived at 5 am the next day (laughs). Working like this is fun.
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