Actress Isabella Santoni started acting as a child, aged 7; but it was only at the age of 15, after completing a summer course at Casa das Artes de Laranjeiras, that she was certain that she would follow the path of art in her professional life. Ever dedicated, she started doing modeling work to pay for a few more acting lessons.
At age 18, she made her big screen debut as Bel in the independent feature film “Visceral”, directed by Thomas Vannucci. In the same year, she participated in the webseries “Lindas e Tensas” and joined Unirio (Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro) to study performing arts.
After reconciling her studies with her profession, Isabella was cast for the lead role in the episode “Laura, A Filha Fiel” of the second season of the series “As Canalhas” (GNT), directed by director of photography Vicente Amorim. She was then approved for a role that has already led her to stardom: the warrior Karina in the soap opera “Malhação Sonhos” (Globo). The character earned her several awards, including National Actress at the Capricho Award, Revelation of the Year at the Trofé Imprensa and Best New Actress at Globo’s Melhores do Ano. In 2014, she also participated in the web series “Curriculum Vitae: Live the Best Years of Your Life”.
The artist switched leading roles in productions well received by the general public and critics, and appeared in a special way in the miniseries “Ligações Perigosas” (Globo), where he played the young version of the main character Isabel played by Patrícia Pilar. Santoni debuted professionally in theaters and returned to acting alongside Bruna Hamú, who played her sister in “Malhação”, starred in the musical “Cinco Julias” directed by Matheus Souza, responsible for the script for “Confissões de Jovens”. In addition to the first play, 2016 also brought the actress’ debut in prime time, playing Letícia in the second phase of the soap opera “A Lei do Amor” (Globo). In the plot, the character who overcame leukemia is the daughter of Cláudie Abreu and Reynaldo Gianecchini.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Isabella participated in the web series “Quarentenados” and launched her swimwear brand “NIA” in December 2020, after business classes and mentoring. With it, the businesswoman emphasizes the importance of diversity, not only does she make PP XG pieces available, but also has plural women in her campaigns, so far black, white, yellow, trans and with vitiligo.
Divided between the NIA brand and her acting career, Isabella, who speaks fluent English, started Spanish classes in 2022. In the middle of the same year, the artist was also confirmed in the fourth season of “A División”, by Globoplay. As if that were not enough, the series “Dom”, which features Isabella as Viviane, had the launch of the second season announced for March 2023, as well as a third season already confirmed. Check out the interview!
With a quick search in your biography, it was possible to see that since you were a little girl your parents already supported you in the artistic universe, however, I would like to ask from your point of view, how did art come to you?
It arrived first for the playful part, for the “joke” that was doing theater as a child and it won me over in adolescence for the discoveries that generated me. At the age of 16, when pressure from the school to choose a profession began, I asked to do theater professionally. Since it was to choose an area that you loved, I chose Art.
Right at the beginning of her career in 2013, her first character was already that of a protagonist, Bel from the feature film “Visceral”. What was it like to kick-start a character of such prominence? Does playing a leading role or a secondary role really make a difference in the pressure an actor feels?
I work and give myself the same way whether I’m the main character or not, that is until today, so in that sense there’s not much difference. Playing the protagonist ends up being easier for the process of building the character because you have more data about his life, you already have relationships with others and the past is generally explained. Although you have more scenes and conflicts to study. When the character is secondary, you need to create everything from the past for that life to become real. About Bel, it was crazy. It was the first time, so everything was very new. I didn’t have the slightest notion of how a set worked, the size of the crew and what a shooting routine was like. It was all a great discovery. I really believe that this character came to mature me so that I could get the roles I got afterwards. Laura from the series As Canalhas on GNT, and Karina from Malhação Sonhos.
A job that gave her a lot of repercussions and at the same time made her almost give up on her acting career after several rejections in tests was “Malhação” back in 2014. What were those selection processes like and what did this soap opera mean to you? today?
The process of Malhação Sonhos was different from the other seasons that I had been tested. We had a pre-selection and a workshop with the possible actors who would do the season, it was a week of activities where we can be seen and tested. This soap opera represents a dream, the name is not for nothing. I consider it as the beginning of everything and I have a huge affection for this period of my life.
Still on this edition of Malhação, the muay thai fighter Karina gave you a lot of work, mainly for the physical preparation of gaining three kilos to interpret her. A reference only to an excerpt from Raul Seixas, what was the most difficult metamorphosis you had to go through to reach a character?
I don’t remember exactly those 3 kgs, but I do remember that it demanded a great physical preparation for having to learn Muay Thai. I had two months of intense preparation with classes almost every day, it was very tiring. Out of all the characters, the one that demanded the biggest change from me was Letícia from A Lei do Amor. I had to shave my head and I lost a lot of weight to do it, I weighed 44 kg. She was a character who had very fragile health and I ended up exposing my own health by losing so much weight, I had medical follow-up but today I see that it was an exaggeration on my part.
About Karina, in a retrograde world where it is still possible to find machismo even in some sports, it is valuable to be able to use her art to demonstrate on screen the strength that women can represent in different scenarios, as was the case with the arts martial?
Yes, Karina was a very determined girl and she didn’t change her dream because of what her father wanted / expected from her. The characters are a wonderful vehicle to touch these points of society, they end up exposing our behaviors and making us rethink certain attitudes.
The year 2016 was one of its most outstanding years, also due to the fixed debut in prime time on Rede Globo, more precisely the arrival of Letícia in the soap opera “A Lei do Amor” by Maria Adelaide Amaral and Vincent Villari. How was the experience of being in this telenovela?
It was a great challenge, Letícia was the hardest character I’ve ever done, she had a very particular universe and far from mine. I was starting and I was next to actors that I grew up watching on television, so there was a lot of tension on my side.
Still in 2016, you returned to the stage playing the 5th Júlia in the play “Cinco Júlias”. We know that theater, cinema and television techniques differ a lot, was it pleasant to go back on stage after so many experiences in a row on the small screen?
I debuted on stage with this play, it was my first professional show. What was crazy: doing theater after doing television and with the Malhação audience following along. I remember being sooooo nervous, thinking about giving up several times. It was a two-hour play, a musical, and I was on stage for the first time. I only took pleasure in doing the play after a few presentations, the beginning was all very tense for me.
In 2018, in addition to Charlotte from “Pride and Passion”, it was the turn of the film “Missão Cupido” to hit theaters as a very fun comedy, with Lucas Salles, Agatha Moreira and Thais Belchior as co-stars. How was the relationship with the cast and crew of the project?
It was a very good and peaceful relationship. I made new friends like Lucas Salles, Thais Belchior and Vitor Lamoglia, actors I hadn’t met in person yet. And it was the first time I worked with Ágatha Moreira as an actress, we’ve known each other for years, since the time we were models. The Raccord team was also very helpful throughout the entire process. It is a project that I cherish.
Speaking of current affairs now, let’s talk about “A Division”, one of Globoplay’s breakthrough hits and the third season of the series “Dom” on Amazon Prime Video. What has it been like to live with the undeniable success that these two productions have had and what are the main trivialities that these works have put you to the test?
It is a great pleasure to be part of these projects. Both of them bring up very important issues to be discussed: violence, corruption, structural racism and drug use. I love hearing from people how involved they are and how they rethink certain situations in their lives.
Fans are looking forward to Season 2 of Dom, which premieres in March. Those who were present at CCXP 2022 had the privilege of listening to stories and news from the cast. To instigate more curiosity, what can we expect in the new season and what are the challenges of recording?
I loved having participated in CCXP! In addition to meeting the cast and crew, I could feel the expectations of the public up close. The second season is more intense than the first. Violence, crime and drug use intensify, leaving everything with more adrenaline and even more sad and decadent the whole situation. You can expect to be surprised by the direction of the story, even I was surprised reading the script. There are facts about Dom’s life that have yet to be revealed.
You are the creative director of the bikini brand NIA. What are your challenges and inspirations for the brand building process?
The biggest challenge is to divide my time and organize the routine to dedicate myself equally to each area that I work. Building the brand goes hand in hand with the inspirations that I have in my personal life too, now in women’s month, for example, we are going to address different topics and promote activities with our Oceanic Women (as NIA clients are called) which are experiences that I I’ve lived and I think they will inspire them in some way.
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*With Regina Soares