When director Walter Salles asked Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres to read the script for “I’m Still Here,” she assumed her old friend just wanted a second opinion. In 1999, Torres’ mother, the legendary star Fernanda Montenegro, had been nominated for an Oscar for Salles’ acclaimed film, “La Gare Centrale,” and although Torres had previously starred in the director’s 1995 film, “Foreign Land “, she has more recently been known as a gifted sitcom star. “I thought I was lost for Walter,” says Torres, who was understandably delighted when Salles gave him the lead role of Eunice Paiva, a mother of five whose husband, Rubens, is kidnapped and murdered at the height of of the military dictatorship of Brazil. Eunice puts aside her grief to raise her children, and Torres turns in a moving performance that is both restrained emotion and steely determination. “The fact that he thought of me for a deep drama was an important thing for me.”

“I’m Still Here” is a true story, based on a book by Eunice and Rubens’ son., Marcelo. Was what happened to his father known in Brazil?

We knew the headlines; we knew he was taken away by the police and his body never turned up. But no one knew the details. And Eunice was a totally secondary character. We didn’t know Eunice was such a powerful woman. Imagine that your husband was tortured, killed, cut into pieces or thrown into the sea. But at the same time, she was not allowed to sit, cry or feel sorry for herself. She had children and decided not to tell them what happened. How can you say that to a child? She wanted to save their innocence, their faith in humanity.

Eunice was an elegant stay-at-home mother who became a prominent lawyer and human rights activist. What have you learned from your research about her?

Her interviews were so amazing because she was always polite and sweet. She always had a smile, and at the same time, she was so intelligent, rational, persuasive, very feminine but powerful. And that mix of femininity, delicacy and strength was something I was trying. I’m a lot less elegant than her and I remember Walter telling me: “Don’t forget to smile.” » This was a key element for her.

Growing up, your parents ran a theater company. Do you have any memories of how they were affected by the authoritarian regime?
I remember the fear of censorship. Before the premiere, they had to put on a show for the dictatorship, which could simply ban the play. One of my father’s plays was a musical, a large production that was banned on opening day. I remember my father’s face. Really tense. You could feel the fear. What I remember about the dictatorship is growing up in a closed country. We didn’t communicate with the rest of the world. Then, at the end of the dictatorship, we were bankrupt and the economic crisis began in the 1980s.

How did artists appear at this time?

The art was very alive. Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil returned from exile and offered another type of combat, different from the guerrilla warfare of very young people who take up arms and fight. They discovered Jamaica and Bob Marley, and they came back saying, “Dance, dance, dance.” It was the kind of fight of my generation.

You’ve said that a role like Eunice was a first for you. How so?

Normally as an actress you want to show how much you can cry, scream or be funny. But this character doesn’t like to show off. She hides what she feels. And it was wonderful to discover the power of restraint. I’ve never done a Greek tragedy. So to endure something that is impossible to cope with, to continue, to smile, to fight, to not break – it created such a powerful fire in me, something I had never experienced before.

Fernanda Torres from the film “I’m Still Here”, in Los Angeles.

(Annie Noelker/For Time)

What was the reaction when the film received a 10-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival?

Brazil is such an isolated country because of the language. We are 200 million people who speak Portuguese, surrounded by the ocean and Spanish-speaking countries. In a way, we consume our own culture. We are good with ourselves. But every once in a while, someone does something that gets recognized internationally. This creates great national pride. Walter did it with “Central Station.” And again, with that.

And when it was released in Brazil?

During the pandemic, everyone bought huge TVs and stopped going to the movies. But this movie created an urgency to see what was happening. People were running to the theaters around 2 p.m. on a Tuesday. They discovered that the film was not only a buzz but created a deep feeling. You feel empathy for the family. You understand this part of the story. And this is Brazil. People go to the movies now, and at the end, people stand up and applaud and talk about the movie in homes. It became a fever and it was so beautiful.