Amor à Vida
Brazil
controversy
Controversy on the set of ‘Amor à Vida’: Marina Ruy Barbosa will eventually not shave her hair, but her character will be killed
2:54 PMUnknown
Young Brazilian actress Marina Ruy Barbosa has been recently
swept up in a controversy concerning whether she’ll be shaving her hair bald
for her role in the prime time telenovela ‘Amor à Vida’. Ruy Barbosa is playing
Nicole, a young heiress who discovers that she has cancer and only a few months
to live. Although she is reluctant at first, she begins her chemotherapy
sessions and starts losing her hair. At this point, according to the original
synopsis that was given to Globo, Nicole will decide to shave her hair bald in
a dramatic scene.
However, with only a few days before actually filming it, it
was reported that Marina was reluctant about making such a drastic move. Her
parents objected to her cutting her hair, and an important hair products
company was waiting for her to turn 18 in order to offer her a big
advertisement deal for hair products (she turned 18 at the end of June). Since
the scene was waiting to be filmed, Marina’s hesitation caused great turmoil on
the set of the telenovela and also online, with many viewers voicing their
divided opinions over the issue: some supported Marina and commented that she
shouldn’t cut all her hair for a secondary character, while others said that
it’s a lack of professionalism and that she should be up to the challenge,
especially since she reportedly accepted to do it before receiving the role.
The issue was debated in an urgent meeting that was held in
the offices of Rede Globo in the presence of directors Mauro Mendonça Filho and
Wolf Maya and Marina, who was accompanied by her mother. In the end, the final
decision was made in favor of Marina by Manoel Martins, director of
entertainment of Rede Globo. He was also the one who had to tell the news to the
show’s main writer Walcyr Carrasco, who was oriented to tell that he changed
his mind because of the strong public opinion against Marina cutting her hair.
He was also instructed to continue writing Nicole’s storyline and not to take
measures that might harm Ruy Barbosa’s character.
Nevertheless, the story took another turn as Carrasco
decided to kill off Nicole in the novela. Although according to the original
synopsis, Nicole is eventually cured from her disease, the character will die
already in the next few weeks in a dramatic scene. When Nicole gets married to
Thales (Ricardo Tozzi), she’ll suddenly pass away in the church. Betrayed by
her husband and best friend Leila (Fernanda Machado), Nicole will return to the
telenovela as a ghost, ‘the woman in white’, in order to avenge Leila and
Thales. By taking such measures Carrasco made very clear how he felt about Marina’s
decision. His reaction was even more emphasized in a scene that will air on
July 22nd, in which Nicole will desist from cutting her hair and will say: “I’m
a coward. I wasn’t brave enough, Thales.
I was afraid of being bald and that you won’t like me anymore.”
