Fernanda Torres becomes second Brazilian actress nominated for Best Actress Oscar, 26 years after her mother
Fernanda Torres made history on Thursday morning as only the second Brazilian to receive a Best Actress nomination at the Oscars. The I’m Still Here star follows in the footsteps of her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, who was the first to do it in 1999 for Central Station. Walter Salles directed both films.
In I’m Still Here, Torres plays Eunice Paiva, a mother and activist who copes with the forced disappearance of her husband, the dissident politician Rubens Paiva, during Brazil’s military dictatorship. Adapted from Marcelo Rubens Paiva‘s memoir, I’m Still Here earned an additional Oscar bid for Best International Feature.
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In January, Torres stunned pundits by winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Actress, solidifying her status as a serious contender for the Oscars. Montenegro’s portrayal of the older version of Torres’ character in the film adds a sentimental layer to this achievement.
“To have this fairytale of having a movie with both of us, with the probability of another nomination, in a way is to say that art has prevailed,” Torres told Gold Derby last month. “My mother has [taught] me about this profession. She raised me in the theater and now we’ve done something together that, perhaps, will make the same great path. It’s so difficult to do in Brazil due to the language we speak.”
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Torres clinched the Oscar nomination after being snubbed by both the BAFTAs and SAG Awards. This feat has happened five other times in the past five years: Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans in 2023), Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie in 2023), Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers in 2022), Kristen Stewart (Spencer in 2022), and Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday in 2021).
In 1999, Montenegro earned a Best Actress nomination for Central Station after missing the same precursors. In the film, she plays Isadora, a former schoolteacher who writes letters for the illiterate and assists a young boy in searching for his estranged father after his mother’s death. Montenegro lost the Oscar to Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love. Other nominees that year were Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth), Meryl Streep (One True Thing), and Emily Watson (Hilary and Jackie).
This year, Torres will compete against Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez), Mikey Madison (Anora), and Demi Moore (The Substance) at the 97th Academy Awards, which will take place on March 2. The ceremony, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will air on ABC and be live-streamed on Hulu.
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