Wagner Moura: Best Actor Nominee, “The Secret Agent”
Impact of Oscar Nomimation
Wagner Moura: Best Actor Nominee, “The Secret Agent”
Professionally, this is probably the most recognized moment of my career. But life doesn’t stop. After the nomination I hugged my wife and kids, and then life continued. That’s grounding. This is a beautiful moment, especially because it’s Brazilian film receiving this attention. I’m truly happy. But I’ve been around long enough to understand this isn’t real life. Once the excitement settles, I’m husband and father again.
Making The Secret Agent
It took about 10 weeks. It’s a big production. For Brazil, this is big — about $4 million to $5 million, which for us is huge. It’s like our “Avatar.”
Reaction to Script
What unsettled me was realizing how similar Armando was to me. How I was playing myself. That sounds easy, but it’s not because you’re putting yourself in very vulnerable positions repeatedly. It is me and it is the character, but it’s also something else.
Playing Someone Who Is Not Yourself
We have everything within us. When I played Pablo Escobar, I’m nothing like him, but I am. We can all be mean, greedy and do shitty things. Acting is digging within yourself. We’re capable of beautiful things and evil things. Human beings can be horrible, but they can also be extraordinary. Acting lives in that gray area.
Did you approach Armando first as a political figure or simply as a man trying to survive?
Always as a man. Politics should be the background. People connect to characters, not ideas.
Americans Taking Democracy for Granted
When I was doing “Civil War,” I was constantly thinking about how differently Brazil reacted to our insurrection — in a better way than you guys did, because Brazil was quick to do the right thing and send the message that you can’t mess with democracy. We sent people to jail. Bolsonaro is in jail.
Current Concerns
What concerns me most about mankind nowadays is that there are no facts anymore. Facts don’t matter anymore. We used to fight — left and right — we used to have arguments, but we were fighting over the same thing. Nowadays, it’s not about facts. It’s about versions of the truth.
When art and films step up and do a “fiction,” it might be something that’s more important than reality. Because you watch a movie, go back home and it makes you think about it. I’m increasingly interested in speaking through characters — saying what I need to say through them.
This character couldn’t call attention to himself. He’s in a dictatorship where people would disappear. You can’t call the cops or hire a lawyer. He just wanted to protect his son and survive with his moral values intact. For the character himself, silence was survival.
Violence Restrained
I love that Kleber leaves so many questions unanswered. We don’t know what Dona Sebastiana did in Italy. We don’t know exactly how Armando’s wife died in the film. It makes sense to me that violence is not shown in that way. It’s a film where you never hear the word “dictatorship.” We don’t see any military. And when we see the businessman who is the villain of the film … I had never seen that before, especially in films about dictatorships: The dictatorship was not something the military alone did; it was supported by a huge part of the people, everyday citizens who didn’t want a left-wing president to rule the country.
Brazilians don’t fit Hollywood’s boxes. “Narcos” connected me to a larger Latin identity. I finally felt part of the family. But I feel a responsibility not to reinforce stereotypes.
Typecast after “Narcos”
The amount of offers that I got after “Narcos” to play that exact same thing — I was like, no. I had to say no because it’s a perception of our people. Of course, “Narcos” was a great thing. But I don’t want to keep reinforcing that stereotype. I wanted to play journalists, doctors, engineers — whatever we are. We are the biggest part of this society. I want to go for the same characters that white American actors are going for. I don’t need to play a guy called José. Give me Michael, and guess what? The guy is going to speak just the way I speak, with this accent. Because I represent many people who speak just like me.
Brazilian Cinema Now
What’s happening to this film, especially after what happened with “I’m Still Here,” is amazing. The attention that these Brazilian films are receiving — especially after the far right in Brazil began demonizing artists — is special. And Brazil has a government now that’s friendly to culture, to films. To see Brazilians gathering around cultural films, saying, “These artists represent us,” it’s beautiful. Before, the far right was very efficient in transforming artists into enemies of the people. They were very effective because our films depend a lot on the government’s funding. The far right was efficient in demonizing that and saying we are stealing money from the government. Sound familiar
Americans Misunderstanding of Brazil
The joyful image is accurate: the warmth, the culture, the music, the food — the best fucking food. But Brazil was also the last country to abolish slavery. Inequality is massive. Power is concentrated. Brazil is complex. As [“Girl From Ipanema” composer] Tom Jobim said, Brazil is not for beginners. Bolsonaro didn’t come from nowhere — he reflects the country, just as Trump reflects America.
Sense of Self
Calm down. Relax. Keep being true to yourself. I’m about to be 50 this year, and soon my sons are going to go to college. I want to get closer to affection, to love — especially while not living in Brazil right now.
Goals as Artist
I want to keep working with great directors. I would love to work with Paul Thomas Anderson. I would love to be in a film directed by Martin Scorsese. I want to have lunch with Leonardo DiCaprio, who is around my age. These are things that I hope this nomination will facilitate — the access to directors and artists like those. If this nomination brings me anything, it’s that — being considered. That would be enough.
Hopes for Future?
The killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis felt like one of those “What the fuck?” moments that should wake people up. But at the same time, I saw reactions saying, “A white person got killed, so now we have to do something,” as if it’s somehow acceptable when immigrants are killed.
I hope we rebuild the bridges between us. Polarization is democracy’s greatest threat. Many people aren’t bad; they’re misinformed. Technology helps science but destroys civic life. Attention spans are gone. Young people are depressed. Truth feels over. I hope we find a way back.
