The articles written by the PÚBLICO Brasil team are written in the variant of the Portuguese language used in Brazil.
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Actress and comedian Cacau Protásio49, will cross the Atlantic with high expectations: “I want a packed house,” he says. There will be four shows in Portugal: on October 30th, at Teatro Villaret, in Lisbon; 31st, at Teatro Osvaldo Azinheira, in Almada; November 1st, at the Francisco de Assis Auditorium, in Porto; and, on the 2nd, at Teatro Afonso Fonseca, in Braga.
It was the unforgettable Zezé, from the soap opera Avenida Brasil, who launched Cacau Protásio to stardom. She became known for her humor, with which she appeared in Zorra Total, Vai que Cola and Sai de Baixo. But, since she began her career as an actress in 2000, she has participated in 19 television programs14 films and 13 plays.
His raw humor, which exposes social inconsistenciesalready has recognition in Brazil. She was nominated three times for awards for best national actress, in ten films she starred in, having won the award for Best New Actress in 2012 and National Highlight in 2013.
What do you expect from shows here in Portugal?
I hope to have a full house. Full house! May people have a lot of fun, may people laugh a lot. I’m really looking forward to this moment.
Is this your first time coming to Portugal?
In Portugal it is the second time. I was very well received. I went before the pandemic, but I don’t remember much. I remember one day I was in a bakery and then the owner of the bakery stood there, looking at me a lot. Then, at the time I was married, and I told my ex-husband that he was looking at me a lot and I felt uncomfortable about that. My husband said: “Cocoa, we don’t owe anything, we’ll buy it, we’ll pay, everything’s fine”. And the owner looking at me, looking at me, looking at me. I said I didn’t want to eat there, I wanted to leave. He said: “We’re going to eat here. We’re going to eat here and you don’t owe anyone anything, okay!” I picked it up, chose it, and when I went to pay, he said: “No need, I’m your fan, I saw Avenida Brasil”. He recognized me and I was happy. If I had known, I would have taken a lot more things because I wasn’t going to pay. It was the first time and I was very welcomed. It was wonderful. Now, my anxiety is much greater.
What do you know about Portugal?
I went to the tourist attractions in Portugal. I went to a place that has a cod cake that has cheese inside, which I wanted to bring to Brazil. I went to the place that sells pastel de Belém. Everywhere I go, I take a bus, a tram or a train and go to the final stop and then come back, because that’s how we get to know the place.
Do you think there will be more Brazilians or Portuguese at shows in Portugal?
I think both. I think it will be half and half. I know there will be a lot of Brazilians, but I think there will be Portuguese too.
How is your calendar in Portugal?
Let me see here because I don’t know where I’m going now. Now let me put on my glasses so I can see here. I don’t keep anything. Thank God, I’m a text saver. The rest, I don’t keep anything. I’m going to do it on the 30th Lisbon, 31st Almada, 1st Porto and 2nd Braga.
Are you going to do these shows and then go straight back to Brazil or go to other places?
I’ll go back. I’m going to Brazil to record a feature film.
What movie?
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you anything about this film. It’s a secret. I can’t talk. I was invited at the last minute because it wasn’t even supposed to be me. It would be another actress. And then, this film is still hidden. I can’t say, but it will be in São Paulo.
Thinking about other countries, where would you like to perform besides Portugal and Brazil?
My dream is to perform all over the world. I wanted the world to know me. I wanted everyone to know me. Brazilians see us on the Internet, on YouTube, on television, but I wanted to be close to them everywhere in the world, close to all the people who could see and understand my story. I know that, for example, in the United States, I couldn’t introduce myself to foreigners, because I don’t speak English, our jokes are very different and I don’t think people would understand. But I wanted everyone to know who I am.
But in the United States there are 2.5 million Brazilians.
Yes, but I wanted to introduce myself to Brazilians and Americans too, and I think that’s a little impossible. But I dream. I play for the universe, God will answer me.
On television, you started in 2012 with the soap opera Avenida Brasil, right?
No. Before that I did a soap opera called Tititi, which was a remake. Then, I didn’t have that much projection. People who knew me, my family, saw me on TV, but I didn’t have much projection. It was Avenida Brasil that took me to the world, when I had the opportunity to be known, to be seen and people could get to know my work.
What has changed since then?
Our! A lot. I went to sleep Anna Cláudia and woke up Cacau Protásio. I slept as an individual, I woke up as a legal entity. This is very crazy. When we become famous, we don’t know what’s going to happen, we don’t know what to expect. To this day I don’t know what awaits me, what will happen. I live one day at a time. I am very grateful for that. I am very devoted to God. There are people who ask: did you expect to be famous? No. Did you expect to be recognized? No! Did you expect everything that happens in your life? No! Things happen, I live and enjoy this moment, but waiting, we don’t wait, we dream. It’s very crazy. Before Avenida Brasil, I rode the bus, went out on the street, and everything was fine. Now, it’s different, Brazil knows me and it’s very rewarding. I am very happy for this, for the recognition of my work.
And what happens when you go out on the street?
People ask for photos, they ask to talk, they ask for hugs, people cry. At first, I was scared because I didn’t know how to deal. Today, I hug. And people cry and say: you got me out of depression, you got me out of a difficult time in my life. When people ask me what my profession is, I say I’m a doctor and I’m an actress. Because sometimes a lot of people tell us comedians that we cured someone. So, I’m a laughter doctor. I say that I am a doctor of laughter, but the real healer, in my opinion, is God, who lent me this gift to use here on Earth.
Going back even further, you dropped out of your pedagogy course to become an actress.
One day, I was in class, and I kept asking myself what I was doing there. At first, I liked it, I took the normal course. I taught children from kindergarten to fourth grade. Then, one day, I asked myself what I was doing there and, out of nowhere, I went to take a theater course. I saw a theater school in the newspaper, I went there the other day and signed up. I left teaching and went to theater. At my first performance, I left, I left crying. I said I would never go back, that it wasn’t what I wanted. I spent a week at home, then I came back, I fell in love, I’m still there today.
Is being a woman and black in Brazil today complicated?
It’s challenging. It’s not easy for us who are black, for women who are black. I live stubbornly, I live because God wants me to live, but I’m in my place. I am where I have to be, I do what I have to do and I have the right like everyone else does. It’s not easy, but I’m going, I get my foot in the door. I politely ask for permission. Because, when someone looks at me the wrong way and says something, I say that I’m in the place I need to be. I have a right to be here. This place is mine too. I pay bills, I pay taxes. I am where I have to be.
