Text Estefania Lima
Photo Rafael Peixoto
The protagonist of the award-winning film “Regra 34” (2023), Sol Miranda, was the guest on the penultimate day of the 17th Orientation Week of the International Film Academy (AIC). In the chat, led by Vanessa Prieto, AIC’s academic coordinator, the actress told about the selection and preparation process for the feature film directed by Julia Murat.
Sol began his speech by telling about his trajectory as an artist. Graduated from the Escola Técnica Estadual de Teatro Martins Pena, in Rio de Janeiro, the actress is also an educator, cultural producer, assistant director, playwright and co-founder of Cia. Theater Emu. An accumulation of functions resulting not from the actress’s choice, but from the reality of living as an artist in Brazil. “Working behind the scenes was a way to make myself financially viable, in addition to being able to take care of my own narratives.”, She revealed.
Soon after, the students, who at the invitation of the film production, had the opportunity to watch “Regra 34” at Espaço Itaú de Cinema – Augusta, had the chance to ask the actress about the necessary preparation to play the character. In the film, “Simone”, Sol’s first film role, is a criminal law student who defends women’s rights by day and at night performs in front of a live sex camera.
Sol said that, at first, the script scared her, but that, as soon as the recordings began, she found the right emotions to lend the character. For this, it was necessary to create intimacy and trust with the cast, in addition to a series of classes – from the right to tantric massage and BDSM – that prepare her to live the universe proposed by the feature: “I think it is important that we, actors and actresses, know find the right conditions to allow the character to be bigger than us, but that bigger does not overlap with our mental and physical sanity”, he said.
The actress also highlighted director Julia Murat’s openness so that the cast could contribute to the script. Sol said that the scene in which only black students meet after a job at the defender’s office, and talk about the theory of African philosophy Aza Njeri, was her suggestion. “Any identity group at some point comes together to talk about their issues”, comments Sol, even remembering that, although the cast did not accept it, the director even offered to sign the script to the actors.
About the choice for the role, Sol reports that from the beginning he felt that the character was his. Invited to the test by casting producer Gabriel Bertolini, the actress was chosen to play Simone, because Julia Murat recognized in Sol a fundamental trait of the character, “a touch of inaccessibility”. Even so, the choice was permeated by mishaps and, at first, Sol received a no. The role had been designed for a white woman, and the producers were afraid to associate a black woman, who already suffers from the stereotype of aggressiveness, with a fetish of violence.
Sol’s protagonism in cinema as a black and bisexual woman was also the subject of questions from students. Asked about the opportunities for black artists in the Brazilian audiovisual sector, Sol highlighted that despite the improvement in the scenario of opportunities, this does not necessarily translate into a permanent achievement. “In several moments of our social construction, we only painted the wall. We need to give ourselves the chance to put the house down so we can build on solid ground.”, she commented.
The actress also stated that she only believes in equal opportunities, and in the perennial transformation of the country, based on the implementation and maintenance of public policies. Sol, who was born on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, was forged by them: “I entered the public university through quotas, I did theater at Martins Pena, I was contemplated in a public notice aimed at black people, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for public policies.”, he reported.
Finally, the actress thanked for the opportunity to be at AIC, such an important training space for national cinema, and recalled the importance of recognizing cinema as a collective production. “We actors have more visibility, you have to be careful with that ego boost. Simone was a collective construction. Thanks for the listening space and the provocations. It was a pleasure ”, she finished her.