Conversations with Maria Ferreira

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Ferreira

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My love for the arts started when I was quite young, four years to be exact. It was all supposed to be a little hobby, to keep a hyperactive child busy, but quickly I realized how much I loved being on stage and performing. Of course, when I was that young I had no idea what acting actually was or how the business worked, it was as simples as, “I love it, I’m gonna do it.” But things weren’t t easy from the get go. I am from a small town in the countryside side of Brazil, arts at the time was not really a huge part of people’s lives, it wasn’t t something that you could seriously pursue as a career. So I kept it a secret for years, hoping I would fall out of love or that it was a childish dream. Until I got the courage to tell my mom. Now that I am older I laugh when I think about how much bigger I turned that to be, because my parents took pretty well. My dad was more pragmatic, which is completely understandable, but they ultimately approached my dream as their own and we started to work on it together. That’ s when I started to take english lessons, because for some reason my mom knew that knowing the language was important. I took classes from the age of 12 to the age of 15 when I moved out of my parents house. I was very brave and determined and it took me 2 years to convince them to let me move to the capital of the state I was born in, Bahia. Because I knew that wasn’t t much where to grow in that small town. So from the age of 15 I pretty much started to write my own story and my journey finally began.

I lived in Salvador, Bahia for about 4 years (the length of High School) and during that time I took several acting classes and started in a bunch of plays. Those years were essential to prove to myself that I could actually act as a job and that I had resilience to go out and explore in search for my purpose, because of course, I didn’t t want to stop there.

Once I finished High School I basically, again, sat down with my parents and told them I wanted to study abroad, I wanted to go to “Hollywood.” When I think about that day now, I think about how naive I was. I had no idea where I was putting myself into. I knew no one in the business or even in America at all I don’ t where I had gotten all the courage, perhaps from my parents, who also were brave enough to leave their homes to pursue their dreams. When I told them my plans I remember my mom saying, “Well, we all know there’s no use trying to convince otherwise, so let’s see if that’s possible for us.” I was lucky enough to be born in an upper middle class family in Brazil and I am highly aware of the many privileges I have had in my life because of it. Even going to college domestically is out of the picture for many Brazilians and there I was asking to study abroad. I know my reality does not even compare to most of people, but one thing my sister and I have in common is we value where all of that came from. My parents were very poor growing up and access to education saved their lives, if we were able to have what had, it was only because of their hardcore, so I better make them proud and reach my own goals. So, in September of 2019, 7 days before my 19th birthday, my journey in America began.

I moved at probably the worst time ever, only a few months away from the Covid pandemic, but that also came to prove my resilience even during hard times. The more I studied acting, the more I would fall in love with it. I realized I had no idea what I was doing before college, I was just following my instincts, then I finally learned the techniques and all the craftsmanship that goes in creating a character. It is safe to say I came out of drama school a much better actor, but I still had no idea what would wait for me in the “real world.’

Life as an actor is hard, but life as an immigrant actor is even harder, especially is you have an accent. I barely have one and all the time, the thing I have heard the most is that I need to get rid of my own accent, which somehow to me it means getting rid of part of my own identity. Words have means, only by introducing myself you get a hint of all the life I have lived to come to this point and to think that is a “weak” part of me surely makes me question a lot of things.

Life as a working actor is very hard, I must admit I was not fully prepared for it once I left school, because not only I had to worry about auditions, headshots, networking, find an agent and manager, I also had to worry my immigration status, ” what happens next?” was a question that kept wandering around my head. Luckily only two months ago I got my Green Card, but it was a combination of years of hard work. Now, my life as an actor begins again, and I must say it is very hard. I have about 4 existential crisis every week and I question myself every day, but it all comes down to the little 4 year old girl who started to take acting lessons. I am sure if she could look at me now she would not even imagine all the things we have accomplished and I have to keep reminding myself that to keep going. It is hard out here, but I know one day it will all be worth it, for her.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The most obvious obstacle was the language barrier, but years of hard work put me here where I pretty much speak perfect Standard American English.

Career wise I had to make tough choices to be where I am now. To leave a whole life behind in your home country is hard, but when you are young you are brave enough to turn those pages.

Working as an actor in LA now is definitely a challenge, the industry is changing and it is SO HARD to breakthrough that first door that allows you to, at least, audition for the roles you want. I was lucky enough to have a great team with me from the get go who believed in me and took me under their wings and for them I will always be grateful. There’s still a long way to go, but i am learning to appreciate the journey and to understand that just chasing to try is a huge step.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an actor with my BFA in acting. I usually am hired to portray dramatic roles, mainly because my eyes are very expressive and are the true definition of waterworks haha. It is for sure something I love doing, there’ s nothing like those rare moments when you are so present in the scene that everything feels real and you can just feel all the emotions as if you are truly living it. However, I do love comedy, and I wish to be able to portray more of those types of roles. They are so much fun to play and even harder than dramas to me. I applaud all the comedians, because it is a lot of work to make someone laugh, way harder than to make them cry.

I grew up doing theater so being on stage truly is the thing I am most proud of. If I go too long without I get withdrawal haha. Particularly my performance as Lady Macbeth holds a special place in my heart. It is such a juice role and I particularly love anti-heroes. They are almost like onions, the more you lean about them the more you understand all their layers and why they are the way they are.

In terms of setting me apart from others, I could say the obvious, that I am an incredibly hard work, that I go to huge lengths to understand a character, but I honestly think that what sets me apart from other are my instincts. Like I said earlier I accomplished great thing before even having the proper technique based only on my instincts. So having that WITH the proper technique really sets apart. I can really get a great understanding of a character just by reading the piece and that helps the work a lot, then the craftsmanship actually begins.

How do you think about luck?
I am a person of faith so I don’ t really believe in luck and, honestly, I think everything I have accomplished so far has been purely been through my hard work, maybe it is time to have a little luck come into play haha. I surely wouldn’t be mad at that haha.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://officialmariaferreira.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialmariaferreira?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Image Credits
Headshots were taken by Sean Kara. All professional pictures were, but red background and wet look were taken by Pranav Mehta. Red background was taken by Serin Matous and wet look was taken by Kushagra Jain.