Meet Barbara Marques

BARBARA MARQUES

Hi Barbara, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I am Barbara Marques, a Brazilian-Black Latina Director, Producer, and Actress, and I live here in  LA. I discovered what I wanted to do for the rest of my life when I was ten. My aunt is a famous actress in Brazil, and I grew up seeing her on stage, on TV, and in films. But I remember one of those times we went to watch her in a play, and at the end, I was utterly amazed. That day, I remember telling my mom, “This is what I want to do when I grow up.” Although I had this call a while ago, my career as an artist officially started when I was 17 years old in high school, at Centro Educacional Charles Darwin, where I got to perform in my first professional play. I played “Caroba” from “O Santo e a Porca” by Ariano Suassuna, one of the most essential and best Brazilian playwrights. It was my first nomination as Best Actress. At that time, I thought I just got the confirmation of my dreams; it was like a highlight sign for me.
Then, when I was 19 in 2006,  I took my first step to pursue my dreams; I moved to Rio De Janeiro to start acting school. I attended CAL (performing school) in 2006, ending in 2008. In 2007, I played my first one-woman show, where I wrote and played “The Therapist,” created by me with the collaboration of Nelson Freitas, a Brazilian comedy actor. At that time, I got more involved with theater and stage. I wanted to get more art, so I started writing, too.
Having Charlie Chaplin as my primary mentor, I decided to follow in his footsteps. 2011, I started film school and graduated in 2015 from Estacio De Sa University in Rio De Janeiro. Between 2013 and 2017, I dedicated my time to work primarily as an actress in short movies and some plays, such as The Wizard of Oz.
But also to work with TV as a TP, VT, camera operator, and producer for Do Rio Filmes and Batuque Filmes in Luanda, Angola. It was a precious time, especially in Angola, where I could work with casting, which I also love.
In 2018, I decided to take my second step and pursue my absolute dream: moving to LA. I fell in love with LA when I was 13 because of RHCP, but it seemed past life cause I could never explain my feelings for this city. Since I moved here, all of my dreams come true. And everything started to make sense. In 2019, I shot my third short movie in Hollywood, “Cartaxo,” where I had a chance to film the Hour of the Star Actress Marcelia Cartaxo, one of the essential Actresses in Brazilian Cinema, won her achievement career award here in Hollywood, it was such a gift for me as director to be part of this moment of her life.
Since 2019, I’ve been focused on my directing, writing, and producing career.
In 2023, my second movie, Love, which has the kindest contribution from Dead Man’s Bones, won the best documentary at the Filmae Film Festival in Brasilia. Also, in 2023, I premiered my fifth short, PRETAS, which was released at the Los Angeles Brazilian Film Festival at The Culver Theater.
Today, I’m working on my first feature film documentary, Belong, which must be released in 2025.

“I like the impossible because there is less competition.” Walt Disney
When someone says something is impossible, I get an even stronger cause; for me, nothing is impossible, and then when I hear someone say that,  it challenges me, and I become even more vital. I have to thank whoever once told me that something in my dream would be impossible; I need to thank this person for pushing me further and helping me get close to my dream.
I’m very intuitive. I have this forever intuition that never lets me give up, even if I want it, which, naturally, I have had many times as an artist. But all those times I had, and I will forever have, something even more substantial inside of me that makes me keep moving forward, creating, talking, and showing myself and my art to others.
My most incredible pride is my courage to always do the right thing to get close to my dreams.