Fernanda Torres Biography

Fernanda Pinheiro Monteiro Torres was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She is the daughter of two actors: Fernando Torres, an actor and producer; and Fernanda Montenegro, an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actress.

Fernanda grew up in the stage wings of the theater. She began her acting career at the age of 13. Two of her early roles were on the 1981 Brazilian television series Baila Comigo and Brilhante. In the former, Fernanda played Fauna Rosa França for 163 episodes. In the latter she played Marília Ribeiro for 155 episodes.

Fernanda made her feature film debut in Inocência (1983). Three years later, she starred in Love Me Forever or Never (1986), with her performance receiving critical acclaim, earning her the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival.

The first time she visited Cannes, she realized she couldn’t communicate with anyone due to the language barrier. Until that point she had studied English or French in school. She became fluent in English after working with a theater director for four years.

In 1991, Fernanda put her English to use appearing in her first film in the language. She played Dolly in the television film One Man’s War with Anthony Hopkins. Fernanda said at the time that this film was the closest she came to Hollywood.

In 1994, Fernanda collaborated for the first time with director Walter Salles when she was cast in his film Foreign Land (1995). Fernanda describes the film as formative for both of them. Walter discovered his directorial style, while Fernanda realized that improvisation could serve as a way to write.

Over the next 30 years Fernanda consistently worked both on television and in film in her home country.

In 2024, Fernanda finally burst onto the scene in Hollywood. She collaborated once again with Walter Salles for I’m Still Here (2024), a biographical drama in which Fernanda played Eunice Paiva, a stay-at-home mother who became an activist after her husband was taken under the oppressive Duarte regime in Brazil.

The film also starred her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, as an older version of Eunice. Walter had previously directed her mother in Central Station (1999) to an Academy Award and a Golden Globe nomination. Fernanda remarked that it was a poignant moment for the three of them to unite in one film.

For her outstanding performance in I'm Still Here (2024), Fernanda won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama. She became the second Brazilian, after her mother, ever to be nominated. Fernanda was the first to win the award. In 2025, Fernanda was nominated for her first Academy Award for the same movie.

Fernanda is married to Brazilian director/writer Andrucha Waddington. They have two children together.

Filmography:

I’m Still Here (2024)
Gilda, Lúcia e o Bode (2020)
So Normal 2: The Craziest Night Ever (2009)
The Invisible Woman (2009)
Basic Sanitation, the Movie (2007)
O Caso Morel (2006)
Casa de Areia (2005)
Redentor (2004)
Os Normais: O Filme (2003)
Gêmeas (1999)
Treason (1998)
Midnight (1998)
Miramar (1997)
Four Days in September (1997)
Foreign Land (1995)
The Jew (1995)
Capitalismo Selvagem (1993)
Beijo 2348/72 (1990)
Kuarup (1989)
Fogo e Paixão (1989)
A Mulher de Próximo (1988)
Sonho Sem Fim (1986)
Com Licença, Eu Vou à Luta (1986)
Love Me Forever or Never (1986)
A Marvada Carne (1985)
Inocência (1983)