Ingrid Guimarães talks about career, comedy and social media; see interview

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Credit: Danilo Casaletti and Bruno Nogueirão | Estadão

Ingrid GuimarãesActress and screenwriter

While Ingrid Guimarães gave an interview to Estadão In a movie theater in the Avenida Paulista region, an audience made up of journalists watched for the first time the actress's new film, the comedy Perrengue Fashionin the room below.

"It's always nervous. A popular film is only truly successful if it reaches the suburbs", says the actress. The film, which hits theaters on the 9th, is the first Brazilian feature from Amazon MGM Studios and has the mission of adding a few more million viewers to those that Ingrid has already attracted to cinemas with films such as Upside Down, Crazy to Get Married e My Sister and I.

Directed by Flávia Lacerda, from Provisional Measure e Auto da Compadecida 2, Perrengue Fashion has a script written by Ingrid, Marcelo Saback, Edu Araújo and Célio Porto. In the film, Ingrid is Paula Pratta, a 50+ influencer who sees her big career break when she is invited by a renowned brand to star in a Mother's Day campaign. To do this, she will need to convince her son, Cadu (Filipe Bragança), to leave an eco-village in the Amazon Rainforest to make his mother's dream come true in the digital world.

With this mission, Paula embarks for the Amazon accompanied by Taylor (Rafa Chaloub), a typical influencer advisor, one of those who exaggerate wild ideas to generate engagement on social networks. From humble origins and a single mother, all the character wants is to find a way to belong to a world very far from her own.

"The discussion is interesting. Parents will identify a lot with Paula Pratta. This mother worked her entire life to pay for her son's college education and thinks she will solve his future through her frustration", explains Ingrid.

Watch the trailer for 'Perrengue Fashion'

In addition to Perrengue FashionIngrid will release, in 2026, the film My friendnext to Monica Martelli. Directed by Susana Garcia, the comedy shows best friends Júlia (Mônica) and Clara (Ingrid) dealing with their teenage daughters going to Portugal, where they are going on an exchange program. To ease their homesickness, mothers decide to surprise their daughters.

For Ingrid, comedy films in Brazil need to be more valued, not only for the success they often have in cinemas and on streaming platforms, but for the quality they carry. “If people knew what a struggle it is to reach the end of the year and fight (in the schedule) with Avatarwith flying man, with 3D, with billions. We are resistance”, he says.

Read the interview with Ingrid Guimarães below:

What possibilities does this Amazon investment bring to you Brazilian actors, screenwriters and directors?

I had the chance to make an expensive film. One of the most beautiful productions I've ever done. Amazon has foreign quality standards. They value a beautiful image, a well-made poster, a drama that speaks to the whole world. I had to change texts many times that they warned me wouldn't work abroad. I came from a cinema where we worked hard to capture (resources)...

Speaking of grinding, was this rolling up your sleeves, starting to write the scripts and producing the films, a desire or motivated by the lack of opportunities within the Brazilian industry?

Really necessary (laughs). Survival. The role of the woman of my generation in the comedy was supporting. Nowadays, when I see Tatá Werneck being the protagonist of soap operas and comedies, I know that it was something pioneered by us and by actresses who came before. There was no big role for us in soap operas. The comedy programs were all starred by men, like Chico Anysio, Jô Soares, Os Trapalhões, Tom Cavalcanti... We were “the guys' wives”. My phone never rang to be the protagonist. Not to say it didn't touch, it touched Upside Downbut I was the second option. Gloria Pires didn't agree. Globo Filmes' comedies were for soap opera actresses. We were called just to play the secretary, the maid, the funny friend... The press treated my films as “chick flicks”. I had to play my role. I learned this in theater. I was conquering spaces in which I could speak. In the cinema, I fought to get to that place. I researched, worked, asked to collaborate on the text, gave my thoughts on the script...

People think comedy is done quickly. Mine is well thought out, okay?

How did the idea for the film 'Perrengue Fashion' come about?

I've already had six hits, right? What else am I going to do differently now? I have been very mobilized about what it means to influence. It's something that has taken over our lives - my generation, then, had to learn to deal with it. The idea also came together with a program I did on GNT about consumption, the Beyond the Billwhich was very successful. I started doing the program for classes A and B, but then the dollar rose and we transferred the program from Miami and New York to major Brazilian shopping centers, such as Rua 25 de Março (in São Paulo) and Saara (in Rio de Janeiro). It was double the success. We interviewed people who, even though they didn't have money, bought and divided it into ten installments. It's a Brazilian phenomenon: you need to have something branded to belong to the world. I mixed the topics. The film's protagonist became a 50+ influencer. Why can only a young girl have an influence? We are the silver economy, of which I already feel part. It took a while (to develop the theme). People think comedy is done quickly. Mine is well thought out, okay?

Is a good comedy one that conveys a message?

Good comedy is good comedy. There are comedies that don't convey any message and I laugh from start to finish. There are more stereotypical characters, and if it's good, everything's fine. In fact, the good one is the one that works. People despise comedy, but being successful in the cinema with a comedy is very difficult. It needs a good text, which fits in the mouth of each actor. The text that works for Tatá doesn’t work for me. Comedy is made up of great character differences. The director needs to understand the actor's timing. If the editing gets it wrong, the joke doesn't happen. In theater, we train this right away. In cinema, we go through many stages. On my last few films, I was able to go to the editing bay - thank God! I consider myself a chronicler of life and not a killer of jokes. I treat a comedy the same as I would a drama film.

How did you learn to deal with digital life?

I think I did very well. On the internet, you don't need to be a good actress, but a good communicator. I know actresses who struggle to do it. And it really is suffering. I get tired sometimes. But I show off, I like to talk. For an actress looking for sponsorship, who paid R$500,000 to advertise her plays in a newspaper, having free space is a gift. Of course, I don't know how to do it alone. I depend on a team. But I found a way to show content that is truthful and, at the same time, doesn't expose my personal life. When I include my daughter (in posts), it is always very well negotiated. The other day, I made a video about female sisterhood. It had 5 million views. It's very powerful!

You mentioned your daughter, and the character in the film tries to bring her son into the digital world, including him in the campaigns she runs. How do you deal with this in relation to your daughter?

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The discussion is interesting. Parents will identify with her a lot. This mother (in the film) worked her entire life to pay for her son's college education and thinks she will solve his future through her frustration. She needs to learn to accept her son's choices. Even more so when you have an only child - and I have an only daughter. In the film, the worlds of mother and son are brought together, and that's where the comedy comes from. In my case, my daughter, having practically been born on a set, grew up in this environment. She said she wanted to be an actress. Then, singer. Now, she wants to be a film director. And I'm rooting for her to be none of the three things. I know what I went through. I know what my mother went through!

There are parents who create social media profiles for their children, many of whom are still babies, and make money from it. What do you think about it?

I think it's crazy to expose your child without asking him what he wants. But everyone knows their own. I only started putting my daughter online now, with permission. My husband and she have scolded me several times. It started to appear because of my trips with Mônica Martelli. My daughter and Mônica's daughter hated showing up. I always respected it. Now, teenagers, they started to enjoy the game, there will be a movie. My fascination is not showing my daughter, my husband, my marriage - there are people who don't even know I'm married -, it's showing what I think. I expose myself to help people, especially to help women. It's a difficult balance, as the money is on the internet.

I do a lot of campaigns because I have a powerful social network. I treat it like a business. It's a place to make money, yes. Why do I have to give this up?

Do you make money from the internet?

Of course. I do a lot of campaigns because I have a powerful social network. I treat it like a business. It's a place to make money, yes. Why do I have to give this up, if it's not an attack on me? The social network is not my artist. My artist is in theater and cinema. Social media, for me, is also a place to talk - and I talk about everything. I talk about femicide, for example, a subject that moves me a lot.

And with that, you found a bias...

Yes. A bias that I really like. A person who makes popular cinema, like me, who wants to reach all types of audiences, cannot ignore social media.

I make a point of including sex scenes in my films. I think that ageism is also an aesthetic crisis

You talk a lot about ageism, about getting old in front of the cameras. How do you face it?

With courage and strength. As long as people are willing to pay for my films, I will fight against it. Ageism is a big nonsense. We have experience and experience that no one else has. Experience is gold. In the film I'm making with Mônica Martelli, we talk all about ageism - and we laugh at ourselves. It saves people. We have a long shelf life! Just by placing a 50+ woman as the protagonist, you are already fighting against ageism. And I make a point of including sex scenes in my films. I think that ageism is also an aesthetic crisis, of thinking that we can't be seen kissing, having sex, being sexy...

There is an issue that starts at the Oscars and is reflected in most major film awards: the tradition of not rewarding comedies or comedians. How to beat this?

This is the subject that perhaps bothers me most in the world today. At the Oscars I even understand, as it is an older award. But until then it's better than here. The space given to comedy in the Cinema Grand Prix (granted by the Brazilian Cinema Academy) is small. Brazil is a hotbed of comedians and the awards ignore us. I've already competed for the Brazilian Cinema Grand Prix (granted by the Brazilian Cinema Academy) as an actress, with other drama actresses, and I was treated like café au lait from the moment I entered. Paulo Gustavo had this hurt, so much so that he didn't even go to the awards. I'm hurt, I told you. I won't go (to awards shows) again until there's something that values ​​us. If people knew what a struggle it is to reach the end of the year and fight (in the schedule) with Avatarwith flying man, with 3D, with billions. We are resistance.