It was 2019 when actor Bruno Fagundes heard from a businesswoman in the arts field that he could no longer get work because he was “looking up” on Instagram. “It took me to places I spent my life telling myself I wasn’t there,” he recalls.
It wasn’t the first time the actor had been the victim of violence because of his homosexuality. At the age of 20, he and two other friends were beaten in the street near Avenida Paulista in São Paulo. According to him, the attacks were carried out by a group of 20 skinheads. Another time, a TV reporter asked him if he was gay. denied. When he got home, he threw up. “It was very traumatic because I didn’t have the maturity that I have today.”
The son of actress Mara Carvalho and actor Antonio Fagundes, Bruno grew up in the spotlight. The appointment as his father’s successor has always bothered him, he says. Even more so a father who was “the representation of what would be the ideal of the straight male, the alpha male” on television.
At 33 and more confident, Bruno decided to speak publicly about his sexuality for the first time. “I think sharing my story might help someone else.”
He received the column at the El Mercado Ibérico restaurant in São Paulo. Days before this interview, Bruno had become one of the main news stories on celebrity websites by posting a photo on his social networks embracing his relationship with fellow actor Igor Fernandez.
The response that the picture has surprised him, especially since an LGBTQIA+ couple is still making so much noise in 2023. But it also has a positive side: He hasn’t received any hate messages about the photo, he says. “It gave me some hope that we could continue to develop.”
In this conversation, which lasted a good hour, Bruno spoke about the reasons that prompted him to speak openly about the topic, his new professional project and family support. “If my father was able to be an ally today, any father can be.”
THE PHOTO
I didn’t plan [publicar a imagem], I didn’t think about the result, I didn’t think about what might or might not bring me. I just did what I wanted to do.
Igor posted first and I reposted. I thought, “Fuck it,” pardon the word. “What’s wrong with it? What is wrong with this demonstration? [de amor]? All is well.”
The size, the proportions of the thing surprised me because I had never seen anything like it.
I’m not an idiot to read comments on a gossip site, I think it’s abyss. But personally, the feedback was 100% positive. I saw no message of hate or misunderstanding. I was very happy with what I received. It gave me some hope that we would continue to develop.
But I also feel privileged because there is still a lot of hate.
AFFAIR
Him [Igor Fernandez, seu namorado] He was the first person I befriended on the soap opera [ “Cara e Coragem”, na Globo]. It was very beautiful. Being together today came from a very sincere, very honest place, from living well together, from friendship, from trust, from the desire for closeness. Suddenly we said: “Wow, what?”.
EPIPHANY
The fact that I never spoke about it [sexualidade] maybe it’s because I don’t feel safe enough. Today I feel And I think sharing my story might help someone. Maybe I have the opportunity to make someone understand themselves better. And that’s why I do what I do. And no wonder I’m doing a play [“A Herança”] which is about a boy who has to blow up his story.
REPRESENTATIVITY
us [pessoas LGBTQIA+] it is always a minority in our families. When you delve into the issue of race—even with the exceptions that are due—you have someone to look up to. You have your father or your mother or your grandfather or your greatgrandfather. You identify with these people racially, genetically. in our existence [LGBTQIA+], Not. You are born into a completely vulnerable environment where no one has the ability to protect you or tell you how the path is. Nobody has the ability to guide you, to calm you down. All the more so in our society structured by sexism, which obviously entails homophobia.
I have a father who represents the ideal straight male, the alpha male. And that has nothing to do with him personally. It has to do with his work.
VIOLENCE
All my life I have suffered from various forms of violence. And I know I’m speaking from a privileged place. I can list three more emblematic situations.
The first is that I’ve already been beaten in the street. I was about 20 years old and I was walking with two friends near Avenida Paulista. And there were about 20 guys who, I don’t know if it makes much sense to call it that, but would be skinheads.
I remember thinking when I was hit, “I’m glad none of them had a knife or a jackknife in their hands.”
And I’m not telling the story of a bullying place because it’s not. But I think it’s important to say why, if this violence doesn’t literally kill you, it kills you inside. It caused a bug in my system which I’m still trying to fix.
Another violence I went through was due to living a very exposed life. I was 19 or 20 years old, still hadn’t properly demonstrated my work, and had no reason to be on a gossip site other than the fact that I was the son of a famous person.
I was interviewed live by a reporter and he asked me to my face if I was gay. And that in a context that had absolutely nothing to do with it. I said no. I came home and I remember throwing up.
It was very traumatic because I didn’t have the maturity that I have today and then someone exposes you like that. It’s baseless violence.
My sexuality is my sexuality. my job is my job I never stopped working, I never used a letter from a celebrity, from a famous son
The third violence I suffered was when I heard from a wellknown actor’s manager that my Instagram was not too manly. And that was in 2019.
She said, not quite in those words, that I’m “cute” on Instagram and that’s why I’m hitting the wall [de não conseguir trabalho]. Which was a lie, because I did “Zorro: The Musical” and filmed the series “3%”.[da Netflix]. I asked if any casting producers had said that to her and she said no.
This woman devastated a 30yearold man. She’s taken me to places where I’ve spent a lifetime telling myself I’m over.
I’ve been told my entire life that if I’m gay at this job, I’ll fail. I’ve heard it from businessmen, agents. No one is free from structuring oppression.
My sexuality is my sexuality. my job is my job I never stopped working, I never used a letter from a celebrity, from a celebrity’s son. i’m home from work I’m not one for controversy.
NEW PROJECT
I saw this play [“A Herança”] 2019 on Broadway. And it became a hit, winning many awards. It’s a generational discussion about everything: death, life, betrayal, love, humor, affection, continuity.
There are 25 characters alternated by 12 actors. And it’s five and a half hours long. I think that’s revolutionary. The advantage is that it is divided into two parts. There are two separate pieces that you can see on different days.
I brought them with me [Reynaldo] Gianecchini and Rafael Primot for the cast. It’s a risky project, a theatrical adventure, but one I really believe in. We will premiere the piece in São Paulo in March of this year.
ROUANET LAW
I produced the last four tracks I did myself. And with your own resources. Since this time it was a very large piece, I had to resort to the law for the promotion of culture, the Rouanet law. Contrary to what everyone thinks, it’s not government sucking, it’s not public money. It is private money that would go to income tax and go back to culture.
But talk about it… It’s hard.
People have no idea what it’s like to produce a play. If they had an idea, they would respect it. They didn’t want to say that the government sucks the teat because the work is crazy.
It’s like starting a business. A company that has its own life, that has staff that has accounting, legal, food, transport, assembly and disassembly.
DISSOCIATION
I didn’t follow in my father’s footsteps. I didn’t go anywhere he could take me. When we decided to work together [nas peças “Vermelho”, “Tribos” e “Baixa Terapia”] It was a joint decision because we were in the professional moment for it.
I hate those expressions “follow in footsteps”, “like father, like son”, “son of a fish”
You’re always exposed because you’re a son [de um ator famoso]. So my path in life was the search for my individuality. To cut, to create a distancing in the good sense of the word, because it has nothing to do with our personal relationship. I am in love with him.
FAMILY RECORDING
It’s never easy. The beginning is difficult because there is projection, there is protection.
she [os pais] they didn’t know what to do either [quando foi agredido na rua]. How are you? I was lucky not to die. For real. There is nothing a father or mother can do except give love. And that I have left of it.
And I also know that it’s a privileged state. There are people who are driven from their homes, there are people who are separated from their families. And that is his merit. [do pai]. This is his walk. I am very proud to call him an ally.
If he could be an ally, any parent can be.
Everyone has an inner path to follow, everyone has their own topic, their time, their generation to cope with, their relationship to be redefined. If he did it, any parent can do it.
NO SUCCESSOR
In macho society, there is this idea of the successor. And that is such a great injustice. It transports us to a place of comparison that is utterly unreal. And it puts me under pressure.
I hate those expressions “following in footsteps”, “like father, like son”, “son of a fish”. Even today, sometimes a report comes out about me that doesn’t mention my name. Do you have any idea how canceling that is?
I’ve walked paths my father didn’t walk. I sing, dance, play the piano, I specialize in what I do to create my individuality. Not to be better than others, but to understand where my artist stands.
And the whole time I sat in the drawer of the successor who should act as he is. And that erases you inside, you feel like you don’t exist, that you don’t have an individuality. But I never bowed my head to it.