Marina Ruy Barbosa

Early life

Marina was born in Gávea, a southern zone neighborhood in the Rio de Janeiro on 30 June 1995. She is an only child, and is a great-great-great-granddaughter of writer, jurist and politician Ruy Barbosa from Bahía. Despite the similarity in their names, she is not related to the screenwriter Benedito Ruy Barbosa.

Career beginnings

Barbosa made her first significant work in the film Xuxa e o Tesouro da Cidade Perdida, where she played the character Mylla, a young princess from a tribe of Vikings, who lived in a lost city inside a forest. Before shooting the movie, she had several Swedish language classes, since all her lines in the film were in that language. Later, Marina auditioned for Começar de Novo, where she played the character Ana, the guardian angel of Miguel (Marcos Paulo). Aninha was a mysterious character who hid important plot secrets, and had unknown origin. The character had paranormal powers, with a strong spirituality, received messages from heaven, that guided on her mission on Earth. As the character Ana did not speak, Marina had the added challenge of having to communicate mainly through the eyes and facial expressions. It was her first telenovela with screenwriter Elizabeth Jhin.

On 5 March 2005, Marina debuted in children's theater as the protagonist of the play "Chapeuzinho Vermelho - O Musical" in the Teatro dos Grandes Atores, in Barra da Tijuca, and in Teatro do Leblon in Leblon.

Marina's work in Começar de Novo earned her an invitation to attend the tests for the character "Sabina" in Belíssima. After going through crowded auditions, she was chosen by the screenwriter Silvio de Abreu and the director Denise Saraceni to play the role. Sabina was an important character in the telenovela plot, the daughter of "Vitória" (Claudia Abreu) and "Pedro" (Henri Castelli), granddaughter of the villain "Bia Falcão" (Fernanda Montenegro), niece of "Júlia" (Gloria Pires), and goddaughter of "Nikos" (Tony Ramos). "Sabina" had a great influence on the grandmother, the villain Bia Falcao, who kidnapped her in story. The character lived in Greece with her parents. To fully play the role, Marina had dance lessons, and Greek language and culture, as well as spending a month in Greece, filming the soap opera on the paradise island of Santorini. The success of Marina on that role made her to be known in Brazil, and led her to being interviewed on Domingão do Faustão. She was later hired as an exclusive artist by Rede Globo at about the same time.

The interpretation of Marina in Belíssima caught the attention of screenwriter Walcyr Carrasco who invited her to portray the character "Isabel" in Sete Pecados daughter to "Dante" (Reynaldo Gianecchini) and "Clarisse" (Giovanna Antonelli). In late 2007, the actress participated in the first edition of the competition Dança das Crianças, shown on Domingão do Faustão. But Marina was the first contestant to be eliminated, soon after debuting in the competition.

2008 — 2010: Theater and teenage roles

In 2008, she debuted in the adult drama, she was cast by the duo Charles Möeller and Cláudio Botelho to play Clara girl in 7 - O Musical. Acting in the musical was quite a big challenge for her, as she had to represent and also had to sing and dance. Her portrayal of Clara was close to what Charles imagined. The director Cláudio Botelho said: "Marina is a demon. She has so much inner life at such a young age and, even with little experience, she shines on the scene as a veteran! That's the kind of 'child actress' we only see in the United States, those who steal movies and plays...Marina makes the difference". 7 - O Musical" was the last work of Ida Gomes, Marina's grandmother in the musical, as she died soon after the musical. In 2009, the actress co-hosted in a TV Globinho program. She was later invited by director Denise Saraceni to join the show Tudo Novo de Novo, interpreting teenage Bia. She also participated in the sketch "Super Chefinho", showed by the morning show Mais Você. In March 2010, Marina was interviewed by presenter Angelica for the Estrelas show, she made a cultural visit to the Museu Casa Ruy Barbosa, in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, the home where her Great-great-grandfather Ruy Barbosa lived. In addition to describing some peculiarities about the location, Marina took the opportunity to show some of her musical skill, playing Beethoven on the piano of her great-grandmother Maria Augusta.

She was invited by author Elizabeth Jhin, who had already made the telenovela Começar de Novo to play rebellious teenager "Vanessa" in Escrito nas Estrelas. Vanessa wore dreadlocks in her hair, and was a student of ballet. Marina, who had never done ballet, started taking private lessons to get ready for the role. She played all ballet scenes without needing a stunt. She performed her first kissing scene with actor Bruno Pereira who they had worked on Começar de Novo. Marina had the idea of creating the zipper earrings used by the character, an accessory that would eventually become a fad among teenagers throughout Brazil. Her Escrito nas Estrelas colleague Nica Bonfim turned Marina's character "Vanessa" into a doll. Marina's performance in the telenovela was praised by critics.

In October 2010, Quem magazine prepared a special edition to celebrate its 10th anniversary, 10 young actresses were invited for the cover, produced and shot by Fernando Torquatto using the self-explanatory title: "As Estrelas da Próxima Década". Marina, only 15 years old at the time, was the youngest actress of the 10 that were chosen.

2011 — 2013: Career growth

Marina was invited by the author Walcyr Carrasco in 2011 to join the cast of the Morde & Assopra to play "Alice," a young villain and one of the protagonists of the plot. "Alice" is a rich 18-year-old girl, vain and prejudiced, using only expensive clothes, daughter of mayor Isaiah (Ary Fontoura) and Minerva (Elizabeth Savalla), who falls for the crook Guilherme (Klebber Toledo). "Alice" launched the slogans "you are a mongrel" and "I have pedigree" that fell in public taste. Her performance in Morde & Assopra was highlighted by critics receiving critical praise from Rio newspaper Extra's journalist Carla Bittencourt; UOL portal's television columnist Flávio Ricco; Terra portal's journalist Mariana Trigo; Epoca magazine's journalist Bruno Segadilha; among others.

Marina is also notorious for her style of dress, always wearing updated productions following the trends, she is considered an it girl, Marina went on to pose for numerous advertising campaigns and editorial fashion.

In 2012, the actress was invited to join the cast of the soap opera Amor Eterno Amor, by author Elizabeth Jhin, portraying Juliana Petrini, a journalism intern.

At only 16, Marina was the youngest actress to be on the cover of NOVA, in the April 2012 edition, and in June 2013, at only 17 years old, she would again be in the cover of NOVA. In September 2012, Marina was elected by ISTOÉ Gente one of the 25 sexiest women of Brazil.

In 2013 she joined the cast of Amor à Vida by Walcyr Carrasco, playing Nicole, a young orphan and millionaire who suffers from a degenerative disease. Marina came to prominence in the telenovela, and Nicole became a character loved by the public. Due to a request from viewers and collaborators of the telenovela, the author gave up shaving the head of the actress. The issue became a national discussion and divided the opinions of critics, although the public had been in favor of the actress. With the change in the script, the author's solution was Nicole's death on her wedding day and, after death, Thales (Ricardo Tozzi) start seeing visions of the spirit of Nicole. The episode that showed the marriage the death of Nicole had the telenovela's highest TV ratings. After her death, Nicole remained as a spirit until the end of the telenovela.

In November 2013, Marina reached the seventh place in VIP's list of "100 Sexiest Women in the World".

She was on the cover of Quem magazine on December 18, 2013, chosen as one of "The best-dressed women in Brazil" of 2013.

2014 - present: Amorteamo and Totalmente Demais

In 2014, she plays the nymphet Maria Isis in Aguinaldo Silva's Império. On August 11, 2014, it was announced the end of her three-year relationship with Klebber Toledo. "Maria Isis" was a watershed in her career of the actress, due to her success in the top rated Brazilian television program. Everything she wore entered the list of most wanted items on TV and her red hair became a hit in the hairdressing salons. She competed for several awards, and at 19 she was the youngest actress to win the Contigo Award! TV for best supporting actress. Success in Império raised her career profile to the protagonist level. She was elected by Vogue as one of the five best dressed Brazilian celebrities of 2014, and named by the Época and Forbes Brazil as one of the most influential Brazilians of 2014.

Marina was crowned queen of traditional Carnaval ball at the Copacabana Palace in 2014. At only 19, she is the youngest Carnival queen in the history of the event.

In April 2015, Marina played the protagonist "Malvina" on Amorteamo mini-series, a character inspired by Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. She began recording the series even during the last shootings of Império, accumulating both works at the same time. It was a big challenge for the actress, who had to play a different role from all she had done before. During the period of Amorteamo shooting, Marina had to undergo an emergency appendicitis surgery, but recovered quickly and returned to the shootings. Her acting was praised and the mini-series was successful, a second season, which will be shot in 2016.

Also in 2015, the actress played Eliza, the protagonist of the new telenovela Totalmente Demais. In the plot, the character becomes homeless after being the target of an attempted abuse by her stepfather (Paulo Rocha), and will end up turning into a model.

Philanthropy

Marina usually does a job as a protector of animals, especially stray cats. She hosts the kittens at home while looking for people who want to adopt them. In December 2013, she participated in the animal adoption campaign "Adotei" ("I have adopted").

The actress also participates in philanthropic campaigns such as the Brazilian Institute for Cancer Control (IBCC), Friends of Children with Cancer (AMICCA) and the Brazilian Association of Lymphoma and Leukemia (ABRALE).

In November 2013, Marina was the star of a campaign by the National Day Against Cancer Children and Youth, "Golden November", promoted by the Institute Ronald McDonald. She turned into a warrior, inspired by great heroines of comics and games.

During her preparation for the character Maria Isis in Império, Marina cut 30 cm of her hair, which were donated to the NGO Cabelegria that makes wigs for cancer patients who have lost their hair.

Honors

Other Honors