A transition between the sandy shores of Rio de Janeiro to the cobblestone clad streets of Canterbury is not one that everyone makes, nor fancies at this time of year as the days get shorter, darker and an awful lot colder, especially in comparison to the beautiful Brazilian coastline.
However, Mariana, a young actress, made that very transition just over a year ago and is loving life in Canterbury as she tells CommunityAd “I love Canterbury, it is such a friendly place. It’s very different from life in Rio de Janeiro. Canterbury has so much history and art, it’s a great place to be creative”.
We couldn’t help but ask if there were any similarities to student life in Rio and Canterbury, obviously the climate aside; Mariana reasons that both places are great places for young people and student living, the multicultural element of city life is one she notes as being similar to Brazil’s famous seaside city. Mariana is an actress with a presence on IMDB having been involved in many award-winning productions, she has an appetite and enthusiasm for success. CommunityAd had the joy of asking her about her life in the movies and her latest Canterbury-based role in Dr Faustus, a reworking of Marlowe’s play.
What’s your earliest movie-based memory?
I have always loved movies and cinema. My earliest memory of films is going to the movies with my family! We would go almost every weekend. We would watch everything we could… with lashings of popcorn and cola!
Is there any particular figure that inspired you to become an actress?
Every weekend my mother would take me to see children’s theatre. We would watch the same productions countless times. At the age of 9 I joined the theatre company and I started stage acting. In 2016 I spent 49 weekends on the stage!
If you were locked down tomorrow with the choice of three movies to take into self-isolation with you what would they be and why?
City of God – great cinematography, every time I watch it, I see something new.
Breakfast Club – I know all the lines, I feel that I know the characters. They can be my locked down friends.
Revenant – Leo finally got his Oscar for a movie in which he spends most of the time not saying anything. It’s the perfect example of “show, don’t tell”. Huge panoramic shots…
Is there a director or actor/actress you’d love to work with? If so why?
One of my favourite directors is John Hughes. His films always make me laugh and keep me entertained. Christopher Nolan is another director who inspires me since his films always have interesting concepts and very creative cinematography.
Tell our readers a little about the Dr Faustus production that you are starring in?
Dr Faustus was written by Marlowe in Canterbury in 1588. The last time it was filmed was in 1967. It is a great story about someone who sells their soul to the devil for 24 years of power. A timeless classic! Our production is contemporary with a dash of horror inspired by recent films like Hereditary and Midsommar.
I imagine 2020 was tough for you as a young actress without productions to get involved in, how did you and your family fill your days?
I wanted to keep finding new ways to tell stories even with all the restrictions. I learnt the basics of animation and produced a short-animated series called “the adventures of ze”, it’s on YouTube.