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Louise Cardoso — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Career

Having been educated at Teatro O Tablado under the direction of Maria Clara Machado, she participated in various award-winning productions. She would later also teach theatre there for 12 years. Among the productions she acted in, they include A Mente Capta, written by Mauro Rasi and directed by Wolf Maya, the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire directed by Maurice Vaneau, Fulaninha e Dona Coisa, by Noemi Marinho, and directed by Marco Nanini, and Velha é a Mãe, directed by João Fonseca and screenplay by Fábio Porchat. She has also acted in various telenovelas, such as Cambalacho, Força de um Desejo, Como uma Onda, Páginas da Vida, Sangue Bom and Além do Tempo. Her greatest success, however, was with TV Pirata, where she played various humorous personalities.

Cardoso began to be responsible for productions at local theatres, where her productions started to gain popularity. She went on to wholly dedicate herself to theatre, where she came upon the Teatro Tabulado and began taking classes with Machado. In 1975, Cardoso took a role in O Dragão, directed by Machado, playing the role of a cat in the play. The piece was translated by Maria Julieta, a daughter of Carlos Drummond de Andrade. Cardoso won an award for new actress for the production.

After Machado became sick, Cardoso became the new educator at the theatre and taught many notable students, including Drica Moraes, Malu Mader, Luís Carlos Tourinho, Maria Padilha, Lúcia Veríssimo, and Patrícia Pillar. In 1976, she left the theatre to participate in Asdrúbal Trouxe o Trombone and work with Ziembinski. They became known for their work O Quarteto, which became controversial for the romantic and sexual scenes between the young Cardoso and much older Ziembinski.

In 1976, she also worked in A Gata Borralheira, by Machado and directed by Maia. The title character was played by Lucélia Santos. In 1979, she acted in A Feira Livre, a play by Plínio Marcos and directed by Emiliano Queiroz, with choreography by Graciela Figueroa. Cardoso was invited by Marco Nanini to take part in Fulaninha and Dona Coisa and ended up becoming one of the producers of the show. It was the first play that she produced, and the theatre played productions of the show for three years.

She celebrated her 30 years in theatre with a rendition of the Bertolt Brecht play Mother Courage and Her Children. There was an installation of the performance in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, as well as at the Festival de Curitiba. She helped to debut the play O Que é Que Ele Tem in 2018 after reading and coming to really like the book the play is based on.

The book, released in 2016, tells the story of singer Olivia Byington and her son, João, who was born with Apert syndrome. The play includes music by Byington. O Que é Que Ele Tem was the first monologue by the Cardoso.

Film

Cardoso made her film debut in 1976 as Margarida in O Seminarista, based on the book of the same name by Bernardo Guimarães, and as a student in Marcados para Viver. The year after, she played roles such as Laurinha in Se Segura, Malandro! and Cecília in Gente Fina É Outra Coisa. In 1978, she participated in the short film Alô, Teteia, ending the decade as part of the cast of O Coronel e o Lobisomem, directed by Alcino Diniz. She also made a guest appearance on Parceiros de Aventura.

During the 1980s, she was a member of the team at Cabaret Mineiro, along with participating in the films Teu Tua as Celinha and Gaijin – Os Caminhos da Liberdade as Angelina. In 1981, she was on the cast of O Sonho não Acabou as the singer of "Meu Pai", along with performing as Carol. The year after, she worked alongside comedians Renato Aragão, Dedé Santana, Mussum and Zacarias in Os Vagabundos Trapalhões and Os Trapalhões na Serra Pelada as Loló and Lilian, respectively. In 1983, foi she was a member of the team at Bar Esperança as Nina Saraiva, and later was in A Próxima Vítima by João Batista de Andrade, alongside Antônio Fagundes.

Her most well known role would come in 1986 with the film Baixo Gávea as the lesbian actress Ana. For her role, she was awarded Best Actress by the Festival de Brasília. The year after, she was in the spotlight again, this time for her role as the protagonist in Leila Diniz, playing the homonymous character. She was awarded the same reward again for the second year in a row. Along with these, she acted in Urubus e Papagaios as Inês and Sonhos de Menina-Moça, directed by Teresa Trautman, playing Beatriz. She was awarded the Best Supporting Actress in Film award at the Prêmio APCA. She ended the decade by playing in the short film Por Dúvida das Vias.

The 1990s were relatively light in terms of the roles she played, as she only performed as Renata in Matou a Família e Foi ao Cinema. She also made a guest appearance in Miramar and was a member of the cast of For All – O Trampolim da Vitória. In 2001, she acted as a young Salma in Copacabana and, two years later in Gaijin – Ama-me como Sou as Sofia Damazo, along with the short film O Ovo. In 2006, she was in the romance film 1972 and, three years after that, ended the decade as Clarissa in Tempos de Paz and Rosa in Do Começo ao Fim.

In the 2010s, she acted in Muita Calma Nessa Hora, as well as in O Diário de Tati. In 2014, she portrayed Sônia in the short film Tempos Idos, and ending este decênio quatro anos depois na pele de Marlize em Uma Quase Dupla.