If in “Renascer” Ritinha draws attention for showing off her natural beauty, in real life things are no different for her interpreter, Mell Muzzillo. The actress says she maintains a simple routine when it comes to vanity. Every time Inácia’s daughter (Edvana Carvalho) appears on the scene in the nine o’clock soap opera, her costume is basic, with flats on her feet and almost no makeup. Mell also doesn’t like spending hours in front of the mirror applying creams to her face or trying on clothes. At 18, she remembers that she felt ugly in the past because she didn’t look like her friends. Today, she loves herself as she is.
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Photos of Mell Muzzillo, Ritinha from ‘Renascer’, in an exclusive fashion shoot for Canal EXTRA
— I always felt very out of the box. My friends always wore branded clothes and makeup, and I never felt that way. I didn’t understand what I liked and it shook my self-esteem. I thought it was bad that I was different (Afro-indigenous). I felt ugly, I sabotaged myself. And to this day I feel a little strange when I have to put on makeup for an event. It doesn’t suit me — she highlights.
At Rio’s Municipal Theater, doing ballet from the ages of 6 to 13, she also felt that she was perceived differently than other girls:
— I wanted to have blond hair and light eyes. Every black girl has been through this. Because it’s a standardized dance, ballet was the place where I felt most strange. She heard: “You don’t even look like a ballerina”. For them, only thin, white girls looked like ballerinas.
At school, episodes of prejudice were repeated. Not to mention that Mell felt the effects of racism even in a relationship, when she was exchanged for a white woman.
— At the time I didn’t know it was racist. But it’s like what happens with Ritinha in the soap opera. We are always replaced by a white woman (Damião, played by Xamã, cheats on Ritinha with Eliana, Sophie Charlotte’s character). When I was in school, they talked about my eyes. I always pulled them thinking they would get round again. My childhood dream was to be blonde. I even bought yellow crepe paper to try to dye my hair — she says.
Mell Muzzillo makes ancestral return
Aware of his ancestry, Mell has been returning to his origins. Her family is descended from the Tupinambá people, from a village in the south of Bahia, but she hasn’t had the opportunity to go there yet. Just over a year ago, she, her mother (Carla) and her brother (Kenay) started visiting the Pataxó-Hã-Hã-Hãe village, in Paraty (RJ), to connect with the past.
— It’s been an intense and super cool process. There is still a great invisibility of original peoples, even in the audiovisual itself. “Renascer” is already an event because it has four indigenous people (in addition to her, Adanilo, Mac Suara and Xamã), and they are not stereotypical characters, they have their own stories, their dramas. They are not necessarily naked, with hair in front of their chest or wearing a headdress — she emphasizes.
Anyone who sees Mell in prime time would not imagine that, shortly before being approved for the soap opera, she had given up her acting profession. Born in Nilópolis, in Baixada, she saw her dreams go down the drain due to the difficulties she faced, such as the distance from her home to the agencies, located in Barra and the South Zone of Rio. Without perspective and realizing the financial difficulties at home , she was hired as a cashier at a supermarket, but received the news that she had passed the test and didn’t even need to start at the establishment.
— The journey from Baixada to these places was tiring and I spent a lot of money. The market where I went to work was around the corner from my house. Thank God, the soap opera opportunity arose. I was desperate to contribute to household expenses — she recalls.
The troubles come from when I was a child. To study dance at Municipal, where she got a scholarship, she woke up every day at 3:40 in the morning to catch the train. From Central do Brasil, she would walk to Largo da Carioca (about two kilometers) and return, having lunch inside the wagon, heading to Nilópolis, to get to school on time.
— It was very crazy. The most tense episode was when we almost lost our house because we didn’t pay the mortgage. We lived without electricity for a month, but it started to get really difficult to study. Our house went up for auction, but we managed to get it back. I even lived with a considerate grandfather for six months, to be close to my school. I remember that the books were very expensive and I asked my father to give the books to my brother. I was only able to study because my friends made photocopies of the texts for me — details the young woman, who to this day lives in Nilópolis with her mother (separated from her father, Valdemir) and her brother.
Relationship with Xamã and other colleagues from ‘Renascer’
Currently, the problem the actress faces is traveling to Estúdios Globo (about 25 kilometers).
— This commute is more tiring than the recordings themselves (laughs). On night days, it is impossible to return to Nilópolis. So I stay at the house of my soap opera colleagues. When I record with Lívia (Silva, Teca), I go to her house. There was one time I stayed with Edvana for a week. We get by,” she says.
She is also very close to Xamã, Damião, Ritinha’s romantic partner in the story. The actress has even been frequenting the singer’s mansion, so much so that she posted photos of his balcony on social media. On the occasion, she participated in a party hosted by the actor-singer in which the host’s entire family was also present, in addition to her mother. For these and other reasons, there are those who say that they are together.
— It is inevitable that we have created a bond. Everything is fine between us (laughs). We spent a long time preparing to bring these characters to life. Afterwards, we got into an intense recording rhythm together, so we ended up getting closer, connecting. Shaman is a super partner, helpful and dedicated — says Mell, claiming to be single.
A debutant in soap operas, she evaluates Ritinha’s current phase, who goes from being a little girl to experiencing the conflicts of an adult woman, as Damião has been cheating on his wife with Eliana (Sophie Charlotte).
— It’s a portrait of what really happens. The most disgusting betrayal there is, the one that happens in the workplace, right under her nose. Ritinha is smart and has a sixth sense. She will react. She won’t let it go cheap. If it happened to me, I would end it quickly and not blame it solely on Eliana. I was going to take out all my anger on my husband. And I would get out of this situation, because no one deserves it. If he wanted to give change, he would later.
The actress, in fact, states that she would not forgive betrayal.
— I’m a Gemini, I have exclusivity syndrome. You can’t forgive. I’m very selfish. I can’t even share when I have something serious, imagine being married… I’m not mature enough for an open relationship either. If you’re single, you can do what you want, but once you come out, there’s no reason to have another one — says she, whose most recent relationship was with actor Ronald Sotto, with whom she stayed for two years.
Mell used:
Striped dress: Mell wore a Garage Rio dress; and accessories Pilissecret
Blue dress: The actress with the Tissé look; and accessories Pilissecret
Flower dress: The young woman wearing an Ateliê Márcia Crochê dress and Tissé accessories
Kimono: Mell wore a Garage Rio Kimono and belt; Tissé skirt and shoes; Pilissecret accessories
Where to find:
Atelier Márcia Crochê @marciateliemodacroche
Garage Rio @garagerio_rdb
Pilissecret @pilissecret
Tissé @tisse.oficial
Credits:
Text Thomaz Rocha
Photos Thaís Monteiro @tmonteiroph
Stylist Isabelle Gimenez @bellegimenez
Beauty Marina Terra @marimakepro
Acknowledgment Pontal Museum @museudopontal
