After the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, the Critics Choice Awards and the SAG Awards, the race for the Oscar for Best Actress seems to be between The Substance star Demi Moore and Anora’s leading lady Mikey Madison. However, that doesn’t mean pundits should completely rule out a dark-horse finish by Brazilian star Fernanda Torres, who shook up the awards competition with her win at the Golden Globes for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her stunning work in the 2024 political-bio drama I’m Still Here. It was only the second time in history that a Brazilian actress was ever nominated in the category — the first was, poetically, Torres’ own mother, Fernanda Montenegro.
Torres’ performance as real-life activist Eunice Paiva — a woman grappling with the forced disappearance of her husband, the dissident politician Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), in the midst of the military dictatorship in Brazil — earned near-universal acclaim from critics, with many considering it one of the best performances of the year. It’s no surprise, then, that Torres joins fellow nominees Moore and Madison as well as Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo and Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón in this year’s illustrious Best Actress category at the 97th Academy Awards.
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But before we see if the Rio de Janeiro-born actress will ultimately take home the coveted Best Actress statuette at the Oscar ceremony this Sunday — and if I’m Still Here itself will be victorious in the Best Picture and Best International Feature fields — let’s get to know Fernanda Torres, her filmography, her famous family and more.
Fernanda Torres is a renowned Brazilian actress and writer, whose career spans more than four decades in theater, television, literature and film. The 59-year-old star has been acting since she was only thirteen and made her big-screen debut at age 17 in the Walter Lima Jr.-directed film Innocência. She has since been in more than 20 feature films. Outside of acting, Fernanda is an accomplished novelist: her 2003 debut novel, The End, sold over 200,000 copies in her native Brazil and was adapted into a 10-episode miniseries of the same name. She followed that up with the wickedly funny Glory and Its Litany of Horrors in 2019. What movies has Fernanda Torres been in?
Along with I’m Still Here, Fernanda Torres is known for films like the 1985 André Klotzel romantic comedy A Marvada Carne, Arnaldo Jabor’s 1986 drama Love Me Forever or Never, for which Torres' received the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, the 1991 TV movie One Man’s War opposite Anthony Hopkins and Norma Aleandro, the Oscar-nominated thriller Four Days in September by Bruno Barreto, and 2005’s The House of Sand, where Torres acted opposite her mother Fernanda Montenegro and was also directed by her husband Andrucha Waddington.
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Fernanda Torres is the daughter of Brazilian actors Fernanda Montenegro and Fernando Torres (Kiss of the Spider Woman); her brother, Cláudio Torres, is a film director. Torres’ mother stars alongside her daughter in I’m Still Here, as the older version of her character Eunice Paiva.
Fernanda Montenegro is considered by many the greatest Brazilian actress of all time. And she’s no stranger to her own awards acclaim — she became the first Brazilian to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Walter Salles’ 1998 film Central Station (her daughter is now the second Brazilian to be nominated in that same category, making them the first mother-daughter nominee duo since Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli) and she was also the first Brazilian to win the International Emmy for Best Actress for her performance in the TV movie Sweet Mother in 2014.
Along with those acting honors, Montenegro was awarded her country's highest civilian honor, the National Order of Merit, in 1999 — it was delivered by then-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso in recognition of Fernanda’s “outstanding work in the Brazilian performing arts.”
As for her daughter following in her footsteps, Montenegro told The Hollywood Reporter in February 2025: “There is a miracle in my life. Living almost 100 years and seeing my daughter fulfill herself as a human being and a creative artist. Fernanda is a Renaissance soul.” She also had words of advice for her Oscar-nominated child: “She has already won — before, during and after. Being nominated is the Oscar itself.”
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Who is Fernanda Torres’ husband?
Fernanda has been married to Andrucha Waddington, a Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter, since 1997. He's best-known for films such as Me You Them, Lope, Party Crashers and Rio, I Love You, as well as TV series including Sob Pressão, André Midani: do Vinil ao Download and Retrato Celular. Torres and Waddington have collaborated on several projects, including the 1999 film Twins, the 2005 dramedy The House of Sand and the 10-episode miniseries, The End, the latter of which is based on Torres’ novel of the same name.
Prior to her relationship with Waddington, Torres was previously married to Brazilian producer, director and journalist Pedro Bial from 1982 to 1985. She was also married to director-playwright Gerald Thomas from 1991 to 1996.
Proving there’s still good will between the exes, Thomas celebrated Torres’ Golden Globes win with a sweet Instagram post — translated from Portuguese, the caption reads: "Congratulations on your victory, Nanda. I know how important this is to you, even though it's always in the name of Brazilian cinema. I know who you are! I laughed at one of your statements. I stopped, looked out the window... I thought about your mother and laughed. CONGRATULATIONS."
Does Fernanda Torres have children?
Yes, the actress shares two sons, Joaquim (born in 2000) and Antonio (born in 2008), with her husband Andrucha Waddington. Fernanda is also the stepmother to Andrucha’s two children, João and Pedro, from his first marriage. Like his mother, grandmother and grandfather, Joaquim is an actor.
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