With a lot of theatrical experience under his belt, Flavio Bauráqui became known to the cinematographic world though the film Madame Satã (Madam Satan), in which he played the role of the transvestite Tabu. In Almost Brothers (Quase dois irmãos), in a completely different role, he plays Jorginho in the 70s, a regular convict who is thrown in a cell with political prisoners in the Ilha Grande Penitentiary. A childhood friend of Miguel(Caco Ciocler), whose father, a journalist, liked to visit the shantytown to hang out with samba musicians in the 50s, and who imagines that through this old friendship it may be possible for the shantytown and the middle class to join forces. There is another conflict center when utopia is put in check. Winner of Best Actor Award at The Rio Film Festival for this role.

Talk about the trajectory of your character in “Almost Brothers”

Jorginho has a defined trajectory, a very interesting figure. He is criminal, charismatic, and has a good disposition. I think that when you are imprisoned there comes a time when nothing shocks you anymore. I’ve already gone hungry so I know what it’s like. In your daily routine you already know that your not going to eat tomorrow and that’s that. So this cruel aspect of Jorginho’s life I know well.

At the beginning of the film he is only a bank robber, with no scheme of organization.When he goes to prison he falls in with all those people (to his mind, crazy) that have done university and are prisoners with weird ideas about hunger strikes. But Jorginho knows that it is something more profound than just this, as if there were a code of honor: it’s not permitted to beat up on other prisoners, to use drugs, to rape. At this point, and having met Miguel, he starts his transformation and, subtly, starts to incorporate so-called “subversive” ideas.

I guess that Jorginho starts out as a rather ingenuous person, without a clear idea of what the political prisoners represent. But his his character grows with the story, he is considered a leader, which at a certain moment culminates in a break , where Jorginho and Miguel separate. Then Jorginho gets stronger. He kills, becomes a bandit with all his gang. I guess the wall represents something more than just a definitive split between the prisoners, it also represents the rupture with Miguelzinho.

Even though you are very young, you already have a very active career in the cinema. “Almost Brothers” is your second film. Is cinema what you really want to do?

I was really happy with the fact that Lúcia gave me this chance . After I played “Madam Satan” I became a bit labeled by that role. They thought I could only play transvestites. Then Lúcia gave me this trust. I hope to learn much more making films, it like a school for me where I learn a little every day. In this sense Jorginho was a present for me..

I guess that Jorginho, in a certain way, complements the character of “Madam Satan”, even though both of them are completely different from my reality, as I have never been arrested. But Flavio and Jorginho do have something in common,they are both black. I know about this almost insurmountable social barrier. I lived close to this reality when I arrived in Rio in 1993. I had to stay hidden , surviving through the kindness of others, getting food from the service entrance of the house where my sister worked as a maid. So I guess that this connects me to Jorginho. It is another the tough reality that I have discovered through Jorginho that it could have been even worse. I guess that’s what remains for me to think about. Through the film I had contact with the prisoners, those people who are piled up and forgotten by the rest of society.

How do you build a character?

I’m still a baby in the movies. I think all my technique comes from the theater, which requires a lot of concentration. On “madam Satan” I learned the process of being an actor on a film set. I think we have to have a character totally within us, you have to completely give in to it. Sometimes, leaving a scene, i go running around offstage trying to get my body to come back, panting and with my blood pumping. This gives more credibility to the scene.

This role has a lot to do with me, with my trajectory in life. I have already passed through many difficulties. I know how it is to be on the other side, only through having fought for and won various good things am I stronger today. I guess that because of this Jorginho and I are closer. Both have already been through worse. Jorginho of the film in certain ways also made many conquests during his life..