Career in television

In 1965, Pêra was hired by director Abdon Torres to join the cast that would usher in the Rede Globo, and starred in the telenovelas Rosinha do Sobrado and Padre Tião, both written by Moses Weltman. Also acted in A Moreninha, an adaptation of novel's Joaquim Manuel de Macedo written by Graça Mello, who was director of the station. Pêra also participated in the cast of Beto Rockfeller (1968), written by Bráulio Pedroso, on TV Tupi, the soap opera is considered a landmark of Brazilian television, for his modern language and urban ambiance. Pêra was invited by director Daniel Filho to return to the Globo in 1971, to interpret Shirley Sexy in O Cafona, character that gave him great popularity. Soon after, she played the taxi driver Noeli in Bandeira 2, written by Dias Gomes. The following year, she it was Serafina Rosa Petrone in Uma Rosa com Amor's Vicente Sesso, opposite Paul Goulart. Then she played the main character of the novel Supermanoela (1974), written by Walther Negrão.

Marília Pêra, 1970.

In 1982, Pear played the character Alice in Quem Ama não Mata, written by Euclydes Marinho. The miniseries caused strong impact because of the realistic direction of Daniel Filho, and interpretations of the actress and Cláudio Marzo, and the approach of a controversial issue, the crime of passion. After 13 years, Pear returned to work in telenovelas on TV Globo, as Rafaela Alvaray in Brega & Chique, soap opera displayed in 1987, written by Cassiano Gabus Mendes. In the miniseries O Primo Basílio (1988), an adaptation of Gilberto Braga and Leonor Brassères of Eça de Queiroz's novel, Pêra played the villain Juliana, another remarkable character.

Pêra worked on two telenovelas by Ricardo Linhares: Lua Cheia de Amor (1991), co-written by Ana Maria Moretzsohn and Maria Carmen Barbosa, and Meu Bem Querer (1998). In Band, starred in O Campeão (1982), another novel Linhares, and the headline in Mandacaru (1997), written by Carlos Alberto Ratton. In 2001, Pêra participated of the cast in the miniseries Os Maias, an adaptation Eça de Queiroz's novel.

The actress was part of casts of the telenovelas Começar de Novo in 2004; Cobras & Lagartos, in 2006; Duas Caras in 2007.^[5] Her last work at the broadcaster was the TV show Pé na Cova [One foot in the grave, in an unofficial translation], aired since 2013.

Film career

Internationally, Marília Pêra is best known for her performance in Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco (1980), where she portrayed the character Sueli. In 1982 she became the first South American ever honored in North America with a Best Actress Prize awarded by the National Society of Film Critics Awards. The film itself was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Golden Globe, but lost to that year's eventual Best Picture Oscar winner, Hugh Hudson's Chariots of Fire.^[6] Vincent Canby wrote for The New York Times in relation to the film: “The performances are almost too good to be true, but Mr. Da Silva and Miss Pera are splendid.”^[7] A former street kid, Fernando Ramos da Silva returned to the streets a few years after Pixote was released. He was killed by police – following an alleged shootout – at age 19 on Aug. 25, 1987.^[8]

Highlights of her movie career include Hugo Carvana's Bar Esperança (1983), in a comic performance as a temperamental soap opera star. Other films include: Central do Brasil (1998) and Jogo de Cena (2007). Her last film work was in Polaroides Urbanas in 2008.^[9]

Movies

Telenovelas

Series and Mini-Series

• 1982: Quem Ama Não Mata .... Alice
• 1988: O Primo Basílio .... Juliana Couceiro Tavira
• 1994: Incidente em Antares .... Erotildes
• 2001: Os Maias .... Maria Monforte
• 2006: JK .... Sara Kubitschek
• 2007: Toma Lá, Dá Cá .... Ivone
• 2008: Casos e Acasos .... Sônia
• 2010: A Vida Alheia .... Catarina Faissol
• 2012: Louco Por Elas .... Madame Vivi
• 2013–2016: Pé na Cova .... Darlene