In Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent, Marcelo (Wagner Moura) is a man on the run in 1977 in Recife, Brazil, living a low-key existence in the hopes of uncovering necessary information that will help him and his young son escape the country and its oppressive dictatorship.
Awards Buzz spoke with Moura, who also appeared in the Apple TV+ series Dope Thief earlier this year, about the chance to work on something of true significance to him:
“This was a dream come true to me, because I was chasing this director. Kleber Mendonça Filho is a very important Brazilian artist, someone who I really identify with, not only for the kinds of films he does, but for his political views. This film was born from our shared perplexity, Kleber and I, under the government of Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right government that we had from 2018 to 2022. Kleber and I, we were both very vocal against him, and we both suffered the consequences of that. This film was born from the us calling each other and saying, how can we react to this? It’s a very personal film for me, and I’m happy to be one of the producers of the film. I’m very happy about the attention this film is receiving. I hadn’t worked as an actor speaking Portuguese for twelve years. That was very liberating for me, to be back in Brazil, now that it’s again a democracy, a full democracy with all the issues that the country has, we have a government that values democracy and culture. To be back there shooting a film with this guy, it’s a very important one for me.”
Moura has racked up considerable awards attention for this film, winning the Best Actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival and currently contending for a Golden Globe Award and Critics Choice Award. Watch the video above to hear more about his passion for this project and its potential impact around the world.
The Secret Agent is now playing in theaters.
