Biography

Sonia Braga was born to Hélio Fernando Ferraz Braga and Maria Braga Jaci Campos, costume designer of Maringá. She has two siblings, Ana Júlia and Hélio. Her sister Ana's daughter Alice Braga is also an actress. Braga's family moved to Curitiba and then to Campinas. Braga was 8 years old when her father died, and she moved to a convent school in São Paulo. In her teens, she took a job in the noted Brazilian reception center Buffet Torres as a receptionist.

Career

The 14-year-old Braga was invited by director Vicente Sesso to appear in "teleteatros" at the Jardim Encantado program. After that, she joined a theater group in presentations in the ABC Paulista region. At 17, she debuted in the play George Dandin in Santo André. In 1968, she participated in the cast of the first Brazilian assembly Hair, directed by Ademar War.

In 1968, Braga was in the film O Bandido da Luz Vermelha, and early '70s, appeared in supporting roles in the films A Moreninha and Cléo e Daniel. The following year, she was invited to perform in A Menina do Veleiro Azul, a soap opera produced by TV Excelsior, but the network closed before the soap opera aired. Despite the success on stages and acting in soap operas, it was in the television series, Vila Sésamo, displayed in 1972, that Braga became a household name. After, Braga was invited to join the cast of Irmãos Coragem (1970), a soap opera written by Janete Clair, which aired on Rede Globo.

In 1975, Braga starred in the telenovela Gabriela, in an adaptation of Jorge Amado's novel Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon. Directed by Walter Avancini, the soap opera was a great national and international success, raising Sonia Braga as a sex symbol. Braga returned to embody Jorge Amado's characters in the film. In 1976, she made the film Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands directed by Bruno Barreto, alongside José Wilker and Mauro Mendonça. The film was a box office hit of the Brazilian cinema and also had major repercussions internationally. In 1983, she starred Gabriela, alongside Marcello Mastroianni. Braga also served in Tieta of Agreste (1996), directed by Carlos Diegues.

In 1976, she participated in the cast of Saramandaia. The following year he starred in Espelho Mágico as Cynthia Levy. One of the highlights of the soundtrack of the soap opera is the cover version that Gal Costa recorded of Tigresa, music that Caetano Veloso composed in honor of Braga. In the late 1970s, Sonia Braga gave life to another character of great success of Brazilian television, Julia Matos in Dancin' Days (1978). In the story, Braga played an ex-convict who gets out of prison ready to win back the love of his daughter, played by Gloria Pires. In 1979, Sonia Braga ventured into children's theater in the play No País dos Prequetés. The following year she returned to television in the telenovela Chega Mais alongside Tony Ramos.

In the early 1980s, Braga, who had already made films like Lady on the Bus (1978), decided to devote himself exclusively to the movies. In 1981, she starred in Eu Te Amo directed by Arnaldo Jabor, and won the best actress award at the Gramado Film Festival. In 1985, she starred in the movie Kiss of the Spider Woman alongside Raul Julia and William Hurt. The film's success opened the doors of the international market for Sonia Braga and earned her a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actress. She decided to leave Brazil and try career in the US, where she lived for 14 years. In 2003, she obtained American citizenship.

Braga was the first Brazilian to present a category at the Oscars. She was announced by Goldie Hawn as one of the most glamorous actresses in the world, before appearing with Michael Douglas, who announced the result of the best short film. Braga competed in many prestigious awards in the United States. For his performance in The Burning Season (1994) she was nominated for the third time for the Golden Globe for best supporting actress. In 1995, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for The Burning Season, but lost to Shirley Knight. The film details the life of Brazilian activist Chico Mendes. In 1996, won the Lone Star Film & Television Awards, as best supporting actress for her work in Streets of Laredo directed by Joseph Sargent. That same year, director Nicolas Roeg invited her for the lead role in the film Two Deaths alongside Patrick Malahide.

In 1999, after nearly 20 years away from the Brazilian television, the actress made a cameo in the first 10 chapters of the soap opera Força de um Desejo (1999), by Gilberto Braga and Alcides Nogueira, in the role of Helena Silveira, characters of mother Fábio Assunção and Selton Mello. In 2001, she joined the cast of Memórias Póstumas directed by André Klotzel based on The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas by Machado de Assis. For her performance in this film, she won the Kikito award for best supporting actress in Gramado Film Festival.

In 2001 Braga appeared in Angel Eyes a romantic drama film directed by Luis Mandoki and starring Jennifer Lopez. In 2002, she appeared in American Family, a PBS series created by Gregory Nava that follows the lives of a Latino family in Los Angeles.

In 2006, she returned to work on a telenovela of Rede Globo, playing sculptress Tônia in Páginas da Vida. In 2010, she starred in the episode A Adultera da Urca, in the miniseries As Cariocas and in 2011, made a cameo in the Tapas & Beijos series. Braga has been cast in a recurring role as Lorraine Correia in the sixth season in the series Royal Pains. Braga’s scenes were filmed on location in Mexico and her episodes were aired in August 2014.

In November 2015, Marvel announced that Braga had been cast in the television series, Luke Cage, produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios for Netflix.

Personal life

During the 1980s, Braga had relationships with Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth, with actor Robert Redford and with director Clint Eastwood. She has no children.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1968	The Red Light Bandit	Victim
1970	Cleo e Daniel	Sandra
1970	A Moreninha	Carolina
1971	O Capitão Bandeira Contra o Dr. Moura Brasil	Boy
1973	Mestiça, a Escrava Indomável	Mestiça
1975	O Casal	Maria Lúcia
1976	Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands	Dona Flor (Florípides) Guimarães
1978	Lady on the Bus	Solange
1981	I Love You	Maria
1983	Gabriela, Cravo e Canela	Gabriela
1985	Kiss of the Spider Woman	Leni Lamaison / Marta / Spider Woman
1988	The Milagro Beanfield War	Ruby Archuleta
1988	Moon over Parador	Madonna Mendez
1990	The Rookie	Liesl
1993	Roosters	Juana Morales
1994	The Burning Season	Regina de Carvalho
1995	Two Deaths	Ana Puscasu
1996	Tieta do Agreste	Tieta
1999	From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter	Quixtla
2001	Perfume	Irene Mancini
2001	Memórias Póstumas	Marcela
2001	Angel Eyes	Josephine Pogue
2002	Empire	Iris
2003	Testosterone	Pablo's Mother
2004	Amália Traïda	Amália Rodrigues	Short
2004	Scene Stealers	Celia Crouch
2005	Che Guevara	Celia
2005	Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School	Tina
2006	Sea of Dreams	Nurka
2006	Bordertown	Teresa Casillas
2006	The Hottest State	Mrs. Garcia
2010	An Invisible Sign	Mom
2010	Lope	Paquita
2012	The Wine of Summer	Eliza
2016	Aquarius	Dona Clara

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1969	A Menina do Veleiro Azul		Brazilian TV series
1970	Irmãos Coragem	Lídia Siqueira	Brazilian TV series
1972	Vila Sésamo	Ana Maria	Brazilian TV series
1972	Selva de Pedra	Flávia	Brazilian TV soap opera
1972	Somos Todos do Jardim de Infância		TV movie
1974	Fogo Sobre Terra	Brisa	Brazilian TV series
1975	Gabriela	Gabriela	Brazilian TV series
1976	Saramandaia	Marcina	Brazilian TV series
1977	Espelho Mágico	Camila/Cinthia Levy	Brazilian TV series
1978	Dancin' Days	Júlia de Souza Matos	Brazilian TV series
1980	Chega Mais	Gelly	Brazilian TV series
1986	The Cosby Show	Anna Maria Westlake	2 episodes
1987	The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains	Emily Del Pino Pacheco	TV movie
1991	The Last Prostitute	Loah	TV movie
1992	Tales from the Crypt	Sophie Wagner	1 episode: ("This'll Kill Ya")
1994	The Burning Season	Regina de Carvalho	TV movie
1995	Streets of Laredo	Maria Garza	Miniseries
1995	Moses	Sephora	TV movie
1997	Money Play$	Irene	TV movie
1998	Four Corners	Carlota Alvarez
1998	A Will of their Own	Jessie Lopez De La Cruz	Miniseries
1999	Força de um Desejo	Baronesa Helena Menezes de Albuquerque Silveira Sobral	Brazilian TV series
2000	Family Law	Beatrice Valdez	1 episode: ("Echoes")
2001	The Judge	Lily Acosta	TV movie
2001	Sex and the City	Maria Diega Reyes	3 episodes
2002	American Family	Berta Gonzalez	11 episodes
2002	George Lopez	Emilina Palmero	1 episode: ("Meet the Cuban Parents")
2003	Law & Order	Helen	1 episode: ("Genius")
2005	CSI: Miami	Dona Marta Cruz	1 episode: ("Identity")
2005	Alias	Elena Derevko / Sophia Vargas	5 episodes
2005	Ghost Whisperer	Estella de la Costa	1 episode: ("Shadow Boxer")
2006	Páginas da Vida	Tônia (Antônia Werneck)	Brazilian TV series
2007	Donas de Casa Desesperadas	Alice Monteiro	Brazilian TV series
2010	As Cariocas	Julia	1 episode: ("A Adúltera da Urca")
2010	Brothers and Sisters	Gabriela	2 episodes
2011	Tapas & Beijos	Helô Siqueira	Episode: ("A Bolsa do Camelô")
2014	Royal Pains	Lorena Correia	Season 6
	Warehouse 13	Alicia	Season 5, Episode 4 ("Savage Seduction")
2016	Luke Cage	Soledad Temple	Netflix series

Awards and nominations

Year	Prizes	Category	Work	Result
1981	BAFTA	Most Outstanding Newcomer to Leading Film Roles	Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands	Nominated
1981	Festival de Gramado	Best Actress	Eu Te Amo	Won
1986	Golden Globe Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture	Kiss of the Spider Woman	Nominated
1989	Golden Globe Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture	Moon over Parador	Nominated
1995	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special	The Burning Season	Nominated
	Golden Globe Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV	The Burning Season	Nominated
1996	Lone Star Film & Television Awards	Best TV Supporting Actress	Streets of Laredo	Won
	Bravo Award	Outstanding Individual Performance in Made for TV Movie or Mini-Series	Streets of Laredo	Nominated
2001	Festival de Gramado	Best Supporting Actress	Posthumous Memories	Won
2004	Imagen Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a Television Drama	American Family	Nominated
2013	Gen Art Film Festival	Cast Collaboration Award	Emoticon	Won
2013	Imagen Awards	Best Actress/Television	Meddling Mom	Nominated
2014	Premios Platino	Honorary recognition		Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]