TN2’s theatre editor interviews actor Rodrigo Ternevoy.
Could you talk a bit about your experience as an actor from Brazil in Ireland? Have you encountered any difficulties with casting, or any other difficulties?
When I started drama school I was the only Brazilian male actor in the course, therefore I wasn’t really sure how things would work out for me as an actor in Ireland. I always thought that any production company or casting directors looking for a Brazilian actor would look in Brazil first, or perhaps in the UK, Canada or the USA, and that any bigger casting directors operating in Ireland would be looking for Irish people. The majority of the time, this is certainly the case. However, being different also gave me a lot of opportunities. I started auditioning for a bunch of roles, some of them I ended up getting and others I didn’t, but my profile was increasing as a professional actor and that was exactly what I was aiming for. Ireland is still very small when it comes to the film industry and actors end up auditioning for parts a lot less than if you compare to the UK, USA or Canada, but the industry is getting bigger and bigger each year. We have some really good tax incentives at the moment and they’re attracting big productions lately. Here’s hoping more roles for people like me will arise from this!
Why do you think multicultural representation on TV, media and theatre is important?
The arts have a huge responsibility to accurately reflect the world around us. The world has changed; every society around the globe has evolved with the internet, and with it things such as buying, selling, travelling, etc. have become much easier. We are all a big mix – a mix of people, cultures, faiths, looks, languages and this is the new reality; a multicultural one. The media, TV, cinema, and theatre should be reflective of it all.
Being from a multicultural country that has people from all over the world, what are the similarities and differences of a more diverse media representation in media in Ireland and Brazil?
In fact, in Brazil we barely see foreign people working in the media, film, TV, theatre, etc. Every now and then we find a Portuguese talent working on a show, soap-opera or film in Brazil. I believe the main barrier is the language; we’ve got a lot more English speakers around the world than Portuguese speakers.
Do you think Irish media is becoming more diverse in terms of multicultural representation? What are your thoughts about the future in media and arts in Ireland?
Yes, I do believe the Irish media is becoming more diverse, no doubt. We can see different cultures being represented a lot more lately. I’ve been working for Fair City on RTÉ One for the past three years and I play a gay character from Chile, we also have another foreign actor playing my brother on the same show for the same length of time. I remember watching a very good TV series called Taken Down shot in Ireland, it was about the reality of refugees in the country. Of course the multicultural representation in the Irish media can be better and can increase, but it does exist and it is improving step by step. The only downside in my opinion is when it comes to theatre, this multicultural representation is almost non-existent. TV and film seem to be always ahead of time when it comes to this topic in my opinion.
