Maria João Bastos
Maria João Bastos has never doubted that she wanted to be an actress. At age 12, she took part of amateur theater groups. At 17, her hobby turned to be a goal, and she left the countryside of Portugal, where she lived and moved to Lisbon in order to run for her professional life on TV. Soon, she made her debut and never stopped. At the same time, Maria João didn’t leave the university. She graduated in Communication Sciences; however, she has never practiced it. “It was my plan B, but it was good anyway, because I love studying,” she jokes.
Nowadays, Maria João collects awards such as “Golden Globe Awards” for the best actress in the film “Mistérios de Lisboa”, which she won the international recognition. As a result, Maria João performed in 25 soap operas and 10 movies and her career grew by leaps and bounds following by enumerous jobs and always full of enthusiasm. In Portugal, she played a successful role and gave the singer Liliane Marise to life in the soap opera “Destinos Cruzados” – the character became the protagonist of the plot and gained a real life. Believe it or not, Liliane, the character lived by the actress, recorded cds, earned the first place on Top Music of Portugal, and made a show for 72.000 people at “Pavilhão Atlântica” – The largest place for concerts in the country which receives top notch celebrities such as Beyoncé and Madonna. However Maria João doesn’t claim to be a singer. That’s just an evidence of her incontestable charisma.
In Brazil, she has been known since she participated in the soap operas O Clone and Sabor da Paixão, and Sítio do Pica-Pau Amarelo, always with her charming Portuguese accent. She returned to Brazil in high style performing the character Diana in the soap opera “Boogie Oogie”. Three years later, she lent her Portuguese accent to play the botanist Letícia in the soap opera Novo Mundo; all these works were exhibited by Globo TV.
She can also be seen in the series O Mecanismo, an exclusive production on NETFLIX; directed by José Padilha, Felipe Prado and Marcos Prado, she plays the character Maria Pia.
Her plan is to continue on the Rio-Lisbon bridge and to settle every more in Brazil.
Experience and Skills
Martha Graham School – New York/USA
Estúdio Corazza – Madrid/ Spain
Theatre, Movies and Television Courses at Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute – New York/USA
Portuguese (Native)
Spanish (Fluent)
French (Advanced)
English (Fluent)
2014 – PRÊMIO AUTORES SPA
Best Actress
Movie: O Bairro
Character: Diana
2011 – GLOBO DE OURO
Best Actress
Movie: Mistérios de Lisboa
Character: Ângela de Lima
2011 – THE VILLAGE VOICE E INDIWIRE
Best Supporting Actress
Movie: Mistérios de Lisboa
Character: Ângela de Lima
2021- DA MOOD
Series
Writer: Henrique Dias
Direction: Sérgio Graciano
Character: Carolina
Portugal
2021- A RAINHA E A BASTARDA
Series
Writer: Patrícia Muller
Direction: Sérgio Graciano
Character: Rainha Santa Isabel
Portugal
2021- 3 MULHERES – RTP
Series
Direction: Fernando Vendrell
Character: Maria Armanda Falcão / Vera Lagoa
2020- AMOR AMOR
Series
Writer: Ana Casaca
Direction: Jorge Cardoso
Character: Vanessa
Portugal
2020 - A CRÓNICA DOS BONS MALANDROS
Series
Writers: Jorge Paixão da Costa, Mário Botequilha and Mário Zambujal
Direction: Jorge Paixão da Costa
Character: Marlene
Portugal
2020 – A ESPIA - RTP
Series
Writers: Pandora da Cunha Telles e Pablo Iraola
Direction: Jorge Paixão da Costa
Character: Rose Lawson
Portugal
2019 – NA CORDA BAMBA – TVI
Soap Opera
Writer: Rui Vilhena
Direction: Marcus Shechtman
Character: Olívia
Portugal
2018 – 3 MULHERES – RTP
TV Séries
Director: Fernando Vendrell
Character: Maria Armanda Falcão / Vera Lagoa
2017 - PAÍS IRMÃO - RTP
Serie
Writer: Tiago R. santos, Joao Tordo and Hugo Goncalves
Direction: Sérgio graciano
Character: Gabriela and Carlota Joaquina
Portugal
2017 – NOVO MUNDO - TV GLOBO
Soap Opera
Writer: Thereza Falcão e Alessandro Marson
Direction: Vinicius Coimbra
Character: Letícia
Brazil
2015/2016 – CORAÇÃO D'OURO - SIC
Soap Opera
Writer: Pedro Lopes
Direction: Sergio Graciano
Character: Beatriz Castro de Aguiar
Portugal
2014 – BOOGIE OOGIE - GLOBO TV
Soap Opera
Writer: Rui Vilhena
Direction: Ricardo Waddington e Gustavo Fernandez
Character: Diana
Brazil
2012/2013 - DESTINOS CRUZADOS – TVI
Soap Opera
Plural Produtora
Writer: Antonio Barreira
Character: Margarida Isabel Cabreira das Caldas (Liliane Marise)
Portugal
2012 – BAIRRO ESTRELA POLAR - TVI
Plural Produtora
Series
Writer: Francisco Moita Flores
Character: Diana
Portugal
2012 – AS LINHAS DE TORRES - RTP1
Co- Production: Clap Films and Alfama Films
Mini Series
Direction: Valéria Sarmiento
Character: Maria de Jesus Almeida
Portugal
2011 – INTRIGA FATAL - TVI
Television film
Plural Produtora
Writer: Rui Vilhena and João Sequeira
Character: Bárbara
Portugal
2010/2011 – SEDUÇÃO - TVI
Soap Opera
Plural Produtora
Writer: Rui Vilhena
Direction: Attílio Riccó, Nuno Franco and Paula Mourão
Character: Ester Vasconcelos
Portugal
2009 – FLOR DO MAR - TVI
Soap Opera
NBP
Plural Produtora
Writer: Antônio Barreira and André Ramalho
Director: Antônio Moura Mattos
Character: Gabriela
Portugal
2009 – EQUADOR - TVI
Serie
Based on the literary work of Miguel Sousa Tavares
Writer: Rui Vilhena
Director: André Cerqueira
Character: Ann Jamerson
Portugal
2008 – CASOS DA VIDA - TVI
Mini Series
1st Season : AS NOIVAS DE MAIO
Character: Vitória
Portugal
2008 – CASOS DA VIDA - TVI
Mini Series
1st Season: O CASAL DO ANO
Character: Suzana
Portugal
2006/2007 – TEMPO DE VIVER - TVI
Soap Opera
NBP
Writer: Rui Vilhena
Character: Raquel Mendes
Portugal
2005/2006 – MUNDO MEU - TVI
Soap Opera
Writer: Casa da Criação
Character: Sofia Salgado
Portugal
2005 – INSPETOR MAX - TVI
Series
Character: Mariana
Portugal
2004/2005 – NO COMANDO - GNT
Talk Show
Leading Actress
Brazil
2004 – O SEGREDO - TVI
Mini Series
Direction: Leonel Vieira, Paulo Nascimento and Patrícia Sequeira
Co- Production: Stopline Filmes, Accorde Filmes and RTP.
Character: Suzana
Portugal
2004 – SÓ GOSTO DE TI - TVI
Serie
Production: Endemol
Character: Rita
Portugal
2004 – SÍTIO DO PICA-PAU AMARELO - GLOBO TV
Animated Serie
Character: Isabel
Brazil
2003 – SABOR DA PAIXÃO - GLOBO TV
Soap Opera
Writer: Ana Maria Moretzsohn
Director: Denise Saraceni
Character: Rita Coimbra
Brazil
2002 – O CLONE - GLOBO TV
Soap Opera
Writer: Glória Peres
Director: Jayme Monjardim
Character: Amália
Brazil
2001 – GANÂNCIA - SIC
Soap Opera
Writer: Marilúcia Abreu e Francisco Nicholson
Character: Joana
Portugal
2001 – A MINHA FAMÍLIA É UMA ANIMAÇÃO - SIC
Serie
Episode: Oferta de Lua de Mel
Portugal
2000 – QUERIDO PROFESSOR - SIC
Serie
Character: Catarina
Portugal
2000 – ALTA FIDELIDADE - SIC
Television Film
Director: Tiago Guedes e Frederico Serra
Character: Carla
Portugal
1999/2000 – TODO O TEMPO DO MUNDO - TVI
Soap Opera
Writer: Tozé Martinho
Character: Marta Campos
Portugal
1997 – MÉDICO DE FAMÍLIA - SIC
Serie
Character: Vitória
Portugal
1996/1997 – DESAFIOS - TVI
Weekly Television Programme
Presenter
Portugal
1992 – CINZAS - RTP1
Soap Opera
Direction: Régis Cardoso
Character: Maria João
Portugal
2024 – MOTEL VALKIRIAS – GLOBOPLAY – TVG - RTP
Series
Writer: Alba Araújo, Manoel Gancedo, Patrícia Muller and Raquel Arias
Director: Jorge Queiroga e Álex Sampayo
Character: Eva Santana
Spain - Portugal
2023 – MAR BRANCO – NETFLIX
Series
Writer: Augusto Fraga
Director: Augusto Fraga and Patrícia Sequeira
Character: Inspector – Paula Frias
2019 – O MECANISMO – NETFLIX
Series
Writer: Vladimir Neto
Director: José Padilha, Felipe Prado and Marcos Prado
Character: Maria Pia
2020- SOMBRAS BRANCAS
Writer: Rui Cardoso Martins and Fernando Vendrell
Director: Fernando Vendrell
Character: Alexandra Alpha
Portugal
2016 – A PONTE NA CALIFÓRNIA
Short Film
Director : Pedro Amorim
Character: Carla
Portugal
2013 – THE CASANOVA VARIATIONS
Director : Michael Sturminger
Character: Lady Doctor
Austria
2012 – A MORAL CONJUGAL
Director: Arthur Serra Araújo
Character: Bárbara
Portugal
2012 – AS LINHAS DE WELLINGTON
Director: Valéria Sarmiento
Character: Maria de Jesus Almeida
France/Portugal
2012 – O BAIRRO
Director: Jorge Cardos, Lourenço Mello, José Manuel Fernandes and Ricardo Inácio
Character: Diana
Portugal
2011 – EM CÂMERA LENTA
Director: Fernando Lopes
Character: Ma Vie
Portugal
2011 – CATARINA E OS OUTROS
Director: André Badalo
Character: Woman 1
Portugal
2010 – JE M'APPELLE BERNARDETTE
Director: Jean Sagols
Character: Sophie Pailhasson
France
2010 – SHOOT ME
Director: André Badalo
Character: Teresa
Portugal
2009/2010 – MISTÉRIOS DE LISBOA
Director: Raul Ruíz
Character: Ângela de Lima
Portugal/France
2007 – O ÚLTIMO À CONDENADO
Director: Francisco Manso
Character: Adelaide
Portugal
2005 – O INIMIGO SEM ROSTO
Director: José Farinha
Characater: Nina
Portugal
2005 – O ELEVADOR
Director: Patrícia Sequeira
Character: A Grávida
Portugal
2004 – VENENO DA MADRUGADA
Director: Ruy Guerra
Character: Rebeca Assis
Portugal
2005 – O MÉTODO DE GRONHOLM
Writer: Jordir Galcerán
Director: Virgilio Castelo
Casa do Artista
Portugal
2005 – GIRL GONE
Writer: Jacquelyn Reingold
Character:: Tish
Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute
New York - USA
Press
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