The article analyzes Mariana Ximenes's performance in the soap opera "Quem ama cuida," aired in the prime time slot. The critique focuses on a specific scene in which her character, Dora, discovers through the press that her husband is a predator and harasser. The scene takes place in a restaurant full of people, and the soap opera grants the character no dialogue lines to express her despair.
Mariana Ximenes resolves the entire emotional weight of the scene using only physical resources: the hand that hesitates over the glass, the chin that locks in place, and the sip that goes down wrong. The voice comes out restrained, and it is precisely this restraint that makes the body scream. The article highlights that there is no close-up that can save an actor in this situation, and that Mariana has demonstrated having this skill for a long time.
The character Dora had everything to be collateral to the plot. She is the wife of one of the villains, serving as a ruler to measure the extent of the damage caused by the other characters. It would be a role that would normally yield only two strong scenes and a nice dress.
Mariana Ximenes is accustomed to the center of the plots, having been both heroine and villain in several soap operas and knowing well the weight of carrying a prime time story. Accepting Dora meant, in theory, accepting the margins of the narrative. However, the article concludes that when an actress is good, there is no secondary role.
