Priscila Reis shines again in the second season of “Stupid Wife”

The actress Priscila Reis, 33 years old, has been increasingly standing out in the role of Luíza, protagonist of the successful web series “Stupid Wife”, available on Youtube, which addresses current issues related to women. In the internet series, she is married to Valentina [Priscila Buiar] ten years ago and wake up one day [já na segunda temporada] with dissociative amnesia caused by trauma, and can’t exactly remember the last ten years.

Priscila can also be seen in other important works, such as the documentary series “Todo Dia a Mesma Noite”, from Netflix, which portrays the tragedy at the Kiss Nightclub, and the feature “A Porta ao Lado”, directed by Julia Rezende.

The actress started her career at the age of 13. At the time, she was part of the Luciana Coutinho Theater Company performing in children’s plays in the municipal schools of Rio de Janeiro, her hometown, and subsequently joined the theater courses at CAL (Casa das Artes de Laranjeiras) and Tablado.

In addition to inspiring her audience through acting, she shares her daily life and experiences on her Instagram profile. She also uses the network as a communication channel to take a stand on issues that she believes in. The actress has lived in 32 countries, which made her fluent in Italian and English. At the time, Priscila was working as a model, a career that provided a great basis for her project to be an actress.

Read the conversation below RG had with Priscilla.

How was the actress Priscila Reis born?

This is a story that I am very fond of, because, unlike many people, I had a lot of support from my family. I even think that it was because of a very genuine desire from my father, who always encouraged me, he took me to theater plays a lot. He worked in a mall, we had a store selling esoteric products, and there was a theater course inside that mall, but I lived in the South Zone and that was in Recreio, it’s a very long distance. He enrolled me in the course, so twice a week I left school and we went to Recreio, I took the theater class and then stayed until the shopping center closed. At the time, some tests began to appear, I did it for “Malhação”. In this course we put together plays and presented them in municipal schools in Rio, and it was really cool because it was a way of bringing culture to children. This exchange was a very enriching experience for me.

And when does the first professional job appear for you?

At that time, I was already participating in soap operas, I spent a year with a play in Copacabana. That’s when I started studying at Tablado and at CAL (Casa das Artes de Laranjeiras). But then the opportunity to work as a model outside the country appeared, and I went, but every time I returned I continued studying and taking tests in the area of ​​acting. Until I came back for good and since then I’ve been working.

Tell us a little about your phase as a model.

I’ve always really enjoyed acting, and I think the work of an actress is also a lot to observe, and fashion has given me this opportunity to be outside and see all of that. I had the opportunity to live in very exotic countries, such as China, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, as well as Europe and the United States. I saw many cultural differences due to this diversity of countries and I think that fashion provided me with this, which I bring as a baggage in my acting career.

The second season of “Stupid Wife” has already premiered. What can we expect?

It already premiered. In the first season we got 45 million views on YouTube – the internet has this power that I didn’t know. When the first season ends, it leaves a flea behind its ear. So this second season comes to answer many of these questions that were left open.

Talk more about the series, about your character.

“Stupid Wife” is based on a book called “Remember Us”, and that book is based on a fanfic (fanfiction – fictional narrative written and disseminated by fans) of a girl band, and fans started creating stories about two of the artists, including relationships. And this fanfic “Stupid Wife” is the second most read in the world. My character is Luíza, who has been married to Valentina for ten years, and she [Luíza] suffers trauma and wakes up one day and has forgotten the last ten years of his life. She wakes up remembering when she was a young adult in college, and that she couldn’t stand Valentina for ideological reasons. She then wakes up one day and is in Valentina’s bed and doesn’t understand why. She asks herself: “What do you mean I married someone I can’t stand?”. And then the story unfolds from that, to understand what was the trigger, the trauma that took away that memory. And on the other hand there is the other character, who will have to win Luíza back again, and whether it counts or not, because Valentina knows the trauma that Luíza suffered. We’re going to address a subject that is very important in the second season, which is postpartum depression.

And how did the invitation for you to do this work come about?

There’s a registration on the internet that you can use Oppah, I did it, I sent my video and left my registration there. Then the director of the series sent me a direct message on Instagram asking if I wanted to take the test, and I remember that I only had one more day in Rio, but she agreed that I should do it. In principle, I liked the other character better, Valentina, but I thought that if she had sent me Luíza’s, that was the one I would do. After about ten days, there was a call back [um tipo de segundo teste], and when I went to do it I met a fellow actress, who coincidentally is also called Priscila, and I asked her where the other girls who would audition were. And she told me that we were both approved and that we were going to be the couple.

How did you prepare for the role?

I did a private preparation and then we had the preparation with the webseries team. To give you an idea, Luíza has a bachata course (it is read as “batiata”, a typical dance from the Dominican Republic). And my character is a teacher, I couldn’t know more or less, I saw several videos on YouTube and I took private dance lessons, for me it was very challenging. We recorded a dance scene that had the presence of 250 fans of the series, I was very nervous, but everything worked out, my partner, a great friend of mine, Ian Braga, said it was for us to have fun, it was transformative.

Did you expect the series to be as well received as it was?

I had no idea. Because as I said, I wasn’t much of this internet world, I was more low profile, so this YouTube channel thing was very distant for me. I remember that on the day of the call back, Priscila said: “Friend, your life is going to change with this webseries”. And my life completely changed… Our series reached 35 countries, we broke language barriers, many things. Today I have a lot of visibility as an actress due to this work.

And what is the expectation for this second season?

I invented a joke that is Luizers and Valentiners, because as my character is very defensive, she doesn’t remember things, the public started to feel very sorry for Valentina (laughs)… So I think people have to pass on the cloth also for Luiza, to understand why she was so reactive.

And what lies ahead in your life, what are your next projects?

Oh, there’s a lot of good stuff coming, I just don’t know if I can talk. There are cool things, I did important tests, I think 2023 promises. But I’ll stick with that answer, because I’m terrified of saying something I can’t.

How are you on social media?

Look, the social network for me came as a good surprise, because before the series, I confess that I was much more reserved with my personal life. But as our series comes from the internet, and it is an internet audience, I felt this need to have this closer contact with them, even to get feedback on my character and such. And I realize that people care not only about the character, but also about me, the actress Priscila. So, yes, I expose myself, I like to give a lot of hints about the book, the series, I already shared feelings, I went through a grieving process last year… The fans are very welcoming, giving support. So if they’ve had so many victories with me, why not show my more human side? I think everyone goes through the moment of loss in life. I get a lot of letters, I opened a PO box for that. In the 1990s I grew up watching Xuxa, there was a whole generation, and Xuxa received those Homeric letters, a huge amount, and today this culture still exists a lot. I get boxes and boxes from all over the world, and people feel more comfortable talking about them. I’m also a person with feelings, who suffers, who cries, I’ve been through a deep depression… So I think this exchange on Instagram is as real as possible.

And how is your family?

Ah, my family is the light of my eyes, I even get emotional because I have a family that has always supported me in everything in life, everything, they are very partners. My sister is ten years younger than me, she always helped me a lot in the tests, always, I had to rehearse, memorize the text, and she was there with me, struggling. She’s a lesbian, and I play a character who is gay, she has this representation, which somehow I feel I’m honoring her. My mother is wonderful, she is a psychologist, which is great because sometimes she gives me motherly affection, but other times I ask if she is analyzing me (laughs). And my grandparents, who I grew up with, are people I miss a lot, because everyone ends up living in Rio.

And how do you take care of your body, do you practice any physical activity?

Physical activity is something I started doing very recently. I’ve always liked yoga, even from the spirituality side, which is something I’ve always cared for. But I’m 33 years old, age is getting closer, so now I’m exercising here in SP with a personal trainer, I’m starting to get a taste for the thing. I really like hiking, being close to the sea, so whenever I’m in Rio I go to the beach for a swim. I’m much more of a day person than a night person.

And food, is there anything you don’t eat?

No, I’m good with a fork. My father was a chef, and he came from Belém. I remember when I was four, five years old, he would give me açaí to eat, I thought it was purple, bad. And he said: “You have to learn to eat everything, because you don’t know how it will be, where you will live”. So I eat everything, in general I eat well.