“Encantado's” series is a dream and joy, say authors

Friends for over 25 years, Renata Andrade It is Thais Pontes sign the script “Enchanted's” hit series from Globoplay which premieres its second season on open TV this Tuesday (23), shortly after “Reborn” .

Long before establishing themselves as a creative duo, they were already writing very similar personal trajectories. After all, they were two black women and advertisers sharing the same passion for writing under the umbrella of humor perspective . In fact, humor in the right dose, one that does not offend, oppress or seek to romanticize suburban reality.

“We always loved writing and fed our social networks with what we saw in the world through a humorous perspective. It was common to receive feedback from our friends and this strengthened our desire to work as screenwriters”, says Renata.

“We started taking scriptwriting courses, focusing on humor, we shared chronicles on our profiles and with that our ability started to be noticed”, he recalls.

“I didn't think it would be possible for many reasons, so it was a start of trying, reading, taking a free course and I think it's important to talk about this because a lot of people started from another point and it's good to see us getting there too”, adds Thais.

A CNN , Renata and Thais share the importance of black identification and presence on screen as protagonists of their own stories and dreams, experiences, ancestry and the respectful dosage of humor in the production. Check out the full interview below.

Considering the current national audiovisual scene, what is the biggest difficulty in making comedy in Brazil? By the way, what is the DNA of humor and how did you find this balance in the series?

Thais: I think the starting point of all this is our DNA. We always looked at things from this humorous perspective, always putting strong colors on things that were banal. When we created 'Encantado's', it came from personal background, we wanted to talk about ourselves.

In the newsroom, we have Antonio Prata and Chico Mattoso, who are white men. Today, for the third season, we also have Hela Santana, who is a black trans woman, but it was created by me and Renata, two black women.

We have a 90% black cast, but we don't talk about problems, we touch on racism because it's not a fairy tale, but that's not the theme. We want to talk about family, work. I think creating the series as a comedy is, in some way, an advance.

Renata: When we talk about racial issues, we bring a lot of our experiences as this permeates our lives. There's no way to live in a very racist country and pretend it doesn't happen, but we always remember that 'Encantado's' is at the service of humor. No one is supposed to be sad, so we make the oppressor always ridiculed.

A synthesis that I think is very Brazilian is this almost blind faith that everything will work out in the end. The humor in our text is largely based on this, this Brazilian ability to deal with adversity by always laughing at oneself.

On X, formerly Twitter, comments about the plot are very much focused on identification, both for the cast, which is mostly black, and for the story itself, which brings this narrative of a happy Brazil. Was that your goal as screenwriters?

Renata: I think there is room for all types of content, I think it has the most revealing content, which touches on our deepest wounds and they serve as a denunciation, which reminds us that our pains still exist and, even though we are occupying new places, this does not It may be left aside, but it is not 'Encantado's' place.

We use the right of this most optimistic place, of people who suffer, who are beaten every day, but who are very happy, who play, who laugh, of people who celebrate themselves. This is the slice we chose.

It is important that people do not see themselves portrayed only in a place of pain, it is good that they see themselves and have their self-esteem valued, understand themselves as interesting people and feel proud of who they are.

Thais: A lot of the way people identify comes from this proximity to the characters. Everyone, in some way, is or knows someone who is being played there. It's great to see that we created something we wanted to see and that it reached the public.

We brought the Intendente Magalhães carnival, which is not the Sapucaí carnival, it is a carnival without spotlights and many cariocas didn't even know about it. It's great to put this on the screen and have feedback from the people who are there, who make it happen, who show all the difficulties of everyday life until reaching Sapucaí's dream. So the series talks a little about this duality with humor.

And how does the division in the writing process work between you?

Thais: Nowadays there are five of us in the newsroom and it is a very collaborative process. There, everyone does everything. We meet daily, there are hours of meetings thinking about plots. From then on, everyone writes every episode.

We have the reading stages and a very close process with Henrique Sauer [diretor artístico] who sends notes on the episodes and this happens both from there to here, as well as from the editorial team there. We are on set, which is very important and uncommon in productions. There is this very close exchange and that makes it a series for everyone.

Renata: There are also many peripheral people on the team. We bring a look at the suburbs, it's a work done by people who grew up there, who know where 'Encantado's' is on the map and much of the result of the series is a consequence of these experiences.

It's not a production that talks about the suburbs made by people on the other side of the tunnel and that counts positively for us.

The second season recently arrived on Globoplay, bringing some special appearances that came to add to it, what has the public response been like?

Renata: One of the new features is the arrival of Eliane Giardini. We had already mentioned the character in the first season but nothing very deep. When we decided to bring Dalva to the new batch of episodes, it was largely due to the presence of Madurão – Tony Ramos’ role – which would decrease considerably due to the soap opera “Terra e Paixão”.

She came, joined the team beautifully, embraced her, dressed the character exceptionally and we are very happy. It's cool because 'Encantado's' brings a lot of people from the media, from samba, actors and actresses who asked to participate.

Thais: The second season is always an expectation. The first one went very well, people really liked it and the second one, in some way, is different. We boosted the humor, delved deeper into the characters, continuing with the base and DNA of the Ponza family with Eraldo (Luis Miranda) and Olímpia (Vilma Melo).

The first has that surprise that no one knows that cast, so we put 17 characters on the screen of millions of people and hope they like them. In the second, it's: 'keep enjoying it'. We already have the certainty that these are solid roles for the public, but we propose to go a little more crazy, to subvert some things. The feedback we received from Globoplay was very good. But now, open TV is a much bigger cannon.

Do you believe that carnival Brazilianness, as a cultural manifestation, and faith, not only in a religious way, but faith in life, in people, in better days, is the great basis for maintaining this audience and success?

Thais: I think we have very strong pillars in the series. That of identification, that of family, romantic and faith. They are Brazilian characters who dream. I think we also have the advantage of not exploring postcards of Rio de Janeiro. That's Sauer's great thing too, focusing on landscapes that we look at and say: 'Hmm, this could be anywhere'.

Renata: Another point is not to leave religious faith aside, so we say this in a few ways. Obviously, in first place is the faith of African-based religions. We are talking about carnival and not talking about these religions would be a mistake. That's why we really talk about and mention the Orixás.

Seeing the relationship of people who are not familiar with this is very positive, mainly because everything was done in a respectful way, nothing imposing. We simply present the faith of those characters.

But we also have evangelical and Catholic representation and I think this is a way of exploring not only faith, but religious plurality in the country.

Finally, the third season is also confirmed for 2025, right? What can we expect?

Thais: We are thinking about many participations, but we are also focusing on getting to know the characters more, unfolding them. What I can say is that we finished the second one saying it was better than the first. Now, we're writing the seventh episode of the third and saying it's better than the other two.

Renata: Regarding the third, it is also worth mentioning that we are testing new double configurations. We understand the potential of the characters with each other, but the cast is wonderful and we are going to test other paths that can pay off.

Enchanted is…?

Renata: Happiness. I think that's what sums up those existences. Despite all the problems, they keep joy first.

Thais: I would say it's a dream. The word dream comes to everyone, a lot of people there are in their first job, at their first opportunity and I think 'Encantado's' was a big leap. It's written on the walls of the market 'We are the dream of our ancestors' and I think that's it. It's a dream for the characters, for us and for those who see themselves on screen.