José de Abreu completes 45 years at Globo and says he was never censored by the broadcaster

"I maintain an average of one soap opera per year. I don't stop", he says. Despite the sequence of work, he recognizes that reality is not the same for all colleagues. "There are a lot of good actors who can't work for a thousand reasons. I think it's just my luck. I'm a lucky guy."

In the plot written by Dino Cantelli and Juliana Peres, he will play Próspero, a São Paulo native from Mooca who moves to Rio de Janeiro, opens a bar and gets involved in a good-natured dispute with Clemente, a character played by Antônio Pitanga, 87, and owner of a competing establishment.

The rivalry takes on a comical tone due to their passion for football: one is from Palmeiras and the other is a Flamengo fan. "The dramatic side of the soap opera is very beautiful, but we provide comic relief", he says.

The group also brings together Rodrigo Lelis and Inês Peixoto and will have a plot involving clowns who visit hospitals to bring entertainment to patients.

Although he is remembered for his dense characters and striking villains, Abreu says that comedy marked the beginning of his career on television. He recalls works such as the first version of "Ti Ti Ti" (1985) and states that, over the years, he ended up being cast more frequently in dramatic roles. "I started in comedy and loved it. They called me to do drama and it stuck", he reinforces.

The actor also celebrated the unprecedented partnership with Antônio Pitanga. Longtime friends, the two had never acted together in a soap opera. "We have a lot of artistic and personal affinity. It's been a lot of fun to work together."

When talking about changes in the audiovisual market, he assesses that the end of Globo's exclusive contracts gave actors more freedom to move between broadcasters and streaming platforms. According to him, the new dynamic allowed artists to alternate works. "Today everyone is a bit of a freelancer. They do Netflix, HBO, Disney+, go back to Globo, do Globoplay."

Known for his political activism, the actor claims that he has never suffered any type of censorship within Globo. "A lot of people asked me: 'How do you do it?'. I said I didn't know. I've already spoken to some directors, with Roberto Marinho's children, and no one ever asked me for anything, they never caught my attention."

Abreu says that the station's owners always gave him the freedom to position himself. "They even reassured me: 'You're ours, you look like Globo, like a good actor. You can do whatever you want, nothing will happen.'"

Despite this, he stated that he will stop his public demonstrations about politics when the period of restrictions provided for in electoral legislation comes into force. "From the 17th, I have to keep quiet. It's not for Globo, it's for the electoral law. Whoever is on the air cannot have political participation", explains the actor who announced in February that he intended to run for the Chamber of Deputies in this year's elections for the PT, but withdrew the following month. Four years ago, he also withdrew from his candidacy.

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