Carolline Salomão is a French Brazilian actress of Syrian Lebanese ancestries, born and raised in Brazil. Later, studied to be a film director in Paris and finally went to drama school in Brazil, graduating in December 2016. She’s fluent in French, Portuguese, English and Spanish. She’s a professional Ballet Dancer, professional Horse Rider, and skilled screen combat actress.
In 2017, she started her acting career and played various roles in series like, “Genevieve”, a French Doctorate in the HBO Brazilian TV series PSI. In “Metropole”, which is also a Tv series, she plays the brilliant ‘Gabriela Mantovani’, an upcoming detective in the São Paulo special forces. In “A Herança”, a tv series as well, she played Pamela Chevalier, a cocaine-addicted socialite from the countryside of São Paulo who drags her best friend, Luciana Reis. In the year 2018, she moved to Madrid and worked in a lot of commercials, with the help of her fluent Spanish. In the same year, she went back and forth to Brazil where she was cast to play a comic role in “Glass” from “M. Night Shyamalan”. At the end of 2018, she signed with a new agent in the UK and has been living here for the past three years, accumulating significant experience and credits.
In the year 2019, she played lead roles in three feature films currently being presented to different networks. In those, she was able to show two very important traits of her acting skills: Comedy and Action, screen combat skills that goes from sword fighting to kickboxing and jiujitsu as well. She also played lead roles in multi-awarded films, available on PRIME VIDEO UK and US. Her acting skills earned her two Best Duo Acting Awards amongst twelve other awards as well. Although 2020 was a different year for all of us, Carolline Salomão never stopped filming, receiving a huge acclamation for her comedy videos on Brazilian YouTube channels with up to 5 million subscribers.
In the year 2021, she played Cindy Fitts in the TV series “What the Fact”, to be distributed soon by Amazon Prime. Her character in the series is a whistleblower doctor who feeds a YouTube celebrity with hard truths about the pharmaceutical industry. The production was awarded a Best Cast Ensemble Award amongst other 5 awards. She is going to work on her next project in January 2022, called “A Beautiful Debt”. This will be her fourth action movie. In this one, she plays an ex-secret service agent who falls in love with the wrong guy. Let us have a look at what she said in an exclusive interview with “Tycoon Global Magazine”.
Q.1 How will you define your personality? How would you define of yourself?
“I’m full of sunny energy. I have a sweet side but also a cheeky one. People say I have a cheeky smile. I like to make people laugh, and I believe this is my mission here on this planet. To uplift people with my energy, a gift given to me by God to share with all people. To make them smile. I’ve been called the Brazilian Sandra Bullock, cause I’m naturally funny, or Julia Roberts because of my big smile. But, on the other side, whenever I have my guard up, I come across as a strong, fearless woman. Which leads many people from the industry to cast me as a police officer or a lawyer, and now, secret service.”
Q.2 What marked your interest in the film industry?
“I had wild dreams when I was little. Then, when the time came to make a career choice, all I wanted was to show the world my visions, fantastic camera angles, and surreal narratives. I would rent 5 different films and spend one or two whole days watching one after the other. From Akira Kurosawa’s “Dreams” to Jean Pierre Jaunet et Caro’s “Delicatessen”. My favourite titles would be registered on the walls of my room. Not posters. I would write them on the walls, driving mom crazy. Finally, but not less important, I must add to that my grandmother. Olga Abrahão Salomão. When I was little, I would sleep at her apartment, and she would always tell me a religious story before I went to bed. Like that, she taught me moral principles but also the taste for storytelling. No one else ever did that to me again. She recently passed away, but I’ll always keep her memory alive. She is and will always be with me until we meet again.”
Q.3 Out of all the characters you have played, which do you think resembles your personality and why?
“So far, Giorgia, the character I played in “The Magnificence of You”, certainly resembles my personality the most. When I met the writer-director, Joel Van Der Molen, we decided we had to work together. As we got to know each other better, it all became clear, and Joel said I had to play Giorgia, a character inspired by a real person. He realized how close our personalities were and decided I was the only one who could possibly portray her. That character allowed many parts of my personality to come out, from my sweet side to anger and disappointment. It was a full circle. The bubbly Carolline and the explosive Carolline. But I have to say, the next thing I’ll be filming this year is also very close to my personality. It’s an action piece that requires a lot of training. I love martial arts and always had the feeling that in a past life, I was probably an Amazon Warrior. This character has a feisty personality, as well as a funny side. Luke J I Smith, owner of the studio we’ll be filming in, who has trained with Jedis from Start Wars to stunts in Aquaman, was the one responsible for perfecting each movement of my fight choreography. He’s amazing.”
Q.4 You know many languages. What role do they play in framing your career?
“Before moving to London, I was living and acting in Madrid. So, the Spanish language opened a new market of possibilities for me. Then I decided that if I wanted a truly international career in cinema, I would have to be in Paris or England. Although I’m half French and speak fluently the language, fate brought me to London when I met my English agent in Paris. I instantly fell in love with London. That said, I still want to break into the Parisian cinema scene.”
Q.5 How were your experiences filming in 2020 with all those restrictions?
“Since I already had experienced Covid and my immunity was extremely high, I was never scared to be on set. But of course, it was a different experience. We had to be mindful of others at all times and always respect the restrictions imposed by law.”
Q.6 What are your expectations from the field you are working in?
“I believe that my field will only grow more and more because of the diversity of possibilities brought by the streaming platforms and the talent agencies expanding their field of expertise, besides the growth of the indie film market. The biggest streaming platforms are now also content producers, so are the talent agencies, going from only managing talent to now producing their writer’s pieces using their talents. During Covid, although production slowed down, I always said: the more people are forced to stay at home, the more content the industry will need to produce to entertain this audience. I don’t want people locked at home, but it gave me hope that my business would always go on. The show must go on, they say, right? At the same time, I believe, personally, that there has never been a better time to be a multi-ethnical actress. Not only because of the “me too” movement but, again, because of the streaming platforms. Now any content on Netflix reaches the four corners of the world, so it means they need leading actors and heroes the audience can identify with. For example, I’m French-Brazilian-Syrian Lebanese. People can never tell where I’m from. They struggle because, truth is, I could be from any of those four nationalities but also Israeli, Greek, American, Canadian, Russian, Italian, and so on.”
Q.7 What or who is your inspiration and why?
“My grandmother and my mother inspired me to always be strong, to always go for it. “Wise people make it happen. They don’t sit around waiting”, mom always says and, “Your only obligation in this world is to be happy”. Grandma’s classical phrase was “this thing of being weak doesn’t work, one must be strong” alongside with “we got to make a little joke, being too serious is boring!”. These strong women always inspired me to be kind but at the same time firm. Taught me that a life without a goal is empty and that a life where we don’t pursue our dreams is not worth living. Also, since I was little, my mom always saw and encouraged my talent for writing, feeding me with loads of books, investing in me so I could speak multiple languages, and excel in different sports. These women inspired me and always will. Then, the first movie that touched my heart on a more profound level was Cinema Paradiso, and I usually say it was the one that made me decide I wanted to be in the film universe. For me, life in itself was too dull, the films were the missing part. They would take me around the world, seeing it through the eyes of different directors from different nationalities.”
Q.8 What will be your advice for the people who are trying to make a name for themselves in the industry?
“I say be positive, be yourself, don’t take it personally. You won’t be able to please everyone anyway, so don’t feel disappointed when you don’t. It only takes a few people to believe in you and to help you grow, so the people that don’t see your talent, the people that disregard you, just are not the right people for you. It’s just the universe or whatever you want to call it, clearing the way for you so you can meet the right people. At the same time, be always open to learning. Take it in what you believe makes sense, but don’t let it harm you if you don’t believe it makes sense. Another thing, you need to be your agent. Getting a great agent is super important, but this industry is about relationships, so you must network and create a net of good people around you to grow together. Go to film events, festivals, write your stuff. Be bold. Be you. If you hide your identity, your true self, you will never succeed in this industry. The more you, the more unique, the more irreplaceable, the more they will want you.”