The day I was Born as a Writer

Sometimes we have to make difficult decisions to evolve…

Nine years ago, I left my car at the mechanic for an overhaul. Upon returning home on foot, my cell phone rang. It was a Rio de Janeiro number (I live in São Paulo). I answered the phone.

“Juliano? It’s So and so, from Globo TV! I’m calling to negotiate your salary!”

“My salary?”

“Yes, you have just been hired for the remake of the soap opera ‘Tititi,’ which will be written by Maria Adelaide Amaral!”

“I didn’t know… Can we talk in a little while? I can’t negotiate with you without knowing exactly what I’m going to do!”

I hung up and called Maria Adelaide Amaral. She told me she would write the soap opera and asked to hire me as a script researcher. Okay, I had worked as a researcher before, but I had only worked as an actor for many years. She told me that my contract would end as soon as the soap opera started taping. Then I would move on to a role.

I agreed, of course! But always with the proviso “I just can’t leave my acting career aside.”

I worked for over a year as a script researcher. I provided the initial information to create the story. The authors asked me what they wanted to know, but I know that my answers, far from being merely didactic, suggested paths and tones for the soap opera, even if unconsciously. A little bit of me was incorporated into the story… Until the time came for my contract to end.

“Juliano, it will be a huge loss for you to leave the team to play the role!”

“Yes, but I am an actor; I cannot abandon my career!”

“You are a good actor, but you are an exceptional writer… The role we will give you is small; you would earn much more if you remained on the team! And not as a script researcher, you will be one of the collaborators!”

“But my acting career…”

“You don’t have to abandon your acting career! Do both! Start writing and continue acting. You will see that another universe will open…”

I could have insisted on just continuing my acting career. And, maybe, I would have done a good role, one that would make me better known and, thus, be called for more jobs as an actor. But I decided to risk being a writer.

My acting career, of course, suffered a lot from this. I did few jobs after this. But I wrote three soap operas as a collaborator, two mini-series alone, and a book that fills me with pride. You know that thing about wanting to become “immortal,” leaving a mark on our passage through Earth? It’s my book…

My writing career proved to be much more fruitful than that of an actor. In addition to earning better, I found a way to really put out what is inside me.

For Juliano actor, it was the biggest mistake of his life…

To Juliano writer, it was the birth.