Still reeling from the excitement and appreciation for Diogo's amazing Q&A here on the blog, today's "Clip of the Day" stays with that theme... it comes from August, 2009 when SIC and E-Especial did a live broadcast online with Diogo called "Episódio Directo com Diogo Morgado" where he answered online questions from fans directly. And our dear friends Liliana and Lou da Gama were both kind enough to translate a half hour each of this ONE HOUR "interview" for us, which you will find below the video/link.
(video courtesy of SIC)
(Note: there is no sound for the first few seconds of the clip, and you may need Flash to view it.)
Click here to watch the video if it does not show/load automatically.
Reporter (Margarida): Good afternoon everybody, welcome Diogo Morgado.
DM: Hi!
Reporter: Welcome to "Episódio Directo" [Live Episode], you know questions will pour…
DM: Yeahh rain is a good sign! I’m ready to get wet, let’s go!
Reporter: Right? Let’s go then… First question: - “I would like to know, as an actor, which character did you like to do the most. Hugs and cheers for your career, you are a great host too.”
DM: Thank you!! What’s his name?
Reporter: Miguel.
DM: Miguel, honestly, for me… I love what I do. To me, work is everything and I think that the difficult parts are always the last ones. It’s the last thing you do. For what I’ve done, the most difficult is the last one, the one I am doing, now, there’s a sense of responsibility. We know what the people like, and that always adds to the difficulty level. I try to innovate always and that is difficult. Veeery difficult. Everything is invented, now!
Reporter: Miguel also thinks you are a great host. Have you thought leaving acting and turn into that?
DM: Noooo. No. No. No. No.
Reporter: The ideal was for you to do both…?
DM: No. I say this and have no problem with that, I am not a host. Inside what a prototype host is, a person who is ready or hosting any kind of events, I am not a host. I am someone who likes to communicate with people, and that feels at ease hosting some things, some events and situations. I like almost everything that has to do with direct contact with the audience. The program “Da-lhe Gás” that I made here at SIC, had about 700 kids in the pavilions, and there was much shouting, a big mess, and I was the master of the game. For me that was kidding, not hosting, I was like the older brother, playing with them. The game becomes a tv program. So… thank you, I appreciate it, Miguel, but I do not see myself as a host. If I have to do and identify with the project… the last thing I hosted, and maybe that is what Miguel is talking about, was “Amor de Verão” here at SIC, and I had contact with the audience, that was a challenge and I had lots of friends who sang there, so I did it with pleasure, It was great.
Reporter: So Diogo Morgado is and will be an actor.
DM: I….. try to be! Yes!!
(Click the "Read More" link below to read the rest....)
Reporter: Here’s a question from Soraia in Switzerland, I think we should send a kiss to Soraia, she participates every week.
DM: Hey. A big kiss to Soraia from Switzerland, and participate every day, we need people not only from Portugal, but also worldwide.
Reporter: It´s true, and Soraia asks: Wich one do you like the most? Theater, Cinema, or TV and why? - Difficult, right?
DM: No, not that hard, really. Sometime ago I would say cinema, that I still like a lot. Nowadays I like essentially to work with people that love what they do. Honestly, talking about money, many people complain that Portuguese entertainment or fiction products, always suffer from money issues and that is because they are not so good. I had many situations where there was much money involved and the work was not that good, even the process itself was not interesting, and I did things almost for free where I learned blindly, it was wonderful and the repercussion towards the audiences was great. So, that translates essentially to the people evolved in the project, artistically, technically. So, concerning the three things, I like working with people that get involved, and that identify themselves with the project, and that instantly feels – and you just know that, when you work with people that “dress the shirt” like you, you feel an energy that does not explain itself, and you learn a lot, everything flows in a different way. That is my answer.
Reporter: A little time ago we saw you portraying Salazar in "Private Life of “Salazar," that was a great challenge to you too because it’s such a distant character form what is our [Portuguese] reality now…
DM: It was. That was a little accelerated due to the process, since choosing the actor until the rest, there was a short time. There was a urgency in the project and the little time I had I did research – and right there I learned - which was an opportunity to learn, study our History. I got to know much more. And then I never thought of myself, with my age and my characteristics, portraying one of Europe’s biggest dictators in such a big scale of time. No doubt that was epic, I was very proud of being a part of it and loved the adventure.
Reporter: And you feel like an expert about the person Salazar was?
DM: I don’t know. I feel like I know the facts that involved his life. I thing that the great genius, the wrongdoers, the great personalities, they are never totally known, just a part of them. The ones who have the chance to be private for a period of time with those characters, are the ones who can talk about them. And even like that is strange, and I give myself as an example, I don’t know how much I know myself, so who are the others to say they know me. So, concerning the facts, I know that today I am more aware of Salazar, but not sure if can say I am the person that actually knows him.
Reporter: He is still shrouded in mystery…
DM: He will always be a very troubled figure.
Reporter: Vasco asks: What is most difficult when you are acting?
DM: To fail. Essentially what is most difficult when I am acting is feeling I defined something but wasn´t able to accomplish it. A little time ago I had the opportunity of doing an audition for an important job and all I wanted was to make sure I did everything I set out to. I will go out of there feeling bad if I didn't do what I intended and what was expected from me. I don't care about critics from people, saying’ I don’t look like Salazar, whatever… I did the best I could and all the team did well, there were people that loved the series, people who learned a lot, just to give an example. Does not correspond to the audiences' expectations and to my own is what is most difficult. More than forgetting the text, or not knowing the lines…
Reporter: Margarida says: Hello, I admire you so much as an actor, how was it to do "Podia Acabar o Mundo" with Claúdia Vieira and Joana Seixas? Kisses. And can you send one for me?
DM: Little kiss to Margarida. Thank you for the cheers and the questions. I was surrounded by two princesses, two princesses, different, very different… ummm Joana I think is an excellent actress, she has a background but she can get loose from that. She is able to risk and take options that at the time wouldn’t be expected. Claúdia is an adventurer, she follows her instinct, even if things get weird, she hangs on to her instinct, in a way that her portrayal is always honest and strong. For me, "Podia Acabar o Mundo" was very good, like a test-tube to be a dad, like an exercise, I was a dad to at "Vingança" and so I had two distinct sons, so different from each other and that got me thinking: “Yeahh this could be my son… and this too… hummmm” and that’s nice to see how we behave while we are not fathers, but at the same time there’s a feeling to instill to the young actor that almost father-son relationship. That is so interesting because we can play with them, but there is a limit when we say enough – let’s work hard now. This last son of mine was more skittish, with his head in the air and gave me more work but we got along!
Reporter: Do you think experimenting being a dad in fiction gave the will to be a real dad?
DM: No. No. It didn´t gave me more will to, since I remember – and probably my brother is going to hate me – but my relationship with him is amazing, it has always been – he is seven years younger – and I thought that in a way, a better relationship than the one I have with my brother could only be the one I would have with a son. Something more than sharing knowledge, other things because I am the dad, is to show the good and the bad and let the guy take his options. I think being a dad is that – showing with all the sustainability the arguments that lead to take a path, more than ordering that path. To be a dad, a boyfriend, a husband, a friend is like that. And I want to extend that human feeling to every possibility. I had a mom, a dad, all of them healthy, I was lacking [being a dad] so I could continue to explore that human feeling.
Reporter: Well, something that is almost done!
DM: Almost, almost! He’s on his way! Coming soon!
Reporter: Marta says: Hi, I know you are going to be a dad in a few months, do you know the gender of the baby and the name he will have?
DM: Yes sir! It’s a baby BOY and I don´t know which name he is going to have! We are in a terrible indecision, but sooner or later everybody is going to know!
Reporter: But do you have any possible names?
DM: We have, but I rather not say, because the mom kills me and I don’t feel like being killed! It’s a boy, it’s a boy!! I would love a boy, so I order him online directly from France! And it’s a boy… on his way… almost!!!
Reporter: Vivivana asks what’s your dream trip and why? – Maybe for your vacation…
DM: I don’t like vacations. There will be no vacations now… not even in dreams! I am not a fan of vacations, I am a real fan of work. That is what I love to do, where I feel good!
Reporter: But you need to stop a while…
DM: A three day break. More than that and I get angry. A week. In the last six years, I had at the most, one week, seven days off.
Reporter: And what do you like to do in that week? To travel?
DM: Uhhhh I am not a big fan of travelling, I love to be in places but hate the process of getting there. To pack, get on the plane or the train, bus or car… and then getting there is too bad for me. But then I like being there! Slippers and backpacking and go discover things! About the dream trip – I already did that one I went to Peru and I advise to the ones that identify with South-American culture and the Incas, the Mayas, those type of cultures and civilizations I really advise. And go through Machu Picchu that is absolutely extraordinary. I went there very skeptical, because the expectations were big, and I said – no let’s make this shorter, or else you will get disappointed and will never get over it! So I told myself. Sometimes I talk to myself.. “Hey Diogo, stop being silly” and things like that… So with low expectations I just got overwhelmed! The people… Did you know that the widows from Peru dress themselves with bright colors!!
Reporter: Different from us, then…
DM: We wear black! Because the person left the material side and became energy, so they celebrate that despite their sadness. That’s a totally different concept than ours. Not saying ours is less, but it’s different. That’s fantastic!
Reporter: Yes they face death as something…
DM: Completely different… and that is just one of the aspects… Their God’s being the natural elements it’s just extraordinary and I respect all religions, but without the sun, the wind, the tides, the sea… poufff… no life, not anything! They untangle. Make it natural.
Reporter: Are you religious?
DM: I have my faith. I am a Catholic because I was baptized, but I never practiced. Now, I am a person of faith.
Reporter: For instance, you will have a son…
DM: I will not baptize him. I think he should decide that. I respect everything, and that is the type of thing that shouldn’t be imposed in any way, not saying my parents imposed something on me, it’s our traditions and they baptized me, but I would like to have had that option and I will allow that to my son, of course.
Reporter: Viviana asks Which was the most embarrassing scene you ever did?
DM: I can say… for instance… uhhhh… The first novela I did, I was fifteen, and I had no driver license. At the time, there was a scene with Patrícia Tavares, she was my first girlfriend on TV, and we were in the car, talking…. a few kisses and then the scene ended with me starting the car and moving on, right?... The car turns off like 10 times!... I was fifteen…. As you can imagine I felt like nothing! [silence] I felt like the wrong guy, at the wrong place… at the wrong world, doing the wrong scene by the wrong people!!! I felt everything was wrong in life! Such a silly thing like turning a car on. I never picked up a car before and I said: “Yes, yes of course I tried it before”… But you don’t have a license! “Yes I know but I have tried!” – Cause I don't say no to anything! And if anyone says: “Not sure you can make it!” Then I got pissed off completely! Let’s see about it!!! Well… that was embarrassing!
Reporter: Petra Asks if you get nervous when you act.
DM: No. Not when I am doing a scene. Before, yes! Yes. Always. Too much! Nervous, Anxious…
Reporter: When you play at the theater, how do you live those moments?
DM: Managing the energy, ummmm I can tell you that at this TV event “Amor de Verão” for SIC done in a live mode, which I never did before, alone as a host I felt completely out of my place. I prepared myself, knew exactly what to say and how I would manage that, but the minutes that preceded the beginning was filled with adrenaline, and in the 30 minutes after it starts I kept reviewing the alignment. So I can keep calm I get methodic and systematic. And at a play it is the same thing. I spot the emotional parts, review the lines… it’s a way to keep myself calm.
Reporter: Helena asks: If you were Portugal’s Prime Minster for a day, what measures would you take?
DM: That’s complicated!!... I am going to pass on that question! There are political issues here. It’s inevitable that when an artist talks about politics, he calls things to his job/art, talking about issues that are poorly rated by the politicians, to what the artist is concerned about, and it all makes sense. But I think that, and honestly – ask my colleagues to forgive me – there are other compelling issues that need more attention and social criticism, than those ones. I don´t want to be the one to underestimate situations that deserve some social attention. Sorry!
Reporter: Carminda asks: How was it to do a scene with Rui Unas?
DM: It was a spree!! No… for me Rui Unas is an extraordinary person. He is a full artist with a real notion of what surrounds him, extremely well informed about what goes on in our country, with a great sense of humor. He acts, hosts, just doesn’t sing and dance… but that… he will manage soon. He had a character that rapped… He was Mr. U making strange moves with is hands like this… Little kiss Rui, you are the best! It was very good, and I think we need more people like him in our class. Most of them are naturally communicative, but have not conscience about who we are, who the people from our country are, we have to get to people and add something else. Not just entertaining, but give more, and Rui is one of those people, and I admire that a lot. I invited him to do the play ["Pedras nos bolsos"], he didn’t want to, he said it was too hard – and it was, it had 5 or 6 characters for each actor in a 2 hour play – but I am a little stubborn and I got him and it was amazing. And now he tells me “When do we make the next one?” So… kisses for Rui and I hope I answered the question!
Reporter: Sofia says you are gorgeous and congrats to you for the baby [Diogo laughs and says Thank You] and asks: Now that you are going to be a dad, are you more concerned about the harassment of the paparazzi? Cheers! – Does that worry you? Do you keep yourself from doing anything, going anywhere?
DM: No. I will do the same things. I am not like some people I have heard of that since having kids wanted to be known. Not actors or singers… they wanted to be known. And I say this, because I’ve seen them on TV sayin’ this, I am not saying names, it doesn’t matter but I was like: wwowwww! When I get bigger want to be just like him… And I never was… I was a little caught up in the middle of everything and tried to do just the best I can. Never identified too much with this thing of paparazzi and media and stuff…
Reporter: You want people to talk about your work, not you…
DM: Not even about me! I don’t even make sure people valuate what I do. If people don’t talk about me… [thumbs up] It’s cool with me!! Look: pretend you say to me: “Diogo please fill up this glass of water for me.” I just want to be relaxed that I just filled up the best glass of water I could in that moment. That is my work philosophy. Always. It is impossible to please everyone, not only in the artistic environment, but in everything. And look: One person saying bad things is not less than the ten people saying good things. It’s the same thing! Both have value, they are opinions. I try to please my conscience: I did all I could to accomplish. From there I am relaxed. There are people who like it and people that don´t. Sometimes it goes okay, sometimes not. I am relaxed.
Reporter: So the paparazzi….
DM: Paparazzi… hey… that makes me confused, because people say this a part of being known and I should be used to that …. Uh… not that simple!! Who is used to going to the bakery to buy your daily bread and have all the people talking about you and your life… not easy! But… Umm that is something we have to learn to live with, I am not comfortable with that, but I will not stop doing the things I am used to. Trying to do things so no one gets hurt.
Reporter: When you were a little boy, what did you want to be?
DM: An architect.
Reporter: And then you changed…
DM: Then things changed me… I don´t know, I always liked to draw, won a drawing prize when I was a little boy. That has something to do with me. I like to talk to people, to build things, as a kid I played a lot with my brother with lots of Legos and I was planning the houses all the time. Like: I don´t spend money on anything except for my house… Clothes, music, I don´t spend much. Movies, DVD's… but what I really like is things for my house.
Reporter: You like to feel comfortable…
DM: At home! At my house I do! And if there is something I would love to put in some special place I can even lose my head a bit… because I don’t do that in anything else… Don’t smoke, don’t drink, do not go out at night… I just get fulfilled to see my house as I like it.
Reporter: The next question comes like a sequence… Rui asks how your career started?
DM: I was about 14 years and a mate from school [Márcio – if he sees this: hugs] ummm he liked fashion a lot, had posters in his room and all of that, he knew about a contest for the “Super Jovem" magazine [kisses for them!] so there was a model contest and he said: "Hey man make sure you come to my house for us to take some pics…" We took pics to each other, sent them, they called us, we went there, and I got this kind of an audition and took a class at models school in Lisbon. I finished the class and Elite Portugal, a modeling agency hired me and one year later I started as a photograph model – I was too young – later after that experience I am caught in an audition for a novella at RTP, which was "Terra Mãe,"the first Rui Vilhena novela in Portugal. When I finished that, one of the actors in it was directing a play at Maria Matos Theater and invited me to the audition that I got…. I did childhood theater for a period and two years later I got into various things in TV. Later at SIC I did "Amo-te Teresa"… ummm and at that point people stopped sayin’ “Hey there’s Miguel from Terra Mãe”… and started sayin: “There’s Diogo Morgado!” SIC had that amazing thing of presenting me as an actor for the first time. And I owe so much to SIC, that is why I am here [pointing] SIC!
Reporter: "Amo-te Teresa" was a tele-film, a little different, did you feel like experimenting with a new thing?
DM: No, I didn´t because to me… until now, everything is new! I find myself amazed with things today. Like: Uaauuu, you see?! Sometimes they ask me small things… like, I do voiceovers, right? I just came from there now, and it’s like: we have this character… can you make this tip for us? And it’s just a tiny thing at an episode but I get so enchanted by that! Crazy! Love it! I would do "Amo-te Teresa" again, like: Uaauuu [wow!] still amazed! I do not do it on purpose, okay? But I feel a little sad when people say no… some colleagues who are stable in their careers… and stopped feeling amazed about small things!
Reporter: The day we wake up and say… Ohhhh I have to go to work….. something is not okay…
DM; Something’s not working there! But that happens too! Some days we just don’t feel like it, you feel rotten, you don’t want to go… but then you get there and [motions like little stars in the air…] and that’s it!!
Reporter: So good you are like that!
DM: Thumbs up!
Reporter: Do you have many fans?
DM: Do I have many fans? I don’t know! Do I? I don’t know!
Reporter: Do you usually have feedback of your work?
DM: Feedback, I have. But, I’ll be honest. My feedback is not the feedback from "Morangos com Açucar," for example. It’s not anymore. It used to be. Nowadays, I have parents and, in some cases, even teachers, depending on the work, who approach me and tell me, for example, now that I played Salazar, I had many teachers telling me “I think this was good, I think this was bad, etc.”, and they approached me and made sure to stop me at the supermarket line to say “do you know something?” That’s cool! The feedback is good. Now, I don’t know if that means I have many fans.
Reporter: I have a feeling that you have some fans. But that’s me…
DM: Do you? All right! Done! Okay! Cool! That’s good.
Reporter: Tiago asks if you’d like to host "Idols?"
DM: The hosts were already chosen and they are a fantastic duo. As this is a second edition, I wouldn’t probably host it. If they invited me, it would have to be a different thing, adapted to me so that I would feel more at ease. In the present format, I do not identify myself in the sense that I do not believe to be able to better serve the show. I have nothing against the show’s format, it’s a typical entertainment show format, but I don’t feel I’d be able to do something like that. It had to be something much more interactive so as to fit me. And that’s all I have to say about that.
Reporter: Do you like music?
DM: I like it. I like music!
Reporter: Guest asks what’s your favorite type of music?
DM: It depends! It depends on the mood. Sometimes, it even depends on the characters [he’s playing]. There are characters that I associate to a particular song, and while I listen to it, I see the whole story.
Reporter: is it part of your process to build a character?
DM: Sometimes, it’s an accident. Sometimes, when I am in those two months before starting to shoot, I’m searching for anything, but unconsciously. I see something, I see someone, I meet someone… I’m seeing little things. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes, they’re not. Sometimes I think they’re good, but in the final result, they do not appear. Sometimes, I think I’m doing something of a particular thing, but when I see on TV, I’m like “where is it? I’m not seeing it!” and I think I’m doing it, but… while I believe I’m doing anything, something must come out. And, sometimes, in that situation, I listen to a song in the radio and I’m like … “Eh pá! Eh pá! I don’t like this but this reminds me of something! And I end up listening to it and I do a search and end up downloading it. Attention!!! All downloads I do are paid, okay! It’s important to say it. iTunes, iTunes, it’s cheap! So, do as I do.
Reporter: João asks if you would like to do a TV series with Globo [Biggest Brazilian TV channel].
DM: No. mm, mm, no.
Reporter: Why?
DM: I was supposed to do a mini series, "O Quinto dos Infernos" ("The Fifth of Hell") and I think Globo has a little bit… honestly, I think it has “the king in the belly” [meaning, they are pretentious]. And, that was what I felt while I was there. I ended up not doing it. What I feel is that they have an extraordinary and outstanding productive and story-making capacity. If eventually, I received an invitation, obviously, I would not be stupid. I would hardly deny it. Thus, I’d go because it would be a new market and I would learn things. Yet, that thing of saying, “Eh pá! I would love to do a series with Globo”, Eh pá, no! I will not sleep less restful for not having done a series for Globo, at all. I think we, here, have much to do and, perhaps, a good project here it makes more impact not being part of it, like “Ah! I’d love to have been part of it! I’d love to have been part of it!” than any other series on Globo. And this is honest, really honest. So honest that I’m telling you, I’m not hypocritical, if they invited me, I’d possibly go because I’d learn, I’d be with new people, obviously. But, it’s not like “Oh! It’s what I most want.” That’s a lie.
Reporter: You’ve already confessed that you’re not very fond of buying clothes and things like that. Bernarda asks what is your favorite piece of clothing.
DM: Ah! Uff! Favorite piece of clothing…
Reporter: The one that cannot be missing in your wardrobe.
DM: Eh pá! It’s white t-shirts. It’s this (pulls off his white t-shirt).
Reporter: Basic!
DM: Yeah! This cannot be missing. I have many and I wear them. When I don’t wear only a t-shirt, I put something else, and when I don’t have a white t-shirt I feel… not very comfortable.
Reporter: So, you’re not vain, vain in this sense?
DM: No, I’m not at all. Have you seen this beard? Okay? I also have this beard because…
Reporter (interrupts): … because you can [in the sense, he’s cute enough to present himself as he wants]!
DM: No! No! No! It’s because I’m going to do something, which is still a secret.
Reporter: You could not tell us a little bit?
DM: Ehhh… I still can’t. I can say it’s a movie and things are almost, almost, almost confirmed. It’s missing only that minimal ALMOST!
Reporter: So, we’re going to have a bearded Diogo!
DM: a bearded Diogo! It even has to grow more than this. It has to grow out much more. I do not have much beard. It’s a pity. I do not really like hair, but in situations like this, I could make use of it… being more hairy. We’ll see.
Reporter: So let’s leave some mystery in the air.
DM: Yes, yes, but it will not take much longer. Later on, we’ll talk about it and then we’ll do a joke about it, something special.
Reporter: We, on Episódio Especial, like to follow you and follow your career.
DM: And I like to share. I like to share. I like to share. Thus, it’s set up. It’s promised, soon.
Reporter: Filipa asks what do you most love doing when you're not working? We already realized that this is rare to happen.
DM: But yes, but, I arrive home, and I’m not working at the end of a working day.
Reporter: Do you like cooking?
DM: I like it. I like cooking, yes, ma'am. I can tell you that, yesterday, for example, I made a fabulous chicken with carrots and onions. It went very well. I'll explain it to you. Can I? Do you have time?
Reporter: Of course, we have time.
DM: I'll explain it to you. I’m very economical, okay? At this time, even more. So, there was a promotion in a supermarket of 10 kg (22 lbs) of carrots… at a price! 1.70 Euros, okay? 10 kg by 1.70 Euros ($2.27)! Eh pá! Who doesn’t buy 10 kg of carrots by 1.70 Euros? I bought them, okay!!! I bought it. So, obviously, at home, I went to the Internet to see everything that was possible to do with carrots. And there I was, searching the Internet for I do not know what. And suddenly, I find myself putting carrots in all that is possible to put carrots, very good carrots. And I discovered this chicken… in a pan you make the sauté…whatever, but you stir-fry the carrot with the onions, and the onions get that ‘almost sweet’ of carrots, do you get it? And then, you fry the chicken, ground and whatever… and then, on the top you put mozzarella with coriander [he sends a kiss to the air, meaning… delicious!]
Reporter: Well! I’m think I’m starting to feel hungry.
DM: “It's GREAT”! Very good!
Reporter: Besides enjoying cooking, are you a “good fork” [Portuguese expression that means “enjoy eating”]?
DM: I am. Damn! I love eating. And do you know what really makes me feel sorry? A few years ago I could eat whatever I wanted and how much I wanted. I was always impec [from impeccable.] I could appear in "Men's Health" or in "Maxmen" [magazines], emm? But no, not now, now, if I eat a bit more… I'm screwed. But, so, I really like eating, but I have to be a little bit careful. That’s it! I think it happens to all. One reaches the barrier of the 30's…
Reporter: … The little belly begins.
DM: It begins. It doesn’t spare us. It doesn’t spare us.
Reporter: João - in one word, how do you define yourself?
DM: Ah… one word… one word… come on… it’s not one word, but I think so, good sense. I think it's one thing that’s missing a lot, nowadays, good sense. It’s not even a great quality, but I think it makes all the difference.
Reporter: It’s the basis for many other things in life.
DM: A dude may be more intelligent or less intelligent. He may be friendlier or less friendly, with better style or worse style… Good sense, I think, it makes all, it completes all, and prevents a very important thing that, nowadays, it does not happen, that is people do not get hurt. I think nowadays, people hurt themselves up unintentionally, because they create expectations, because they underestimate themselves or overestimate themselves. And, if one has a bit of good sense, Eh pá… “I do this well but I do this badly. I have these flaws but I have these qualities. This is good but it can bring bad things, and vice versa”, I think good sense do much. So…
Reporter: A moment ago, in the beginning of this conversation, you said you speak a lot to yourself. Does that happen at night when you’re about to sleep? Do you do a retrospective of the day?
DM: I do. I always do. But I try not to do too much because if I start doing it, I have insomnia that never ends, because a thought brings another, and brings another, and I don’t sleep at all, and it’s complicated. Ah, so, I avoid, I try to have those reflections during the daytime, because I've suffered a bit of insomnia because of that. But, so, there must be a space in the daytime. It happens. It is unavoidable. You have to analyze… okay…” what did I do today that was fruitful? Nothing? Eh pá! Then, tomorrow, this is going to change.” So, it’s a bit like that.
Reporter: Henrique asks if you've done any daring scenes and with whom, and…
DM: Any scene??? Where have you been???
Reporter: and was it very difficult?
DM: I've done a few, people! People! You know I’ve done a few! Come on!!!
Reporter: Is it embarrassing?
DM: Eh pá! It depends. It depends. It depends. So, people that say “ah no, because that’s all technique, whatever." Yeah, okay… But, the essential issue is the person whom you’re doing the scene with. If the person with whom you’re doing the scene, if you are comfortable, comfortable with the situation, and they are at ease, and they talk about that… The first time someone came to speak to me about it – It’s not worth to say whom - she was like “Look! Come here! So, it’s like this, I have to tell you I have no problems, okay? Seriously, so, be comfortable. It’s like if you were with your girlfriend, blah, blah, blah”, and all of a sudden that… yeah, yeah…yeah, it’s okay, you’re comfortable. You don’t have that thing of… because, essentially, it’s very cheesy… and sometimes as a spectator I also see some series, sometimes it’s a bit cheesy, like…you see they like one another more or less, and say “I love you" a lot but then it’s not like that, and they give a kiss and it looks very strange.
Reporter: It doesn’t ring true.
DM: And especially, the hotter scenes, even more. I mean, Eh pá!!! And if you’re telling a story, I mean, if you want, if you want… to be an actor “in the word”, you have to take everything whether good or bad, take everything with the same coherence. The same way you prepare the texts and work the character, in those intimate scenes it’s the same character, it’s not another character. It’s not like “suddenly it’s the actor in that scene, it’s no longer the character”, so it depends. But, it’s like this… it’s always a bit strange, even more so, if you do not know the person well. If you're at ease, it's cool. And the thing is even amusing, highly amusing, sometimes, because people laugh a lot. With Claudia (Vieira), [Diogo's former co-star in “Podia Acabar o Mundo” and his current co-star in the upcoming series "Ambição"] for example, we laughed a lot. I told her “come on, Claudia, cover that, seriously. Eh pá! Otherwise, I will not even say the words!” And I played with her and she laughed a lot. And I was being sincere! And Claudia is really cute. So, obviously, I was like “Oh Claudia, seriously! Cover that, cover that!” So if you have that confidence… I think it all depends! It all depends!
Reporter: Catarina - how do you deal with that fact that people want to know who your girlfriend is?
DM: how do I deal with it? With tranquility… with tranquility. I try not to “put the hoop” much [means… mess it up] and I play it with tranquility.
Reporter: Do you feel any pressure from the press?
DM: I don’t know. I don’t feel any pressure. People are like “who is she? Who is she?” I say, I think nobody has to… nobody from my family or my friends or related to me has to… bear the consequences from the fact that I am known. That’s it! So, if the person felt comfortable “Ah! It doesn’t bother me!” Very good! If it doesn’t bother you, we go to public places and show up together. There was no problem! But, if it’s not that the case, if the person, somehow, doesn’t feel comfortable, I would be stupid if I didn’t respect and didn’t try to protect that. And what I ask people, especially journalists, is to respect that. On the day that they will not respect, I will hit them in the mouth. So, that’s all.
Reporter: Well! Are you violent?
DM: No, I’m not violent. But I think that… that’s it! Good sense! Good sense! I’m a super helpful dude for everything. Maybe I'm not the individual who most likes exposure. But whenever I'm in a place, I’m in a place. I'm not displeased and I say all that is necessary to say, and the press generally knows that. If they don’t know it it’s because they are not attentive. But my attitude is a lot like that. So, everything I ask is good sense and that journalists put themselves in the place of the person who is with me and think, “Maybe I don’t feel like being known”, the person doesn’t need to be known. And that’s all I ask, good sense. If there’s no good sense… I will smash their mouth.
Reporter: Elena asks - when will we see you as a stage director?
DM: I’ve already had an experience as a stage director, and it well very well. It was a lot of fun. In a play I did with Gustavo Santos called “Sexo e Batata Frita” ("Sex and Chips.") Eh pá, and it was a lot of fun! And it’s funny to be asked that now because I spoke about it recently. And there are things in theater I want to do a lot and I will have to do them next year. I did two plays this year and I had forgotten how good it is and how much I had missed it and how much it makes me grow as a person and as a professional. And there are things I really want to do, and maybe no one is crazy enough to make them with me, and I'll have to be the one to get ahead. And so, no one will be blamed. It’s that thing of “that could have been better staged, pal!” No, I don’t see myself as a stage director, I love to tell stories. I love to tell stories. I love to give something to people somehow. And if it’s not through acting, it’s in any another way. It’s all in the open. I don’t think seriously about that. I feel more fascinated by film directing, and I made choices in life in order to educate myself increasingly in that direction. I’m a self-educator and I try to learn by myself, but I took at least two courses in film directing, and I’d like to do a more complete one in film directing, more than in stage directing. Because I think theater is a very complex art in the sense, it’s very difficult and very noble. And I think I'm not the best person to do this theatrical carpentry, or the person more educated in theater to do that. I can “give a few taps” [means doing it as an amateur] as a challenge, but that’s all.
Reporter: Andreia - what was the book you most enjoyed reading so far?
DM: "The Unbearable Lightness of Being."
Reporter: It’s very beautiful.
DM: Umm, umm!
Reporter: Benedita – do you have any pets?
DM: Ahh! I have my parents’ dogs. They belonged to my parents when I was living there and when I left they remained my pets. Yes, it’s Luke and Tufa. They’re not with me but they’re mine.
Reporter: Nicole – She says she’s a big fan of yours, and she asks that you send her a kiss in direct.
DM: A kiss in direct, Nicole! Look! Bam! (And he sends a big kiss to the camera.) A big kiss. Thank you.
Reporter: Would you like to participate in Idols?
DM: To participate??? (Laughs). So, of course! Of course yes, it’s all I wanted. Of course yes… I’m kidding.
Reporter: Do you sing?
DM: I sing. I sing in the shower a lot. But, it’s funny because, now and then, they tease me. Here, at SIC, I’m singing some stuff. I don’t know why. But, well, no. I would more readily host a show. As we’ve already talked about it and we’ve understood the degree of resistance, no need to say anything else.
Reporter: Susana - What are your biggest flaws?
DM: Eh pá! I have many. Ah… I’ll fall on common sense, but it’s true. I’m stubborn. I’m pessimistic. Pessimistic is terrible, I think it’s a terrible flaw. I always see the bad side of things. “The worst that can happen”, this is an expression I say a lot, “The worst that can happen is…” always! I say it a lot, “The worst that can happen is…this!” And from there is gained. Ah… pessimistic… stubborn… brbrbrbrbr… Eh pá! And, maybe a little naïve. That’s it!
Reporter: Perhaps, this singing seems to be really common to many people.
DM: Why?
Reporter: Because Ana asks for you to sing a little bit for us.
DM: What??? Oh Ana, do you have any idea? You don’t have any notion, Ana!!! You don’t! I mean…
Reporter: Because many people talk about singing.
DM: (reading the question) and you Diogo, do you sing? You could sing for us. It’s true! I don’t believe it, really!
Reporter: You could sing a little bit.
DM: No, no, no. I won’t. I won’t sing. Do you play (he asks the girl)?
Reporter: No.
DM: You don’t play! So, that’s it. I also do not sing! We stay here. We stay here. We play a little bit of yo-yo. We stay and play one. No. Eh pá! I won’t sing, because I value the audiences of SIC a lot, and I don’t want to be responsible for the flop of the day. So, maybe next time.
Reporter: Maybe next time.
DM: You bring a letter from the director saying, “Diogo, we authorize you to sing. You can be at ease. Choose whatever you want to sing”, and I sing! And then, I won’t be responsible for the audience. It will be the director. And, then, I sing!
Reporter: Diogo…
DM: Tell me…
Reporter: …You have a request from Tina, which says, “Diogo, name your son Diogo.”
DM: Ah! You know, the mother wanted it. The mother likes Diogo, but I think it’s very tacky and a terrible lack of imagination when the son has the name of the father.
Reporter: Not necessarily!
DM: Eh pá! Listen! And then, Diogos, there are not many. Diogos, there are not many, okay? So, everywhere I go, I hear “Oh Diogo!” It’s inevitable, and I turn back (he turns back). It’s not like Nuno or Carlos, for example, there are more. “Oh Nuno! Carlos!” the dude is like, “is it me?” Not me. Any time it’s Diogo, me zumba (he turns back again), right there… looking. Eh pá! I think that no. I don’t think so. I really don’t think so.
Reporter: Maria – do you prefer to be praised as a man or as an actor? Cheers!
DM: Look! I think as an actor I'm a little more capable of validating those compliments than as a man, because as a man, first, people have to know me well, and as I don’t facilitate that task much, I think the compliments are more likely not to be true. But honestly, honestly… I prefer as a man. Good question!
Reporter: Luís – what would be, if you could choose, your dream project?
DM: My dream project? If I could choose, my dream project, at this point, would be a series on SIC with a supernatural context.
Reporter: Supernatural?
D: Ah, ah! A thriller. That’s what I’d like to do.
Reporter: Monica asks if you’re going to be in the series “Eterno Amor” (Eternal Love).
DM: No.
Reporter: What was your reaction when you heard you were going to have a child? Catia asks.
DM: What was my reaction? It was wonderful. It was wonderful. Ah! It was a wonderful feeling.
Reporter: ... and it’s all explained! Daniela asks if it was difficult to undress "Santiago." [from "Vingança."]
DM: Undress Santiago? (Laughs). In fact, he had a large hood. It wasn’t difficult. But, I had the feeling in the end that… because right after it ended I started doing something else… "Star Crossed," a movie, and I had the feeling that what I was doing was similar to Santiago. I had that feeling. So, I spoke every day to myself, saying “Eh pá! No, no!" Because, I spent many months doing a character, then, after two, three weeks, I did the other one, and I felt a bit distressed, saying, “It cannot be. It cannot be. It cannot be.” But it wasn’t like undressing him. I felt that between “action” and “cut”, what I did had some tones of Santiago. But, that’s it. Otherwise, it was tranquil. Then, I went on vacations, and it was good.
Girl: How was starring opposite Maitê Proença in the movie "A Selva," asks Inês?
DM: It was good. She is a very beautiful woman, and very interesting. She’s a diva in Brazil. We were in Brazil, so I was the friend of the diva.
Reporter: was it a great experience?
DM: It was, it was. It was four months in the Amazon rainforest. Ah! Amazonia has a fantastic thing, in that, it forces you to reevaluate the scale of things. There are things that we find that, we, in our life here, are a problem, and in Amazonia, suddenly, things become much simpler. The food is within reach of hands. There’s no policy. There’s no hunger. There’s no poverty. The poverty that exists is what? The dude who only has a pair of flip-flops and a t-shirt? He’s not poor, for he has everything he needs. He has food. He has friends. He has cachaça [white rum, popular in Brazil and Portugal]. He has music. He’s a rich man, okay? It’s us who think he’s poor. So, it was very interesting in this regard.
Reporter: You see? This is inevitable.
DM: What?
Reporter: Liliana also asks for you to sing.
DM: I won’t sing anything!!! They are putting pressure on… sign me up for Idols and I will go there.
Reporter: Look! There’s a hilarious one here. "Margarida [the reporter's name] are you going to host Idols with Diogo?"
DM: Look! We could do it, emm? Good!!!
Reporter: Have you been to Castelo Branco?
DM: I was there doing “Uma Aventura” ("An Adventure.)"
Reporter: Don’t you want to send her a kiss?
DM: A huge kiss to Tania in Castelo Branco.
Reporter: Guest says congratulations for the excellent actor you are. When are you having a new character on a series on SIC?
DM: I don’t know. I really don’t know, because the next series, "Eterno Amor," is filming, and after, I don’t know if there will be another one. And, then I have the movie, so honestly, I don’t know.
Reporter: Filipa – what would you do for love?
DM: What I would do for love? I did a series called “Tudo Por Amor” ("All For Love.") What I would do for love… what I would do for love…
Reporter: The craziest thing. What would you do?
DM: I, for love… I would give up what I like.
Reporter: would you give up your passion for acting?
DM: I would give up.
Reporter: Umm, that would be a great love… Aieee Diogo [DEEP SIGH]!!!
DM: it’s over???
Reporter: No, no, it’s not over.
DM: Ahhh!!! You’ve got a look of ending.
Reporter: We're almost done, and we have to apologize to all the people who sent questions we couldn’t answer.
DM: But the dude gives such answers… he never shuts up! He takes half an hour to answer one question!
Reporter: We have a question from Vera – for when Diogo the villain, badass and rogue?
DM: I have tried to give the hint! “I have thrown the clay to the wall” [it means, to suggest something.] In "Vingança," he was a hero, okay? He was a hero. Come on! The dude was imprisoned for 10 years, and he had every reason to take revenge. But I tried for his behavior wouldn’t be exactly the most correct. So, that people would be in doubt if he was a hero or a villain. That was already an introduction. It gave me immense joy to do this. In "Star Crossed," for example, the movie that was in the movie theaters. I think it’s still there. I’m the villain. I’m clearly the villain. So, these are two examples.
Reporter: Okay. Elena asks when can we see "Pedras nos Bolsos" and "O Elixir do Amor?"
DM: "O Elixir do Amor" will be replayed? No! "O Elixir do Amor" will not be replayed. At least no one has told me. "Pedras nos Bolsos," I can’t remember the next date. But it will be in January. The producer will divulge the date and the place on the Internet.
Reporter: Here it is, Carminda asks – sing a little bit.
DM: I will not sing. I will not sing a little bit. What horror! What a situation!
Reporter: Who is the actor or actress whom you would like to play opposite with or you already acted with?
DM: Portuguese? I played opposite with a great master. He was my first great master, Armando Cortés. Even today, I feel a tremendous gratitude towards him for helping me and being the first person that told me “so, breathe… blah, blah” the first tips. It was a privilege. So, in this regard I filled my belly. Not full but satisfied. I did theater with Ruy de Carvalho at Teatro Nacional, that big monster of theater. Maybe, Eunice Muñoz.
Reporter: We have great actors.
DM: We have, yes ma'am, undoubtedly!
Reporter: And you are part of the array of great actors.
DM: (laughs) I am, I am (sarcasm). Thanks. Shut up! (He covers her mouth with his headscarf.)
Reporter: Thank you for being with us during this hour that passed in a jiffy. I thank you all who participated.
DM: I thank you. Thank you very much. Very good questions. A kiss. Thank you very much for all the questions, some of them quite clever, and thanks.
Reporter: And we enjoyed having you here.
DM: Thank you. It’s always a pleasure.
(They send kisses at the same time.)
DM: Look! It was cool! We sent kisses at the same time. Did you notice? It seemed choreographed. They might be at home thinking, “Eh pá! How interesting! These dudes even choreographed the kiss!" 1, 2, 3 bam!!! Here it goes the kiss.
Click here to watch the video if it does not show/load automatically.
Reporter (Margarida): Good afternoon everybody, welcome Diogo Morgado.
DM: Hi!
Reporter: Welcome to "Episódio Directo" [Live Episode], you know questions will pour…
DM: Yeahh rain is a good sign! I’m ready to get wet, let’s go!
Reporter: Right? Let’s go then… First question: - “I would like to know, as an actor, which character did you like to do the most. Hugs and cheers for your career, you are a great host too.”
DM: Thank you!! What’s his name?
Reporter: Miguel.
DM: Miguel, honestly, for me… I love what I do. To me, work is everything and I think that the difficult parts are always the last ones. It’s the last thing you do. For what I’ve done, the most difficult is the last one, the one I am doing, now, there’s a sense of responsibility. We know what the people like, and that always adds to the difficulty level. I try to innovate always and that is difficult. Veeery difficult. Everything is invented, now!
Reporter: Miguel also thinks you are a great host. Have you thought leaving acting and turn into that?
DM: Noooo. No. No. No. No.
Reporter: The ideal was for you to do both…?
DM: No. I say this and have no problem with that, I am not a host. Inside what a prototype host is, a person who is ready or hosting any kind of events, I am not a host. I am someone who likes to communicate with people, and that feels at ease hosting some things, some events and situations. I like almost everything that has to do with direct contact with the audience. The program “Da-lhe Gás” that I made here at SIC, had about 700 kids in the pavilions, and there was much shouting, a big mess, and I was the master of the game. For me that was kidding, not hosting, I was like the older brother, playing with them. The game becomes a tv program. So… thank you, I appreciate it, Miguel, but I do not see myself as a host. If I have to do and identify with the project… the last thing I hosted, and maybe that is what Miguel is talking about, was “Amor de Verão” here at SIC, and I had contact with the audience, that was a challenge and I had lots of friends who sang there, so I did it with pleasure, It was great.
Reporter: So Diogo Morgado is and will be an actor.
DM: I….. try to be! Yes!!
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Reporter: Here’s a question from Soraia in Switzerland, I think we should send a kiss to Soraia, she participates every week.
DM: Hey. A big kiss to Soraia from Switzerland, and participate every day, we need people not only from Portugal, but also worldwide.
Reporter: It´s true, and Soraia asks: Wich one do you like the most? Theater, Cinema, or TV and why? - Difficult, right?
DM: No, not that hard, really. Sometime ago I would say cinema, that I still like a lot. Nowadays I like essentially to work with people that love what they do. Honestly, talking about money, many people complain that Portuguese entertainment or fiction products, always suffer from money issues and that is because they are not so good. I had many situations where there was much money involved and the work was not that good, even the process itself was not interesting, and I did things almost for free where I learned blindly, it was wonderful and the repercussion towards the audiences was great. So, that translates essentially to the people evolved in the project, artistically, technically. So, concerning the three things, I like working with people that get involved, and that identify themselves with the project, and that instantly feels – and you just know that, when you work with people that “dress the shirt” like you, you feel an energy that does not explain itself, and you learn a lot, everything flows in a different way. That is my answer.
Reporter: A little time ago we saw you portraying Salazar in "Private Life of “Salazar," that was a great challenge to you too because it’s such a distant character form what is our [Portuguese] reality now…
DM: It was. That was a little accelerated due to the process, since choosing the actor until the rest, there was a short time. There was a urgency in the project and the little time I had I did research – and right there I learned - which was an opportunity to learn, study our History. I got to know much more. And then I never thought of myself, with my age and my characteristics, portraying one of Europe’s biggest dictators in such a big scale of time. No doubt that was epic, I was very proud of being a part of it and loved the adventure.
Reporter: And you feel like an expert about the person Salazar was?
DM: I don’t know. I feel like I know the facts that involved his life. I thing that the great genius, the wrongdoers, the great personalities, they are never totally known, just a part of them. The ones who have the chance to be private for a period of time with those characters, are the ones who can talk about them. And even like that is strange, and I give myself as an example, I don’t know how much I know myself, so who are the others to say they know me. So, concerning the facts, I know that today I am more aware of Salazar, but not sure if can say I am the person that actually knows him.
Reporter: He is still shrouded in mystery…
DM: He will always be a very troubled figure.
Reporter: Vasco asks: What is most difficult when you are acting?
DM: To fail. Essentially what is most difficult when I am acting is feeling I defined something but wasn´t able to accomplish it. A little time ago I had the opportunity of doing an audition for an important job and all I wanted was to make sure I did everything I set out to. I will go out of there feeling bad if I didn't do what I intended and what was expected from me. I don't care about critics from people, saying’ I don’t look like Salazar, whatever… I did the best I could and all the team did well, there were people that loved the series, people who learned a lot, just to give an example. Does not correspond to the audiences' expectations and to my own is what is most difficult. More than forgetting the text, or not knowing the lines…
Reporter: Margarida says: Hello, I admire you so much as an actor, how was it to do "Podia Acabar o Mundo" with Claúdia Vieira and Joana Seixas? Kisses. And can you send one for me?
DM: Little kiss to Margarida. Thank you for the cheers and the questions. I was surrounded by two princesses, two princesses, different, very different… ummm Joana I think is an excellent actress, she has a background but she can get loose from that. She is able to risk and take options that at the time wouldn’t be expected. Claúdia is an adventurer, she follows her instinct, even if things get weird, she hangs on to her instinct, in a way that her portrayal is always honest and strong. For me, "Podia Acabar o Mundo" was very good, like a test-tube to be a dad, like an exercise, I was a dad to at "Vingança" and so I had two distinct sons, so different from each other and that got me thinking: “Yeahh this could be my son… and this too… hummmm” and that’s nice to see how we behave while we are not fathers, but at the same time there’s a feeling to instill to the young actor that almost father-son relationship. That is so interesting because we can play with them, but there is a limit when we say enough – let’s work hard now. This last son of mine was more skittish, with his head in the air and gave me more work but we got along!
Reporter: Do you think experimenting being a dad in fiction gave the will to be a real dad?
DM: No. No. It didn´t gave me more will to, since I remember – and probably my brother is going to hate me – but my relationship with him is amazing, it has always been – he is seven years younger – and I thought that in a way, a better relationship than the one I have with my brother could only be the one I would have with a son. Something more than sharing knowledge, other things because I am the dad, is to show the good and the bad and let the guy take his options. I think being a dad is that – showing with all the sustainability the arguments that lead to take a path, more than ordering that path. To be a dad, a boyfriend, a husband, a friend is like that. And I want to extend that human feeling to every possibility. I had a mom, a dad, all of them healthy, I was lacking [being a dad] so I could continue to explore that human feeling.
Reporter: Well, something that is almost done!
DM: Almost, almost! He’s on his way! Coming soon!
Reporter: Marta says: Hi, I know you are going to be a dad in a few months, do you know the gender of the baby and the name he will have?
DM: Yes sir! It’s a baby BOY and I don´t know which name he is going to have! We are in a terrible indecision, but sooner or later everybody is going to know!
Reporter: But do you have any possible names?
DM: We have, but I rather not say, because the mom kills me and I don’t feel like being killed! It’s a boy, it’s a boy!! I would love a boy, so I order him online directly from France! And it’s a boy… on his way… almost!!!
Reporter: Vivivana asks what’s your dream trip and why? – Maybe for your vacation…
DM: I don’t like vacations. There will be no vacations now… not even in dreams! I am not a fan of vacations, I am a real fan of work. That is what I love to do, where I feel good!
Reporter: But you need to stop a while…
DM: A three day break. More than that and I get angry. A week. In the last six years, I had at the most, one week, seven days off.
Reporter: And what do you like to do in that week? To travel?
DM: Uhhhh I am not a big fan of travelling, I love to be in places but hate the process of getting there. To pack, get on the plane or the train, bus or car… and then getting there is too bad for me. But then I like being there! Slippers and backpacking and go discover things! About the dream trip – I already did that one I went to Peru and I advise to the ones that identify with South-American culture and the Incas, the Mayas, those type of cultures and civilizations I really advise. And go through Machu Picchu that is absolutely extraordinary. I went there very skeptical, because the expectations were big, and I said – no let’s make this shorter, or else you will get disappointed and will never get over it! So I told myself. Sometimes I talk to myself.. “Hey Diogo, stop being silly” and things like that… So with low expectations I just got overwhelmed! The people… Did you know that the widows from Peru dress themselves with bright colors!!
Reporter: Different from us, then…
DM: We wear black! Because the person left the material side and became energy, so they celebrate that despite their sadness. That’s a totally different concept than ours. Not saying ours is less, but it’s different. That’s fantastic!
Reporter: Yes they face death as something…
DM: Completely different… and that is just one of the aspects… Their God’s being the natural elements it’s just extraordinary and I respect all religions, but without the sun, the wind, the tides, the sea… poufff… no life, not anything! They untangle. Make it natural.
Reporter: Are you religious?
DM: I have my faith. I am a Catholic because I was baptized, but I never practiced. Now, I am a person of faith.
Reporter: For instance, you will have a son…
DM: I will not baptize him. I think he should decide that. I respect everything, and that is the type of thing that shouldn’t be imposed in any way, not saying my parents imposed something on me, it’s our traditions and they baptized me, but I would like to have had that option and I will allow that to my son, of course.
Reporter: Viviana asks Which was the most embarrassing scene you ever did?
DM: I can say… for instance… uhhhh… The first novela I did, I was fifteen, and I had no driver license. At the time, there was a scene with Patrícia Tavares, she was my first girlfriend on TV, and we were in the car, talking…. a few kisses and then the scene ended with me starting the car and moving on, right?... The car turns off like 10 times!... I was fifteen…. As you can imagine I felt like nothing! [silence] I felt like the wrong guy, at the wrong place… at the wrong world, doing the wrong scene by the wrong people!!! I felt everything was wrong in life! Such a silly thing like turning a car on. I never picked up a car before and I said: “Yes, yes of course I tried it before”… But you don’t have a license! “Yes I know but I have tried!” – Cause I don't say no to anything! And if anyone says: “Not sure you can make it!” Then I got pissed off completely! Let’s see about it!!! Well… that was embarrassing!
Reporter: Petra Asks if you get nervous when you act.
DM: No. Not when I am doing a scene. Before, yes! Yes. Always. Too much! Nervous, Anxious…
Reporter: When you play at the theater, how do you live those moments?
DM: Managing the energy, ummmm I can tell you that at this TV event “Amor de Verão” for SIC done in a live mode, which I never did before, alone as a host I felt completely out of my place. I prepared myself, knew exactly what to say and how I would manage that, but the minutes that preceded the beginning was filled with adrenaline, and in the 30 minutes after it starts I kept reviewing the alignment. So I can keep calm I get methodic and systematic. And at a play it is the same thing. I spot the emotional parts, review the lines… it’s a way to keep myself calm.
Reporter: Helena asks: If you were Portugal’s Prime Minster for a day, what measures would you take?
DM: That’s complicated!!... I am going to pass on that question! There are political issues here. It’s inevitable that when an artist talks about politics, he calls things to his job/art, talking about issues that are poorly rated by the politicians, to what the artist is concerned about, and it all makes sense. But I think that, and honestly – ask my colleagues to forgive me – there are other compelling issues that need more attention and social criticism, than those ones. I don´t want to be the one to underestimate situations that deserve some social attention. Sorry!
Reporter: Carminda asks: How was it to do a scene with Rui Unas?
DM: It was a spree!! No… for me Rui Unas is an extraordinary person. He is a full artist with a real notion of what surrounds him, extremely well informed about what goes on in our country, with a great sense of humor. He acts, hosts, just doesn’t sing and dance… but that… he will manage soon. He had a character that rapped… He was Mr. U making strange moves with is hands like this… Little kiss Rui, you are the best! It was very good, and I think we need more people like him in our class. Most of them are naturally communicative, but have not conscience about who we are, who the people from our country are, we have to get to people and add something else. Not just entertaining, but give more, and Rui is one of those people, and I admire that a lot. I invited him to do the play ["Pedras nos bolsos"], he didn’t want to, he said it was too hard – and it was, it had 5 or 6 characters for each actor in a 2 hour play – but I am a little stubborn and I got him and it was amazing. And now he tells me “When do we make the next one?” So… kisses for Rui and I hope I answered the question!
Reporter: Sofia says you are gorgeous and congrats to you for the baby [Diogo laughs and says Thank You] and asks: Now that you are going to be a dad, are you more concerned about the harassment of the paparazzi? Cheers! – Does that worry you? Do you keep yourself from doing anything, going anywhere?
DM: No. I will do the same things. I am not like some people I have heard of that since having kids wanted to be known. Not actors or singers… they wanted to be known. And I say this, because I’ve seen them on TV sayin’ this, I am not saying names, it doesn’t matter but I was like: wwowwww! When I get bigger want to be just like him… And I never was… I was a little caught up in the middle of everything and tried to do just the best I can. Never identified too much with this thing of paparazzi and media and stuff…
Reporter: You want people to talk about your work, not you…
DM: Not even about me! I don’t even make sure people valuate what I do. If people don’t talk about me… [thumbs up] It’s cool with me!! Look: pretend you say to me: “Diogo please fill up this glass of water for me.” I just want to be relaxed that I just filled up the best glass of water I could in that moment. That is my work philosophy. Always. It is impossible to please everyone, not only in the artistic environment, but in everything. And look: One person saying bad things is not less than the ten people saying good things. It’s the same thing! Both have value, they are opinions. I try to please my conscience: I did all I could to accomplish. From there I am relaxed. There are people who like it and people that don´t. Sometimes it goes okay, sometimes not. I am relaxed.
Reporter: So the paparazzi….
DM: Paparazzi… hey… that makes me confused, because people say this a part of being known and I should be used to that …. Uh… not that simple!! Who is used to going to the bakery to buy your daily bread and have all the people talking about you and your life… not easy! But… Umm that is something we have to learn to live with, I am not comfortable with that, but I will not stop doing the things I am used to. Trying to do things so no one gets hurt.
Reporter: When you were a little boy, what did you want to be?
DM: An architect.
Reporter: And then you changed…
DM: Then things changed me… I don´t know, I always liked to draw, won a drawing prize when I was a little boy. That has something to do with me. I like to talk to people, to build things, as a kid I played a lot with my brother with lots of Legos and I was planning the houses all the time. Like: I don´t spend money on anything except for my house… Clothes, music, I don´t spend much. Movies, DVD's… but what I really like is things for my house.
Reporter: You like to feel comfortable…
DM: At home! At my house I do! And if there is something I would love to put in some special place I can even lose my head a bit… because I don’t do that in anything else… Don’t smoke, don’t drink, do not go out at night… I just get fulfilled to see my house as I like it.
Reporter: The next question comes like a sequence… Rui asks how your career started?
DM: I was about 14 years and a mate from school [Márcio – if he sees this: hugs] ummm he liked fashion a lot, had posters in his room and all of that, he knew about a contest for the “Super Jovem" magazine [kisses for them!] so there was a model contest and he said: "Hey man make sure you come to my house for us to take some pics…" We took pics to each other, sent them, they called us, we went there, and I got this kind of an audition and took a class at models school in Lisbon. I finished the class and Elite Portugal, a modeling agency hired me and one year later I started as a photograph model – I was too young – later after that experience I am caught in an audition for a novella at RTP, which was "Terra Mãe,"the first Rui Vilhena novela in Portugal. When I finished that, one of the actors in it was directing a play at Maria Matos Theater and invited me to the audition that I got…. I did childhood theater for a period and two years later I got into various things in TV. Later at SIC I did "Amo-te Teresa"… ummm and at that point people stopped sayin’ “Hey there’s Miguel from Terra Mãe”… and started sayin: “There’s Diogo Morgado!” SIC had that amazing thing of presenting me as an actor for the first time. And I owe so much to SIC, that is why I am here [pointing] SIC!
Reporter: "Amo-te Teresa" was a tele-film, a little different, did you feel like experimenting with a new thing?
DM: No, I didn´t because to me… until now, everything is new! I find myself amazed with things today. Like: Uaauuu, you see?! Sometimes they ask me small things… like, I do voiceovers, right? I just came from there now, and it’s like: we have this character… can you make this tip for us? And it’s just a tiny thing at an episode but I get so enchanted by that! Crazy! Love it! I would do "Amo-te Teresa" again, like: Uaauuu [wow!] still amazed! I do not do it on purpose, okay? But I feel a little sad when people say no… some colleagues who are stable in their careers… and stopped feeling amazed about small things!
Reporter: The day we wake up and say… Ohhhh I have to go to work….. something is not okay…
DM; Something’s not working there! But that happens too! Some days we just don’t feel like it, you feel rotten, you don’t want to go… but then you get there and [motions like little stars in the air…] and that’s it!!
Reporter: So good you are like that!
DM: Thumbs up!
Reporter: Sara asks what you most like in a woman.
DM: Ah! Eh pá [common Portuguese expression that means “hey!” or "c'mon!"]... It’s a whole. I’d be stupid if I said it’s the sense of humor, blah, blah. For me the sense of humor is indeed what lasts. Even if the girl is not very cute, even if she doesn't have a nice body, it’s something that makes you feel good being around, because it's good, because it’s enjoyable, and because you have fun ... maybe it’s what lasts. If you can combine it with a beautiful and pleasant package... better! So, it’s a whole. It depends. There are people who do not have much sense of humor, but they have one thing that I think is phenomenal ... they know how to be. There are people who know how to be. Depending on the situation, if they are among family, if they are among friends or alone. They acquire a posture. They know how to be. And they are, perhaps, not very creative people, not very communicative. I'm also not big fan of someone who communicates with everyone, and is like... HEY! This makes me very confused. For me it’s ... enough. Even I have a counter measure to this communicability. So maybe it’s this ensemble. She has to be cute? Yes… she should be. She may be. Nowadays, we live a lot the body issue. For me it’s not very… A woman with a beautiful body stands out, of course. But, it’s not decisive at all. I think… beautiful eyes, a cute face, and a good sense of humor. For me it's done.Reporter: Do you have many fans?
DM: Do I have many fans? I don’t know! Do I? I don’t know!
Reporter: Do you usually have feedback of your work?
DM: Feedback, I have. But, I’ll be honest. My feedback is not the feedback from "Morangos com Açucar," for example. It’s not anymore. It used to be. Nowadays, I have parents and, in some cases, even teachers, depending on the work, who approach me and tell me, for example, now that I played Salazar, I had many teachers telling me “I think this was good, I think this was bad, etc.”, and they approached me and made sure to stop me at the supermarket line to say “do you know something?” That’s cool! The feedback is good. Now, I don’t know if that means I have many fans.
Reporter: I have a feeling that you have some fans. But that’s me…
DM: Do you? All right! Done! Okay! Cool! That’s good.
Reporter: Tiago asks if you’d like to host "Idols?"
DM: The hosts were already chosen and they are a fantastic duo. As this is a second edition, I wouldn’t probably host it. If they invited me, it would have to be a different thing, adapted to me so that I would feel more at ease. In the present format, I do not identify myself in the sense that I do not believe to be able to better serve the show. I have nothing against the show’s format, it’s a typical entertainment show format, but I don’t feel I’d be able to do something like that. It had to be something much more interactive so as to fit me. And that’s all I have to say about that.
Reporter: Do you like music?
DM: I like it. I like music!
Reporter: Guest asks what’s your favorite type of music?
DM: It depends! It depends on the mood. Sometimes, it even depends on the characters [he’s playing]. There are characters that I associate to a particular song, and while I listen to it, I see the whole story.
Reporter: is it part of your process to build a character?
DM: Sometimes, it’s an accident. Sometimes, when I am in those two months before starting to shoot, I’m searching for anything, but unconsciously. I see something, I see someone, I meet someone… I’m seeing little things. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes, they’re not. Sometimes I think they’re good, but in the final result, they do not appear. Sometimes, I think I’m doing something of a particular thing, but when I see on TV, I’m like “where is it? I’m not seeing it!” and I think I’m doing it, but… while I believe I’m doing anything, something must come out. And, sometimes, in that situation, I listen to a song in the radio and I’m like … “Eh pá! Eh pá! I don’t like this but this reminds me of something! And I end up listening to it and I do a search and end up downloading it. Attention!!! All downloads I do are paid, okay! It’s important to say it. iTunes, iTunes, it’s cheap! So, do as I do.
Reporter: João asks if you would like to do a TV series with Globo [Biggest Brazilian TV channel].
DM: No. mm, mm, no.
Reporter: Why?
DM: I was supposed to do a mini series, "O Quinto dos Infernos" ("The Fifth of Hell") and I think Globo has a little bit… honestly, I think it has “the king in the belly” [meaning, they are pretentious]. And, that was what I felt while I was there. I ended up not doing it. What I feel is that they have an extraordinary and outstanding productive and story-making capacity. If eventually, I received an invitation, obviously, I would not be stupid. I would hardly deny it. Thus, I’d go because it would be a new market and I would learn things. Yet, that thing of saying, “Eh pá! I would love to do a series with Globo”, Eh pá, no! I will not sleep less restful for not having done a series for Globo, at all. I think we, here, have much to do and, perhaps, a good project here it makes more impact not being part of it, like “Ah! I’d love to have been part of it! I’d love to have been part of it!” than any other series on Globo. And this is honest, really honest. So honest that I’m telling you, I’m not hypocritical, if they invited me, I’d possibly go because I’d learn, I’d be with new people, obviously. But, it’s not like “Oh! It’s what I most want.” That’s a lie.
Reporter: You’ve already confessed that you’re not very fond of buying clothes and things like that. Bernarda asks what is your favorite piece of clothing.
DM: Ah! Uff! Favorite piece of clothing…
Reporter: The one that cannot be missing in your wardrobe.
DM: Eh pá! It’s white t-shirts. It’s this (pulls off his white t-shirt).
Reporter: Basic!
DM: Yeah! This cannot be missing. I have many and I wear them. When I don’t wear only a t-shirt, I put something else, and when I don’t have a white t-shirt I feel… not very comfortable.
Reporter: So, you’re not vain, vain in this sense?
DM: No, I’m not at all. Have you seen this beard? Okay? I also have this beard because…
Reporter (interrupts): … because you can [in the sense, he’s cute enough to present himself as he wants]!
DM: No! No! No! It’s because I’m going to do something, which is still a secret.
Reporter: You could not tell us a little bit?
DM: Ehhh… I still can’t. I can say it’s a movie and things are almost, almost, almost confirmed. It’s missing only that minimal ALMOST!
Reporter: So, we’re going to have a bearded Diogo!
DM: a bearded Diogo! It even has to grow more than this. It has to grow out much more. I do not have much beard. It’s a pity. I do not really like hair, but in situations like this, I could make use of it… being more hairy. We’ll see.
Reporter: So let’s leave some mystery in the air.
DM: Yes, yes, but it will not take much longer. Later on, we’ll talk about it and then we’ll do a joke about it, something special.
Reporter: We, on Episódio Especial, like to follow you and follow your career.
DM: And I like to share. I like to share. I like to share. Thus, it’s set up. It’s promised, soon.
Reporter: Filipa asks what do you most love doing when you're not working? We already realized that this is rare to happen.
DM: But yes, but, I arrive home, and I’m not working at the end of a working day.
Reporter: Do you like cooking?
DM: I like it. I like cooking, yes, ma'am. I can tell you that, yesterday, for example, I made a fabulous chicken with carrots and onions. It went very well. I'll explain it to you. Can I? Do you have time?
Reporter: Of course, we have time.
DM: I'll explain it to you. I’m very economical, okay? At this time, even more. So, there was a promotion in a supermarket of 10 kg (22 lbs) of carrots… at a price! 1.70 Euros, okay? 10 kg by 1.70 Euros ($2.27)! Eh pá! Who doesn’t buy 10 kg of carrots by 1.70 Euros? I bought them, okay!!! I bought it. So, obviously, at home, I went to the Internet to see everything that was possible to do with carrots. And there I was, searching the Internet for I do not know what. And suddenly, I find myself putting carrots in all that is possible to put carrots, very good carrots. And I discovered this chicken… in a pan you make the sauté…whatever, but you stir-fry the carrot with the onions, and the onions get that ‘almost sweet’ of carrots, do you get it? And then, you fry the chicken, ground and whatever… and then, on the top you put mozzarella with coriander [he sends a kiss to the air, meaning… delicious!]
Reporter: Well! I’m think I’m starting to feel hungry.
DM: “It's GREAT”! Very good!
Reporter: Besides enjoying cooking, are you a “good fork” [Portuguese expression that means “enjoy eating”]?
DM: I am. Damn! I love eating. And do you know what really makes me feel sorry? A few years ago I could eat whatever I wanted and how much I wanted. I was always impec [from impeccable.] I could appear in "Men's Health" or in "Maxmen" [magazines], emm? But no, not now, now, if I eat a bit more… I'm screwed. But, so, I really like eating, but I have to be a little bit careful. That’s it! I think it happens to all. One reaches the barrier of the 30's…
Reporter: … The little belly begins.
DM: It begins. It doesn’t spare us. It doesn’t spare us.
Reporter: João - in one word, how do you define yourself?
DM: Ah… one word… one word… come on… it’s not one word, but I think so, good sense. I think it's one thing that’s missing a lot, nowadays, good sense. It’s not even a great quality, but I think it makes all the difference.
Reporter: It’s the basis for many other things in life.
DM: A dude may be more intelligent or less intelligent. He may be friendlier or less friendly, with better style or worse style… Good sense, I think, it makes all, it completes all, and prevents a very important thing that, nowadays, it does not happen, that is people do not get hurt. I think nowadays, people hurt themselves up unintentionally, because they create expectations, because they underestimate themselves or overestimate themselves. And, if one has a bit of good sense, Eh pá… “I do this well but I do this badly. I have these flaws but I have these qualities. This is good but it can bring bad things, and vice versa”, I think good sense do much. So…
Reporter: A moment ago, in the beginning of this conversation, you said you speak a lot to yourself. Does that happen at night when you’re about to sleep? Do you do a retrospective of the day?
DM: I do. I always do. But I try not to do too much because if I start doing it, I have insomnia that never ends, because a thought brings another, and brings another, and I don’t sleep at all, and it’s complicated. Ah, so, I avoid, I try to have those reflections during the daytime, because I've suffered a bit of insomnia because of that. But, so, there must be a space in the daytime. It happens. It is unavoidable. You have to analyze… okay…” what did I do today that was fruitful? Nothing? Eh pá! Then, tomorrow, this is going to change.” So, it’s a bit like that.
Reporter: Henrique asks if you've done any daring scenes and with whom, and…
DM: Any scene??? Where have you been???
Reporter: and was it very difficult?
DM: I've done a few, people! People! You know I’ve done a few! Come on!!!
Reporter: Is it embarrassing?
DM: Eh pá! It depends. It depends. It depends. So, people that say “ah no, because that’s all technique, whatever." Yeah, okay… But, the essential issue is the person whom you’re doing the scene with. If the person with whom you’re doing the scene, if you are comfortable, comfortable with the situation, and they are at ease, and they talk about that… The first time someone came to speak to me about it – It’s not worth to say whom - she was like “Look! Come here! So, it’s like this, I have to tell you I have no problems, okay? Seriously, so, be comfortable. It’s like if you were with your girlfriend, blah, blah, blah”, and all of a sudden that… yeah, yeah…yeah, it’s okay, you’re comfortable. You don’t have that thing of… because, essentially, it’s very cheesy… and sometimes as a spectator I also see some series, sometimes it’s a bit cheesy, like…you see they like one another more or less, and say “I love you" a lot but then it’s not like that, and they give a kiss and it looks very strange.
Reporter: It doesn’t ring true.
DM: And especially, the hotter scenes, even more. I mean, Eh pá!!! And if you’re telling a story, I mean, if you want, if you want… to be an actor “in the word”, you have to take everything whether good or bad, take everything with the same coherence. The same way you prepare the texts and work the character, in those intimate scenes it’s the same character, it’s not another character. It’s not like “suddenly it’s the actor in that scene, it’s no longer the character”, so it depends. But, it’s like this… it’s always a bit strange, even more so, if you do not know the person well. If you're at ease, it's cool. And the thing is even amusing, highly amusing, sometimes, because people laugh a lot. With Claudia (Vieira), [Diogo's former co-star in “Podia Acabar o Mundo” and his current co-star in the upcoming series "Ambição"] for example, we laughed a lot. I told her “come on, Claudia, cover that, seriously. Eh pá! Otherwise, I will not even say the words!” And I played with her and she laughed a lot. And I was being sincere! And Claudia is really cute. So, obviously, I was like “Oh Claudia, seriously! Cover that, cover that!” So if you have that confidence… I think it all depends! It all depends!
Reporter: Catarina - how do you deal with that fact that people want to know who your girlfriend is?
DM: how do I deal with it? With tranquility… with tranquility. I try not to “put the hoop” much [means… mess it up] and I play it with tranquility.
Reporter: Do you feel any pressure from the press?
DM: I don’t know. I don’t feel any pressure. People are like “who is she? Who is she?” I say, I think nobody has to… nobody from my family or my friends or related to me has to… bear the consequences from the fact that I am known. That’s it! So, if the person felt comfortable “Ah! It doesn’t bother me!” Very good! If it doesn’t bother you, we go to public places and show up together. There was no problem! But, if it’s not that the case, if the person, somehow, doesn’t feel comfortable, I would be stupid if I didn’t respect and didn’t try to protect that. And what I ask people, especially journalists, is to respect that. On the day that they will not respect, I will hit them in the mouth. So, that’s all.
Reporter: Well! Are you violent?
DM: No, I’m not violent. But I think that… that’s it! Good sense! Good sense! I’m a super helpful dude for everything. Maybe I'm not the individual who most likes exposure. But whenever I'm in a place, I’m in a place. I'm not displeased and I say all that is necessary to say, and the press generally knows that. If they don’t know it it’s because they are not attentive. But my attitude is a lot like that. So, everything I ask is good sense and that journalists put themselves in the place of the person who is with me and think, “Maybe I don’t feel like being known”, the person doesn’t need to be known. And that’s all I ask, good sense. If there’s no good sense… I will smash their mouth.
Reporter: Elena asks - when will we see you as a stage director?
DM: I’ve already had an experience as a stage director, and it well very well. It was a lot of fun. In a play I did with Gustavo Santos called “Sexo e Batata Frita” ("Sex and Chips.") Eh pá, and it was a lot of fun! And it’s funny to be asked that now because I spoke about it recently. And there are things in theater I want to do a lot and I will have to do them next year. I did two plays this year and I had forgotten how good it is and how much I had missed it and how much it makes me grow as a person and as a professional. And there are things I really want to do, and maybe no one is crazy enough to make them with me, and I'll have to be the one to get ahead. And so, no one will be blamed. It’s that thing of “that could have been better staged, pal!” No, I don’t see myself as a stage director, I love to tell stories. I love to tell stories. I love to give something to people somehow. And if it’s not through acting, it’s in any another way. It’s all in the open. I don’t think seriously about that. I feel more fascinated by film directing, and I made choices in life in order to educate myself increasingly in that direction. I’m a self-educator and I try to learn by myself, but I took at least two courses in film directing, and I’d like to do a more complete one in film directing, more than in stage directing. Because I think theater is a very complex art in the sense, it’s very difficult and very noble. And I think I'm not the best person to do this theatrical carpentry, or the person more educated in theater to do that. I can “give a few taps” [means doing it as an amateur] as a challenge, but that’s all.
Reporter: Andreia - what was the book you most enjoyed reading so far?
DM: "The Unbearable Lightness of Being."
Reporter: It’s very beautiful.
DM: Umm, umm!
Reporter: Benedita – do you have any pets?
DM: Ahh! I have my parents’ dogs. They belonged to my parents when I was living there and when I left they remained my pets. Yes, it’s Luke and Tufa. They’re not with me but they’re mine.
Reporter: Nicole – She says she’s a big fan of yours, and she asks that you send her a kiss in direct.
DM: A kiss in direct, Nicole! Look! Bam! (And he sends a big kiss to the camera.) A big kiss. Thank you.
Reporter: Would you like to participate in Idols?
DM: To participate??? (Laughs). So, of course! Of course yes, it’s all I wanted. Of course yes… I’m kidding.
Reporter: Do you sing?
DM: I sing. I sing in the shower a lot. But, it’s funny because, now and then, they tease me. Here, at SIC, I’m singing some stuff. I don’t know why. But, well, no. I would more readily host a show. As we’ve already talked about it and we’ve understood the degree of resistance, no need to say anything else.
Reporter: Susana - What are your biggest flaws?
DM: Eh pá! I have many. Ah… I’ll fall on common sense, but it’s true. I’m stubborn. I’m pessimistic. Pessimistic is terrible, I think it’s a terrible flaw. I always see the bad side of things. “The worst that can happen”, this is an expression I say a lot, “The worst that can happen is…” always! I say it a lot, “The worst that can happen is…this!” And from there is gained. Ah… pessimistic… stubborn… brbrbrbrbr… Eh pá! And, maybe a little naïve. That’s it!
Reporter: Perhaps, this singing seems to be really common to many people.
DM: Why?
Reporter: Because Ana asks for you to sing a little bit for us.
DM: What??? Oh Ana, do you have any idea? You don’t have any notion, Ana!!! You don’t! I mean…
Reporter: Because many people talk about singing.
DM: (reading the question) and you Diogo, do you sing? You could sing for us. It’s true! I don’t believe it, really!
Reporter: You could sing a little bit.
DM: No, no, no. I won’t. I won’t sing. Do you play (he asks the girl)?
Reporter: No.
DM: You don’t play! So, that’s it. I also do not sing! We stay here. We stay here. We play a little bit of yo-yo. We stay and play one. No. Eh pá! I won’t sing, because I value the audiences of SIC a lot, and I don’t want to be responsible for the flop of the day. So, maybe next time.
Reporter: Maybe next time.
DM: You bring a letter from the director saying, “Diogo, we authorize you to sing. You can be at ease. Choose whatever you want to sing”, and I sing! And then, I won’t be responsible for the audience. It will be the director. And, then, I sing!
Reporter: Diogo…
DM: Tell me…
Reporter: …You have a request from Tina, which says, “Diogo, name your son Diogo.”
DM: Ah! You know, the mother wanted it. The mother likes Diogo, but I think it’s very tacky and a terrible lack of imagination when the son has the name of the father.
Reporter: Not necessarily!
DM: Eh pá! Listen! And then, Diogos, there are not many. Diogos, there are not many, okay? So, everywhere I go, I hear “Oh Diogo!” It’s inevitable, and I turn back (he turns back). It’s not like Nuno or Carlos, for example, there are more. “Oh Nuno! Carlos!” the dude is like, “is it me?” Not me. Any time it’s Diogo, me zumba (he turns back again), right there… looking. Eh pá! I think that no. I don’t think so. I really don’t think so.
Reporter: Maria – do you prefer to be praised as a man or as an actor? Cheers!
DM: Look! I think as an actor I'm a little more capable of validating those compliments than as a man, because as a man, first, people have to know me well, and as I don’t facilitate that task much, I think the compliments are more likely not to be true. But honestly, honestly… I prefer as a man. Good question!
Reporter: Luís – what would be, if you could choose, your dream project?
DM: My dream project? If I could choose, my dream project, at this point, would be a series on SIC with a supernatural context.
Reporter: Supernatural?
D: Ah, ah! A thriller. That’s what I’d like to do.
Reporter: Monica asks if you’re going to be in the series “Eterno Amor” (Eternal Love).
DM: No.
Reporter: What was your reaction when you heard you were going to have a child? Catia asks.
DM: What was my reaction? It was wonderful. It was wonderful. Ah! It was a wonderful feeling.
Reporter: ... and it’s all explained! Daniela asks if it was difficult to undress "Santiago." [from "Vingança."]
DM: Undress Santiago? (Laughs). In fact, he had a large hood. It wasn’t difficult. But, I had the feeling in the end that… because right after it ended I started doing something else… "Star Crossed," a movie, and I had the feeling that what I was doing was similar to Santiago. I had that feeling. So, I spoke every day to myself, saying “Eh pá! No, no!" Because, I spent many months doing a character, then, after two, three weeks, I did the other one, and I felt a bit distressed, saying, “It cannot be. It cannot be. It cannot be.” But it wasn’t like undressing him. I felt that between “action” and “cut”, what I did had some tones of Santiago. But, that’s it. Otherwise, it was tranquil. Then, I went on vacations, and it was good.
Girl: How was starring opposite Maitê Proença in the movie "A Selva," asks Inês?
DM: It was good. She is a very beautiful woman, and very interesting. She’s a diva in Brazil. We were in Brazil, so I was the friend of the diva.
Reporter: was it a great experience?
DM: It was, it was. It was four months in the Amazon rainforest. Ah! Amazonia has a fantastic thing, in that, it forces you to reevaluate the scale of things. There are things that we find that, we, in our life here, are a problem, and in Amazonia, suddenly, things become much simpler. The food is within reach of hands. There’s no policy. There’s no hunger. There’s no poverty. The poverty that exists is what? The dude who only has a pair of flip-flops and a t-shirt? He’s not poor, for he has everything he needs. He has food. He has friends. He has cachaça [white rum, popular in Brazil and Portugal]. He has music. He’s a rich man, okay? It’s us who think he’s poor. So, it was very interesting in this regard.
Reporter: You see? This is inevitable.
DM: What?
Reporter: Liliana also asks for you to sing.
DM: I won’t sing anything!!! They are putting pressure on… sign me up for Idols and I will go there.
Reporter: Look! There’s a hilarious one here. "Margarida [the reporter's name] are you going to host Idols with Diogo?"
DM: Look! We could do it, emm? Good!!!
Reporter: Have you been to Castelo Branco?
DM: I was there doing “Uma Aventura” ("An Adventure.)"
Reporter: Don’t you want to send her a kiss?
DM: A huge kiss to Tania in Castelo Branco.
Reporter: Guest says congratulations for the excellent actor you are. When are you having a new character on a series on SIC?
DM: I don’t know. I really don’t know, because the next series, "Eterno Amor," is filming, and after, I don’t know if there will be another one. And, then I have the movie, so honestly, I don’t know.
Reporter: Filipa – what would you do for love?
DM: What I would do for love? I did a series called “Tudo Por Amor” ("All For Love.") What I would do for love… what I would do for love…
Reporter: The craziest thing. What would you do?
DM: I, for love… I would give up what I like.
Reporter: would you give up your passion for acting?
DM: I would give up.
Reporter: Umm, that would be a great love… Aieee Diogo [DEEP SIGH]!!!
DM: it’s over???
Reporter: No, no, it’s not over.
DM: Ahhh!!! You’ve got a look of ending.
Reporter: We're almost done, and we have to apologize to all the people who sent questions we couldn’t answer.
DM: But the dude gives such answers… he never shuts up! He takes half an hour to answer one question!
Reporter: We have a question from Vera – for when Diogo the villain, badass and rogue?
DM: I have tried to give the hint! “I have thrown the clay to the wall” [it means, to suggest something.] In "Vingança," he was a hero, okay? He was a hero. Come on! The dude was imprisoned for 10 years, and he had every reason to take revenge. But I tried for his behavior wouldn’t be exactly the most correct. So, that people would be in doubt if he was a hero or a villain. That was already an introduction. It gave me immense joy to do this. In "Star Crossed," for example, the movie that was in the movie theaters. I think it’s still there. I’m the villain. I’m clearly the villain. So, these are two examples.
Reporter: Okay. Elena asks when can we see "Pedras nos Bolsos" and "O Elixir do Amor?"
DM: "O Elixir do Amor" will be replayed? No! "O Elixir do Amor" will not be replayed. At least no one has told me. "Pedras nos Bolsos," I can’t remember the next date. But it will be in January. The producer will divulge the date and the place on the Internet.
Reporter: Here it is, Carminda asks – sing a little bit.
DM: I will not sing. I will not sing a little bit. What horror! What a situation!
Reporter: Who is the actor or actress whom you would like to play opposite with or you already acted with?
DM: Portuguese? I played opposite with a great master. He was my first great master, Armando Cortés. Even today, I feel a tremendous gratitude towards him for helping me and being the first person that told me “so, breathe… blah, blah” the first tips. It was a privilege. So, in this regard I filled my belly. Not full but satisfied. I did theater with Ruy de Carvalho at Teatro Nacional, that big monster of theater. Maybe, Eunice Muñoz.
Reporter: We have great actors.
DM: We have, yes ma'am, undoubtedly!
Reporter: And you are part of the array of great actors.
DM: (laughs) I am, I am (sarcasm). Thanks. Shut up! (He covers her mouth with his headscarf.)
Reporter: Thank you for being with us during this hour that passed in a jiffy. I thank you all who participated.
DM: I thank you. Thank you very much. Very good questions. A kiss. Thank you very much for all the questions, some of them quite clever, and thanks.
Reporter: And we enjoyed having you here.
DM: Thank you. It’s always a pleasure.
(They send kisses at the same time.)
DM: Look! It was cool! We sent kisses at the same time. Did you notice? It seemed choreographed. They might be at home thinking, “Eh pá! How interesting! These dudes even choreographed the kiss!" 1, 2, 3 bam!!! Here it goes the kiss.
_______
Obrigada Liliana and Lou, for teaming up and doing this MONSTER translation for us. You two are just the best! And Diogo is the best at answering questions! He seriously needs to teach a class here in the States to actors on how to give interviews! J
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
--Sara
This was great. He was so comfortable and fun and relaxed and puts so much thought in his answers. I really respect him. Sara, where do you find these clips because I know I have googled Diogo for hours and never saw this! LOL. So thank you, sincerely and thanks to Lou and Liliana for their parts in translating.
ReplyDeleteWould anyone else besides me LOVE to see something like this done now with Diogo here on this blog??? I think it would be incredible! What do you say, Sara and Diogo? Next time he is in Los Angeles, perhaps?! : ) Thanks again for making this blog so informative and fun!
i was thinking the same thing. maybe they'll be able to put it together :-)))))
DeleteLOL! You guys seriously crack me up! :)
DeleteI have to thank M. Morgado for such a funny interview. Translating the second part really cracked me up. Just his expressions were enough to make me laugh. Let alone the carrots!!!
ReplyDeleteOhhh I just bought myself 10kg of carrots! Couldn't hel, It was a promotion! What am I going to do now?! Have to ask the Chef for some recipes!!
ReplyDeleteTranslating the first part of this gave me so much fun, that I just started to sing! Lol
Thumbs up!
Kisses in Direct to all of YOU!
His girlfriend is so lucky. He is funny and he cooks! ;)
ReplyDeleteoh my gosh, what a fun interview! i haven't been able to watch it yet (i can't get to any of the videos on SIC at home) but reading it, i can just imagine how he is :-))))) he is SUCH a delight.
ReplyDelete