Arlindo Lopes (born 7 March 1979) is a Brazilian actor, producer, and theatre director who has been active on stage as well as in national telenovelas and some film productions, including the 2002 film City of God.
Contents
Career
Lopes was born in Rio de Janeiro on 7 March 1979. He showed interest in acting as early as the age of five and started taking acting classes when he was 13. Lopes stated that he suffered from bullying during his time at school and that he was not able to socialise with other children, often hiding during the recess to avoid being harassed by fellow students.
He began his television career by taking part in the cast of Malhação and later acted in telenovelas like Sabor da Paixão (2002), Da Cor do Pecado (2004), Geração Brasil (2014), and A Lei do Amor (2016). In television series or miniseries, Lopes has been featured in A Grande Família (2002), A Diarista (2005), Faça Sua História (2008), and Louco por Elas in 2013.
In 2007, Lopes was involved in a high-stakes theatre production along with renowned actress Glória Menezes in the stage adaptation of the 1971 American film Harold and Maude, where Lopes plays the role of a 19-year-old man in a relationship with a 79-year-old woman. The play was relaunched in 2015 again with Lopes and Menezes and in 2022 with Lopes and actress Nívea Maria replacing Menezes. The original release of the play received multiple accolades at the 2008 Prêmio Qualidade Brasil and Prêmio APTR ceremonies. The 2022 version was directed by João Falcão and made its debut at Teatro Porto in Campos Elíseos to good reception and reviews from critics who highlighted the chemistry between Lopes and Maria. When interviewed in September 2022, Maria praised Lopes as a "young man who fights to keep theatre plays afloat," adding that Lopes is a "guy who does everything" in reference to his work as theatre director and producer.
Lopes has also developed a career within cinema, taking part in the cast of the highly acclaimed Brazilian film City of God in 2002 in a minor role. He also earned a role in the 2004 film Cazuza: O Tempo Não Pára, the Portuguese-Brazilian comedy film Alguém como Eu (2017), the Argentine-Brazilian drama production A Voz do Silêncio (2018) and the thriller Ninguém Sai Vivo Daqui in 2023.
In 2021, Lopes was cast for the drama thriller television series Colônia, which recounts the story of a psychiatric hospital in Minas Gerais in the early 1970s where more than 60,000 patients died over the span of several decades. Lopes plays the role of a gay man who shares the facility with others like an alcoholic man, a prostitute woman, an elderly lady and others deemed "undesirable" by society. The series drew a comparison between the Aktion T4 scheme of the Nazis and what happened at the Minas Gerais hospital, with Lopes pointing to the fact that most of the patients at the facility did not have an actual or active mental health disorder. Journalist Heloisa Tolipan praised the series by adding that around 70% of people who go through commitment to a mental hospital are not mentally ill.
Personal life
Lopes is gay and in a relationship with publicist Gilberto Filho. They live together in Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro, and have a pet dog. In January 2019, Lopes and Filho celebrated their anniversary on a cruise ship trip along the coast of South America, visiting Buenos Aires and its touristic hotspots. Actress Leandra Leal and her young daughter accompanied the couple on the trip.
