Maria Fernanda Graça Serrano, better known as Fernanda Serrano (born Lisbon, 15 November 1973), is a Portuguese actress, voice actress, model, and television presenter. A model since the age of fifteen, she made her acting debut in 1996 in the Barcelona film Muere, Mi Vida. She became known for starring in several telenovelas.
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Biography and career
Maria Fernanda Graça Serrano was born in the city of Lisbon on 15 November 1973.
As a young man, he sang in a rock band and was part of a group in high school called KGB (Klube Geral da Borga). At age 15, her friends enrolled her in a fashion contest, and that's when Fernanda joined the "Perfil 35" modeling agency. In 1994, she received an invitation from the "Look Elite" agency, now "Elite Models," and it was from then on that she pursued a modeling career. She was six months into her Translators/Interpreters course at the Autonomous University of Lisbon when she decided to interrupt her studies to travel to Barcelona, where she worked as a model for six months. It was during this time that the opportunity arose to audition for the feature film "Muere Mi Vida" by Mar Tangariona, and she landed one of the main roles.
She returned to Portugal already as an actress, and it was in mid-September 1995 that she heard about auditions for a television contest, and that's when she decided to pursue a career as a presenter. She was then chosen to present the program Twelfth Night. on RTP and Olhó Vídeo, on TVI.
Despite everything, she didn't abandon acting and sent resumes to NBP, eventually landing a lead role in the soap opera A Grande Aposta (1997), by Tozé Martinho. Later, she was part of the star-studded cast of the soap opera Os Lobos and, in 1999, starred in the successful SIC series Jornalistas. That same year, she made her debut in Portuguese film production in the movie Jaime, by António Pedro Vasconcelos, where she won the lead role and also acted alongside Alexandra Lencastre in the SIC television film Passeio no Parque.
She also appeared in the TV movies Theorem of Pythagoras, by Gonçalo Galvão Telles (2000) and "A Walk in the Park", by Marie Brand (2000), as well as several series and soap operas.
After several fiction projects for RTP and SIC, she debuted in 2000 on TVI with the soap opera Jardins Proibidos. It was then in soap operas that she gained prominence, having been part of the cast of several productions on the network, right after "Jardins Proibidos," such as Filha do Mar (2001), Amanhecer (2002), Queridas Feras (2003) and Te Dei Quase Tudo (2005).
In 2002, she acted in the film A Bomba, directed by Leonel Vieira.
It was after the soap opera Tu e Eu that Fernanda Serrano began to step away from television screens, firstly due to the arrival of her second child, secondly due to breast cancer, which she eventually overcame, and thirdly due to a new pregnancy, this time a high-risk one, as she became pregnant soon after treatment. She converted to Catholicism in 2009 and was baptized at age 35.
She returned to TVI and, to celebrate her return, signed an exclusive contract with the television station, and joined the main cast of the soap opera Sedução, in 2010, in the role of "Júlia", the villain of the story. She is currently one of the most sought-after actresses on the channel, having been part of and starring in the cast of several of the channel's soap operas.
In 2012, she returned to presenting programs after eight years exclusively dedicated to acting, hosting the reality show on TVI, A Grande Aventura. In the same year, she starred in the telenovela Louco Amor, alongside Nicolau Breyner.
In May 2013, she released the book "There Are Happy Endings Too," where she surprisingly revealed that she was a victim of medical negligence. On television, she was a judge on the third season of the TVI talent show, A Tua Cara Não Me É Estranha.
In theatre, she participated in the play Partitura Inacabada by Anton Chekhov, directed by Paulo Matos, at the Teatro da Trindade. In 2005, she was part of "Confessions of Women in Their 30s" at the Teatro Armando Cortez.
In 2014, he returned to the theater with the play "40 and so what?", which talks about life after the age of 40. Ainda em 2014, além do teatro, fez também televisão e cinema, sendo uma das protagonistas de Mulheres, na TVI, and plays the character Luísa in the film by Antônio-Pedro Vasconcelos, Cats Don't Have Vertigo. and Maria da Piedade in Eclipse in Portugal.
After "Mulheres" in 2014, she joined the cast of several TVI soap operas, such as A Impostora (2016), Jogo Duplo (2017), Amar Depois de Amar (2019) or Amar Demais (2020).
In 2019, she replaced Fátima Lopes as the presenter of the afternoon program on TVI, A Tarde É Sua (television program), during the presenter's vacation. In the same year, he presented the talk show O Resto É Conversa, for the same channel. He also appears in the film by Vicente Alves do Ó, Eu Te Quero Tanto! He also wrote, Long Live Life.
She starred in the TVI soap opera, Quero É Viver, with São José Lapa, Rita Pereira, Sara Barradas, and Leonor Seixas in 2022.
In 2023, to celebrate her fiftieth birthday, the actress wrote her fourth book, There Are No Perfect Lives.
In 2024, she participated in the soap opera Cacau and returns to the role of presenter, replacing Manuel Luís Goucha in hosting the program Goucha while the presenter was on vacation in 2024.
In 2025, she will be part of the cast of A Protegida.
Personal life
Fernanda, the only daughter of Ercília Serrano (4 October 1950) and Jaime Serrano (1945), was married to presenter Pedro Miguel Ramos from 28 August 2004 to 4 June 2019. They have four children: Pedro Manuel Santiago (born 4 March 2005), Laura (born 18 December 2007), Maria Luísa (born 8 June 2009) and Caetana (born 3 July 2015).
After her divorce, she began a relationship with her personal trainer, Ricardo Pereira.
Filmography
Awards
In 2026, Five Stars Consulting awarded Fernanda Serrano the Five Star Award in the Series and Soap Operas category.