Sexy nuns with guns.

That's it,

that's all you have to imagine.

Alba and Ava

So you're Ava on the show right?

Yeah.

An orphan that wakes up in a morgue,

and realizes that she has super powers.

Who's going to fight the demons,

along with an army made of nuns

Damn...

This was the best summary I've heard so far.

I think this is amazing.

Do you feel like these characters

and this starting point

is in some way the embodiment,

metaphorically,

of the female empowerment?

Yes, definitely.

I think that was the message they wanted to portray,

firstly, even before the plot itself

and the revival of the obscure comics

from the 90s.

That in fact,

it isn't feminist at all,

I'd would classify it more as misogynistic,

than anything else.

Yes, just imagine

sexy nuns with guns,

that's it.

That's all you have to imagine.

So what they wanted to do,

was really to revive the content

of these comics,

and only take out the setting in itself

and

and to create...

And give it a different meaning,

a feminist one.

He called me (Simon Barry),

and asked me "Hey Warrior Nun, how are you doing?".

And I was like...

"Hello Mr. Barry, I'm ok".

And he realized that I hadn't gotten the message,

so he said it again.

Coincidentally, all my family was at my house that night,

It was around 11pm,

I came down the stairs and just looked at everyone

and they understood.

Throughout the filming process,

I learned so much about myself

and skills I didn't know I possessed.

That I dared to dream higher,

Everyday.

If I wasn't shooting,

it was probably on the days that Joaquim de Almeida was shooting,

because we never saw each other.

So sometimes I'd have some time off,

we'd shoot at least for 12 hours daily.

And then on Sundays, we'd get together with the show's creator.

Myself and the other producers.

They included me in such a cool way,

that I was able to be part of some decisions,

and see what went wrong, what went better.

There was no need,

in this production for example,

to have a personal relationship in order to succeed in the professional

and I liked that.

Because I have an almost german like mindset, whilst working.

And I enjoyed not having to go through the process

of getting to know each other better,

so we can all get along at work, and do a good job.

Because I also like to be in my own little shell.

Public and private

I felt a bit of pressure,

I felt pressure.

Firstly, for having to feed the want of these new followers,

that appeared suddenly,

who are looking for pictures of the show, backstage and so on.

And I have a huge problem,

a constant inner battle,

with exposure.

What is the fine line,

that will represent too much exposure,

Or not.

So, I struggled with that,

when my followers suddenly increased.

Immensely.

But it's a matter of balancing things out,

to sometimes post something that you feel people want

Do you manage your own social media accounts?

Yes, I manage it.

I try to be true to myself,

I always think twice before posting something.

And ask myself, if I'm comfortable with it,

am I comfortable with the whole world seeing this?

Then I do it.

Standing up for a cause publicly for example,

it's something I do in my personal life,

I debate and discuss it,

and I educate myself on it.

However,

when it comes to creating my public image...

I have this...

I don't know what it is,

it's some kind of fear.

I don't want to expose myself in that way,

also because I feel like

for me to be standing up for a cause,

I feel like

I'd have to be completely engaged in the situation,

from the start until where it is currently.

What I mean is,

I'm not stating that I don't care about this cause

or that I don't approve,

or that I don't support,

it has nothing to do with that.

The Starting Point

It all started at an audition I did for "Miami",

for a short film of Simão Cayatte.

Patrícia Vasconcelos was the casting director,

and I was one of the 200 girls that went there.

I didn't even know what was meant to happen at an audition

So I was really exploring,

I was at that age, of discovering the unknown.

Since I can remember,

I wanted to be an artist,

I wanted to be a paintor,

I wanted to be a pianist,

I also wanted to be a ballerina,

so within the arts I've always had this huge fascination.

When it comes to acting,

my mum says that she always felt it,

but I don't remember,

but she knows best.

But after that audition,

for "Miami"

I was like

It was just a conversation (the audition),

and that's why til this day I'm so grateful

for this being my first encounter with the industry,

because of Simão

he asked me some personal questions,

and maybe even philosophical

and I was so amazed with that approach.

And we discussed the concept of guilt and then from there other things

Inspirations

Everyday.

I'd love to have been in Black Swan

I'd have liked that a lot.

That one I mentioned, "Victoria"

that would've been amazing also.

There's another role from "Stoker",

played by Mia Wasikowska,

she's amazing in it.

I'll have to say the first role,

and the last one.

Which was "Miami",

he's sick of hearing compliments,

he already told me,

Simão Cayatte,

"Stop talking about me."

But it's true,

Simão and Joana Santos,

they really changed things for me.

Sorry...

Warrior Nun, definitely.

Just for the fact that I was able to be involved,

in other departments and being able to evolve.

That was a really memorable.

Yeah.

The Future

I'm going to be shooting for a month now,

a feature.

By two French directors,

produced by Paulo Branco.

Which is a stunning film,

an historical one.

I'm super excited.

And then I'll be going abroad,

another European film.

I'm super happy.

I'm really happy with this accomplishment,

because that's exactly where I've been envisioning my career.

To balance it out,

with commercial content like a Netflix show,

with European cinema,

which is my goal.

And this film is exactly that.

The things that went wrong,

went well so I could be where I am today.

Yes, probably at 15

I was more in a hurry to,

go study abroad.

That was my goal at the time,

I really wanted to study acting in London

and today I'm grateful that didn't happen,

because life happened.

I know for sure that I don't want to loose my footing in Portugal,

I want to keep doing relevant work,

and interesting.

And important, in Portugal.

Because in fact, we have some beautiful projects here,

that not many people speak of,

so we must also invest in our little treasures.

Yes, I think moving abroad

is always a possibility.

I don't know, I'm still young,

I don't know how my life will be in a year,

Much less in 5 years,

I don't know, I have no clue.

It's part of the journey.

Actually, I'd love to study philosophy.

But,

it was during the shooting process of the show,

that really opened my eyes to...

Realizing that I want to direct,

I want to write,

Direct your own stories right?

My own stories,

to tell stories,

I would like that a lot.

The creator of the show, was so kind to me,

he allowed me to be part of the decisions,

of other departments,

to learn,

to be his shadow,

that's how you say it.

Meaning, to always be behind that person.

And to learn and ask questions.

So I was often his shadow (Simon Barry) and the Director of Photography,

Is beauty fundamental?

Even though you might go into the industry

Due to your appearance at first,

which happens sometimes,

we won't go that far, if that's all we have.

Yeah.

Right.

I remember that I went through some moments, some projects

that people told me,

"You're only here because you're pretty",

"You didn't even study acting"

Yes, I really went through it myself,

which was really hard,

but these are learning experiences,

and actually, it wasn't worth trying to convice them otherwise...

Because...

Alba, the polyglot

My mum,

she grew up in Germany.

So when I was born,

we were already living in Portugal.

And she put her 3 kids in a German School,

because she felt like it would be a good thing...

And she was absolutely right and I'm glad she did it.

The French and English I learned at school,

And the Spanish came with life

That phrase is so cute,

What?

I liked that phrase, it's nice.

Yes, because the other explanation is really academic.

Yeah...

It came with life,

Vida loca