Based in the United States, Brazilian actress Bia Borinn faces the theme of immigration in the series The Gringo Hunters, which premieres in
Netflix
This Wednesday (9). The production of the same creators of
Narcos: Mexico
(2018-2021) presents a bold reversal: here, Mexicans and Latinos hunt and deport illegal Americans. In the current political scene, the attraction promises to provoke strong and controversial reflections.
Bia portrays a mysterious and symbolic character, inspired by a real story. “I do one of the episodes, it’s a complex character, very paradoxical. I can’t reveal more than that, otherwise it spoils. But I can say that it was the most complex character I’ve done, because it’s full of layers. You can’t have an opinion about her right away,” the actress reveals in an interview.
TV News
.
She believes the series has the potential to shake up the public and provoke necessary debates. “What is happening in the United States today is very serious. Measures are being taken without the consultation of Congress, laws are passing that will harm thousands of people, such as reducing access to public health and social benefits, not to mention the forced deportation of people without a judicial warrant, simply because they appear to be Latinas.”
The actress pointed out that she lives in a reality where it is extremely dangerous to express one’s own opinion. “They arrest you and then check whether it is illegal or not; they can check your social media, and if they claim that what you post is against the law, the government can revoke it — even revocation of people who have citizenship, which is my case,” she says. “I myself am already taking certain risks by giving this interview and speaking my mind,” she accuses.
To get the role on Netflix, Bia needed effort and boldness. “The character description said ‘long hair,’ and I have very short hair. Since I felt the character was just like me, and because it was a project by RedRum, which made Narcos: Mexico, I wanted to invest time in preparation and bought a hairpiece and practiced Spanish a lot,” she recalls.
“There I found out that I had gotten the callback [second round of auditions]. It was a Zoom with director Alonso Alvarez and the casting producer, Luis Rosales, who is one of the top casting directors in Mexico,” he recalls.
“It was a test in which I was very prepared, despite being a bit nervous, because it was in Spanish –my third language– but there was that feeling of ‘I am presenting my version of the character to you’ and not of ‘trying to please someone’. And this is not always easy for us actors,” she admits.
The preparation included a decisive moment off-script. “When I went to do the costume test, I put on the clothes and talked to the costume designer, and it clicked! It was wonderful,” she says. “Sometimes there’s a narrative that the actor creates everything alone, that he’s a genius. But actually, everything in audiovisual, theater, is collective. Everything.”
Bia also got emotional behind the scenes when she saw that the series had cinematography by Adrian Tejido, who performed the same role on the award-winning
Still Here
(2024). “Having another Brazilian in the set gave me a great joy and a sense of security. I knew I was in good hands,” he praises.
The interpreter hopes that The Gringo Hunters will cause a reality shock that has proven extremely necessary. “I hope this role reversal will be beneficial so that Americans can see that people, societies, are complex, and that stereotyping is always a danger,” she concludes.
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