Brazilian actress Isabella Santoni for L'Officiel Austria Digital

Artist and businesswoman Isabella Santoni is one of the most sought-after names in the Brazilian advertising market today. Since her debut in the audiovisual world, she has had a career marked by good and highly acclaimed performances! In her upcoming work, the new season of "Dom", a Prime Video original series, Isabella plays the role of Viviane, one of the criminals who teams up with the character Pedro Dom (Gabriel Leone), a robber known as "the hot bandit" in the 2000s, who takes advantage of people's structural racism and privilege to commit his crimes.

Isabella is not only an important voice of a generation whose core is the discussion of relevant social issues, but she is also active in physical presence. As founder of the Pegada do Bem project, Santoni promotes events that combine sustainability, sport and art, raising awareness of the importance of environmental consciousness through simple and diverse actions.

And since her concern with the collective is a guideline in her life, her entrepreneurial side could be no different. CEO of the beachwear brand “NIA”, Isabella values ecologically correct production methods, showing that it is possible to combine high quality and durability with sustainability, avoiding waste. Slow fashion, however, is not the only relevant agenda for Santoni — for her, it was essential, from the scope, that her brand had numbers from XS to XL, ranging from size 32 to size 60, thus respecting the plurality of Brazilian women and their bodies.

As a feminist, she understands that it is necessary to deconstruct the patriarchal mentality narratives that limit and subjugate all women, especially racialized women, but that all suffer, without exception — even those who do not think they do. And even with all this trajectory so far, Santoni guarantees with humility and down-to-earthness — but at the same time with a great desire to spread her art around the world — that this is only the beginning.

Isabella, you have played many characters during your career as an actress. Which one was your favorite and why?

Isabella Santoni: "What a tough choice! As I have been acting for eight years, it’s a difficult thing to do… but one that has my heart, now, is Viviane from 'DOM' (Amazon Prime Video). She gave me a new point of view, I needed to understand what makes a person with so many options in life choose drugs and crime. For me, it has to do with the past of the character, how she received love from her family and how her relationship with herself works, ever since she was a kid. She seizes the opportunity of her looks — blonde, blue eyes, white, and conventionally attractive — to be a housebreaker without anybody suspecting she’s a criminal. Despite all of this, she makes me ask myself about my choices in life. Viviane is an egotistical, self-centered person, a woman who doesn’t have any limits and that does whatever she wants without thinking of other people and the consequences of her actions. You probably won’t see much sense in this at first, but she gave me more control of my own life, making me look carefully in the direction of my choices. The fact that she is someone with no principles made me reaffirm how much we need to not only identify our privileges but also be even more alert to those who do take advantage of them. Somehow, playing this role empowered me by creating an antagonistic view of what I don't - and won’t ever - accept or agree with."

What do you see as the biggest achievement of your career?

Isabella Santoni: "I am sure that 'DOM' is the answer! But, before that, I would also like to highlight a few moments in my career that I consider to be divisive in my life: for example, my first job at Globo, the largest open TV station in Brazil, which made me win awards such as "Best of the Year" and 'Troféu Imprensa' in the category 'Revelation Actress' by 'Malhação Sonhos' (2014), and I also had the opportunity to give life to main characters in soap operas such as 'A Lei do Amor', where I had to shave my head in order to accurately play a character who battled with leukemia, as well as in the cinema, as the protagonist of “Missão Cupido”, since I still intend to do much more in Cinema ..."

Do you have any advice for other young aspiring actresses?

Isabella Santoni: "The most important advice I can give is: do not give up! At one point, there will be more “no’s” than “yes’s”, so be prepared to be a little disappointed, but don't let that discourage you! What moves an actor, in my opinion, is the searching process. Searching for a better version of yourself, understanding more about life and the career you wish to follow as well."