Cast of I'm Still Here

I’m Still Here is a political biographical drama film based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva's 2015 memoir of the same name. The film is directed by Walter Salles and scripted by Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega. It was released theatrically in Brazil on November 7, 2024.

Fernanda Torres and Fernanda Montenegro play Eunice Paiva, a mother and activist who, during Brazil's military dictatorship, had to deal with the forced kidnapping of her husband, the dissident politician Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello). With a $1.5 million production budget and a $26.3 million box office receipt, the film became the highest-grossing Brazilian film since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Board of Review ranked it among the Top 5 International Films of 2024. Torres won Best Actress in a Motion Picture—Drama at the 82nd Golden Globes, and the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, a category for which it was also nominated at the BAFTA and Critics' Choice Movie Awards. The movie became the first Brazilian-produced film to ever receive nominations for Best International Feature Film, Best Actress (Torres), and Best Picture at the 97th Academy Awards.

The main cast of I’m Still Here

Fernanda Torres and Fernanda Montenegro as Eunice Paiva

The Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres portrays Eunice Pavia in the film. Her mother, Fernanda Montenegro plays the older Eunice Pavia.

The real-life Brazilian lawyer and activist Maria Lucrécia Eunice Facciolla Paiva opposed the country's military dictatorship. Eunice faced a dire need to support herself and her children after her husband, former federal deputy Rubens Paiva, disappeared without a word regarding his whereabouts due to Brazil's military dictatorship. She enrolled in and graduated from Mackenzie Presbyterian University's Faculty of Law, went on to become a well-known advocate for the human rights of those who were subjected to political repression, persistently pushed to open the military dictatorship's closed records, and then championed the rights of Brazil's indigenous peoples.

Selton Mello as Rubens Paiva

The Brazilian actor Selton Mello portrays Rubens Paiva in the film.

The real-life Brazilian politician and civil engineer Rubens Beyrodt Paiva fought against the establishment of the military dictatorship in Brazil in 1964 while serving as a congressman in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies. Because he participated in activities that the fascist regime considered subversive, he was detained by the military and later tortured and killed. There was never any trace of his remains.

Additional cast of I’m Still Here

Here is a list of all the additional cast in the film:

Also read: What is the story of I'm Still here about?