Felipe Simas reveals how Flamengo shaped his Globo acting career | OneFootball

Actor reveals how a setback against Flamengo’s youth team shaped a successful television career

Felipe Simas’s path in the arts began to take shape after a decisive moment in youth football. Before establishing himself on screen, the actor played in Nova Iguaçu’s youth ranks and dreamed of building a career on the pitch. A match against the Rubro-Negro at Gávea, however, changed the course of that story for good.

– My brother always told me to play at left-back, but my dream was to play as an attacking midfielder. In Nova Iguaçu’s junior team, I played a friendly against Flamengo’s youth team at Gávea. I came up against Rafinha, who was the winger at the time, and he completely did my head in -, the artist said, adding:

– I was already rehearsing a theater production around the same time. After leaving Gávea on Friday, playing against Rafinha on Saturday, and spending Sunday in mourning, on Monday I told the coach: ‘Coach, I can’t do it anymore‘ -, he told Flamengo TV.

The Rubro-Negro winger in Felipe Simas’s journey

So, the man responsible for the young full-back’s rude awakening was striker Rafinha. Developed at Gávea as a highly rated prospect and initially compared to Neymar, the winger was part of the Rubro-Negro squad that won the 2013 Copa do Brasil.

Then, after that early period in the spotlight, the player went through a string of loan spells without managing to establish himself at major clubs. He currently plays for Jacareí-FC, a team from the interior of São Paulo state.

A passion for football on screen

An outspoken supporter of the Rio club, Felipe Simas moved into drama and built a solid television career, with prominent roles in TV Globo productions such as Flor do Caribe and Totalmente Demais, as well as portraying Garrincha.

– It was in the Pelé film! Interestingly, most of the actors on set were made up of ‘frustrated footballers.’ On the day we filmed the scene in which we became world champions, everyone cried on set, remembering their own childhood dreams -, he recalled.

Lima’s emotion in his brother’s memory

Felipe’s brother, fellow actor Bruno Gissoni, also took part in the interview. The actor, who was part of the cast of ‘Avenida Brasil,’ recalled the shift from anger to ecstasy in the stands of the Monumental Stadium in Peru during the 2019 Libertadores final.

– It was agonizing. It had to be. I had never cursed someone out the way I cursed Gabigol in that match. He didn’t get a single play right. But then the guy goes and scores two goals and becomes immortalized, and that story lives on forever, right? Man, it was insane. It was very… It’s such a movie script -, the Globo actor said.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.