"Totalmente demais" is a Brazilian telenovela written by Rosane Svartman and Paulo Halm for Rede Globo. It's an original story, although loosely inspired by theatre piece 'Pygmalion' by Bernard Shaw. The show aired from November 9, 2015 to May 30, 2016 and it consists of 175 episodes. The main stars are Marina Ruy Barbosa, Fábio Assunção, Felipe Simas and Juliana Paes.
Synopsis
After escaping sexual harassment by her own drunken stepfather, Eliza runs away from home with the help of her mother Gilda, to try her luck in the big city. Her ultimate dream is to provide a better life for her mother and siblings.
When she gets robbed on her very first day there, Eliza ends up living in the streets - where she meets Jonatas, a charismatic guy who looks after parking spaces and sells candy by traffic lights. Eliza starts selling flowers to make a living with his help and they both develop a true friendship destined to become the most beautiful love story.
However, she did not anticipate destiny would bring her face to face again with lady-killer Arthur. They had met briefly before at Eliza’s family roadside joint while she still lived inland. Owner of Excalibur model agency, Arthur has an affair with the ambitious Carolina, editor-in-chief at the famous fashion magazine Totalmente Demais. Carolina defies Arthur on a bet to transform Eliza into a model capable of winning a beauty contest.
As Eliza goes through a major makeover, Arthur falls in love with her. On the other hand, Eliza feels torn between Jonatas’ love and Arthur’s spell. Driven by her envy, Carolina will try everything in order to ruin things for the new girl.
Trivia
- Working title for the telenovela were 'Poderosa' and 'A dona do jogo'.
- Humberto Carrão was considered for the role of Jonatas.
- Actress Paloma Duarte was invited to join the telenovela, however she had to refuse the part because she was still on contract with Rede Record.
- During its entire exhibition, 'Totalmente demais' was a huge ratings phenomenon. In the last month of exhibition, the show scored 31% in the ratings, beating the 'main' Globo telenovela 'Velho Chico'.
- The telenovela's writers Rosane Svartman and Paulo Halm were inspired by Bernard Shaw's 'Pygmalion' (which inspired 1964 George Cukor musical 'My Fair Lady' with Audrey Hepburn), Charles Perrault's 'Cinderella' and Charles Chaplin's 1931 film 'City Lights'.
- Tatá Werneck appeared in the last episode as her character Fedora Abdalla, from 'Totalmente demais' successor 'Haja coração'.
- Other crossovers included Stênio Garcia's character Bino, from Globo's defunct TV show 'Carga pesada'. He appeared at the beginning of the telenovela as a truck driver who helps Eliza get to Rio de Janeiro. One more crossover was from Svartman and Halm's season of teen series 'Malhação: Sonhos'. Actor Paulo Dalagnoli brought back to live his Sonho's character Lírio.
- 'Totalmente demais' combined rating of all episodes was 27,3%, considered excellent for the timeslot.
Cast
Main cast
| ACTOR / ACTRESS | ROLE |
|---|---|
| Marina Ruy Barbosa | Eliza de Assis Monteiro |
| Fábio Assunção | Arthur Valmont Carneiro de Alcântara |
| Felipe Simas | Jonatas Castro |
| Juliana Paes | Carolina Castilho |
| Juliana Paiva | Sandra Regina 'Cassandra' Matoso |
| Humberto Martins | Germano Monteiro |
| Vivianne Pasmanter | Liliane 'Lili' de Bocaiuva Monteiro |
| Daniel Rocha | Rafael Guerra |
| Carla Salle | Leila de Oliveira |
| Daniel Blanco | Fabio 'Fabinho' de Bocaiuva Monteiro |
| Priscila Steinman | Sofia de Bocaiuva Monteiro |
| Sérgio Malheiros | Jorge 'Jacaré' da Silva |
| Olívia Torres | Débora Matoso |
| Leona Cavalli | Gilda de Assis Machado |
| Paulo Rocha | Erondino 'Dino' Machado |
| Julianne Trevisol | Maria Luísa 'Lu' |
| Aílton Graça | Florisval Pereira |
| Giovanna Rispoli | Maria João 'Jojô' Oliver de Alcântara |
| Juan Paiva | Wesley Castro |
| Orã Figueiredo | Hugo Matoso |
| Malu Galli | Rosângela Castro |
| Samantha Schmütz | Isadora 'Dorinha' Castilho |
| Glória Menezes | Stela 'Stelinha' Carneiro de Alcântara |
| Pablo Sanábio | Maximiliano 'Max' Augusto |
| Marat Descartes | Pietro Enrico |
| Aline Fanju | Maristela de Sousa |
| Lavínia Vlasak | Natasha Oliver |
| Adriana Birolli | Lorena Domingos |
| Gabriel Reif | Jamaica |
| Tony Garrido | Montanha |
| Jéssica Ellen | Adele |
| Raphael Sander | Charles |
| Lellezinha | Jennifer 'Jenny' Castro |
| Reginaldo Faria | Maurice de Alcântara |
| Felipe Silcler | Carlos Augusto 'Cascudo' |
| Valentina Bandeira | Janaína |
| Hélio de La Peña | Zé Pedro |
| Dhonata Augusto | Braço |
| Cadu Paschoal | Riscado |
| Cauê Campos | Anthony 'Bola' Castro |
| Guida Vianna | Aparecida 'Cida' |
| Pally Siqueira | Bárbara |
| Aline Borges | Kátia |
| Kaik Brum | Carlos 'Carlinhos' de Assis Machado |
| Isabella Koppel | Dayse de Assis Machado |
| Carolyna Aguiar | Lurdinha |
| Juliana Louise | Maria Castilho |
| Leonardo Lima Carvalho | João Castilho |
| Leonardo Carvalho | Wilson |
| Rodrigo Rangel | Peçanha |
| Ana Paula Botelho | Mirtes |
| Regina Sampaio | Euzébia |
| Wendel Bendelack | Silas |
| Patricia Costa | Cleide |
| Lana Guelero | Jacira |
| Vanessa Pascale | Yasmin |
Guest stars
| ACTOR / ACTRESS | ROLE |
|---|---|
| Alarisse Mattar | Vitória |
| Alexandre Lino | Alberto |
| Alexandre Mandarino | Luís |
| Alex Brasil | Dr. Mário |
| Ana Furtado | Herself |
| Anna Cotrim | Míriam |
| Beto Vandesteen | Ivo |
| Breno di Fillipo | Beto |
| Bruno Nunes | David |
| Carol Castro | Herself |
| Chico Expedito | Bené |
| Cíntia Dicker | Herself |
| Cláudia Sardinha | Jessy |
| Créo Kellab | Fernando |
| Danielle Winits | Sueli (Suellen) |
| Débora Ozório | Young Gilda de Assis |
| Dudu Bertholini | Himself |
| Ed Oliveira | Machado |
| Érika Januza | Vanessa |
| Fernanda Motta | Danielle |
| Gabriela Carcaioli | Clara |
| Gabrielle Aplin | Herself |
| Giovanna Ewbank | Herself |
| Giovanna Tominaga | Marisa |
| Gláucio Gomes | Dom Luigi |
| Gutti Fraga | Cordeiro |
| Helena Fernandes | Herself |
| Henri Castelli | Himself |
| Ícaro Zulu | Gabriel |
| Iná de Carvalho | Ruth |
| Isaac Bardavid | Ibrahim Alfaray |
| Jorge Lucas | Gilmar |
| José Victor Castiel | Magalhães |
| Karine Barros | Emanuelly |
| Lenita Oliver | Dandara |
| Luiz Lobo | Sambrini |
| Luziane Fortes | Tamires |
| Malu Falangola | Ana Paula |
| Marcelo Arnal | Marcão |
| Marcelo Souto Maior | Fonseca |
| Mariana Rios | Herself |
| Marina Cardoso | Daniela |
| Maura Mesquita | Alessandra |
| Maureen Maggi | Herself |
| Michelle Costa | Marcinha |
| Nado Grimberg | Lobato |
| Nicola Siri | Giancarlo |
| Nilvan Santos | Severino |
| Pablo Uranga | Duarte |
| Patrícia Barros | Ellen Milet |
| Paulão Duplex | Durão |
| Paulo Dalagnoli | Lírio |
| Paulo Zulu | Himself |
| Rodrigo Candelot | Álvaro |
| Rosana Dias | Socorro |
| Scarlet Cardoso | Ingrid |
| Sérgio Stern | Dr. Rogério |
| Silvia Pfeifer | Herself |
| Stênio Garcia | Bino |
| Suzana Cordovil | Nicole |
| Sylbeth Soriano | Berê |
| Tainá Bevilacqua | Brenda |
| Tatá Werneck | Fedora Abdala |
| Úrsula Corona | Cláudia |
| Walney Aguiar | Valdeci |
| Yasmin Cândido | Rayssa |
| Aldo Perrota | Bastille's Engineer |
| Alexandre Damascena | Bastille's Security Guard |
| Alexandre Moffatti | Inspector |
| Alexandre Rodrigues | Jonatas' Friend |
| Anderson Mello | Bastille's Security Guard |
| Antônio Gonzalez | Max's Dad |
| Antônio Ismael | Guy at the Shelter |
| Baby Bordoni | Worker at Arthur's Agency |
| Beatriz Steeler | Worker at Arthur's Agency |
| Bernardo Mesquita | Young Man |
| Bruno Pacheco | Security Guard |
| Caio Rodrigues | Max's Attacker |
| Caju Valadares | Annoyed Man |
| Carlos Fonte Boa | Rosângela's Admirer |
| Charles Fricks | Jonatas' Doctor |
| Cláudio Mendes | Max's Love Interest |
| Daniel Andrade | Avon's Representative |
| Daniel Rangel | Guy in a Bar |
| Erlene Mello | Totalmente Demais' Editor |
| Felipe Haiut | Favela Guy |
| Gilberto Marmorosh | Maurice's Poker Buddy |
| Ivan Gradim | Police Inspector |
| Juenes Vieira | Funk Producer |
| Lady Francisco | Eliza's Housekeeper |
| Luka Ribeiro | Meleka |
| Marcos Hollanda | Paperboy |
| Otto Jr. | Police Man |
| Pia Manfroni | Hotel Maid |
| Rafa de Martins | Private Detective |
| Rafael Zulu | Guy in a car Fabinho wrecks |
| Ronaldo Santos | Private Inspector |
| Séfora Rangel | Nurse |
| Sylvia Massari | Judge |
| Viétia Zangrandi | Judge |
| Vinicius Vomaro | Max's Attacker |
| Wanderson Petão | Dino's Bar Guest |
| Felipe Cunha | / |