From ballet on TV Tupi to the 'Deceased' with R$1 million in gold: the story of Susana Vieira, who at 84 almost turned down her first reality show out of fear of dying

This Friday (Oct. 9), Globoplay releases two more episodes of 'Herança em Jogo' ('Inheritance at Stake'), the strategy reality show in which Rodrigo Faro plays the Executor and Susana Vieira plays 'The Deceased', an eccentric, sarcastic millionaire who, before dying, left video messages for 13 strangers competing for up to R$1 million in gold bars on her estate, filmed in Bragança Paulista. The three decisive episodes arrive on October 16. It is the actress's first time in the format — and she told TV Press she almost said no: the project's original title, 'A Falecida' ('The Deceased'), bothered her because she is afraid of dying and disappearing. She only agreed once the name changed.

The career that led to this challenge began far from drama. Born Sônia Maria Vieira Gonçalves in São Paulo on August 23, 1942, the daughter of a military attaché at the Brazilian embassy in Buenos Aires, she joined the Grande Teatro Tupi dance corps in 1961 and, the following year, made her telenovela debut as Taís in 'A Noite Eterna'. Her stage name was borrowed from her younger sister, Susana, also an actress, in Argentina. In the 1970s she won two APCA best actress awards, for 'O Espigão' and 'Escalada', and was named 'Queen of Brazilian Television' at the Troféu Imprensa.

At Globo, her list of landmark roles spans generations: lead Nice in 'Anjo Mau' (1976), Marina in 'A Sucessora' (1978), Ana in 'A Próxima Vítima' (1995), villain Branca Letícia in 'Por Amor' (1997) — which she herself cites as a reference for the Deceased — Pilar in 'Amor à Vida' (2013) and, above all, Maria do Carmo in 'Senhora do Destino' (2004), which inspired the title of her autobiography 'Senhora do Meu Destino', published in 2024. Her most recent telenovela role listed is Cândida in 'Terra e Paixão' (2023).

At 84, she says she keeps 'always saying yes to projects' and that this is why directors trust her. Besides the reality show, she is involved in the vertical telenovela 'Onde Está a Boiadeira?' and the 'Escola Susana Vieira de Atuação' project on GloboPop. Her only frustration with 'Herança em Jogo', she said, was not filming alongside Faro, as she had expected: 'I'm just the actress,' she summed up.