After starting acting at 72, Tânia Maria is already part of an Oscar nominated film.
The Secret Agent, directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and starring Wagner Moura, is up for Best Picture, Best International Feature Film, and Best Casting at the 2026 Oscars. “Now I know what the Oscars are. I want to go,” she says, laughing. And when asked if she’s attending, unfortunately plans have changed. She’s not, “A lot of people have been asking if I’m going to the ceremony. Do you know what the answer is? I’m not! Brazil also needs people shining here.”
At 72, Tânia had never been inside a movie theater.
She was living a quiet life in Santo Antônio da Cobra — a village of fewer than a thousand people in rural Rio Grande do Norte — where celebrity names meant nothing. Then Brazilian film director and screenwriter Kleber Mendonça Filho showed up looking for extras for Bacurau (2019). All it took was Tânia saying “good evening” for casting producer Renata Roberta to bring her on set. The director would whisper in her ear what he needed from each scene — until the day she looked at Silvero Pereira’s character Lunga’s outfit and just said: “What kind of outfit is that, boy?” The line became one of the most iconic moments in the film.
In The Secret Agent, she plays Dona Sebastiana, a woman in an iconic floral dress who shelters people being persecuted during Brazil’s military dictatorship. She stole every scene she was in — and then she stole Carnival. People showed up in her costume, in her dress, as her. “It’s so gratifying. People wanting to imitate me means they liked it,” she says, unbothered as ever, but also honored that people dressed like her.
And when it comes to working with Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent she only had good things to say about the Oscar nominated actor. She said, “When we arrived to shoot, he’d come right over hugging me. He took such great care of me.”
Now at 79, none of it is performance. It’s just her. “I am those characters,” she says. And that tracks: her next film, Yellow Cake, directed by Tiago Melo (Azougue Nazaré), just had its world premiere at the Rotterdam Film Festival as the only Brazilian title in the Tiger Competition. It’s a sci-fi set in Picuí, Paraíba, blending folk culture, social critique, and the world of rare mineral mining in the Brazilian sertão.
The International Cinephile Society already called her “the breakout star of The Secret Agent, in yet another wonderfully eccentric, scene-stealing role.” She plays Dona Rita — and yes, there’s a lot of Tânia in her too. But she won’t say more: “I’m not going to tell so it doesn’t lose its charm.”
She’s also got six more films lined up for 2026. When asked what kind of role she still wants to play, she doesn’t miss a beat: “Whatever comes, I’ll do it.” And on being an inspiration to anyone who thinks they’ve missed their window? Oh she’s got a message for you too. She said, “Age means nothing. It’s just a number. I’m still young.”
The Secret Agent is nominated for four Academy Awards. The film itself is nominated for Best International Feature Film and Best Motion Picture of the Year. It’s also nominated for Best Casting. But the standout that Brazil is waiting for is Wagner Moura, the lead of The Secret Agent. He’s been nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. If he wins, he’ll be the first Brazilian man to win an Oscar for Best Actor.