América is a Brazilian telenovela that aired on TV Globo from 14 March 2005 to 4 November 2005. It is written by Glória Perez and directed by Jayme Monjardim and Marcos Schechtman. The telenovela focused on the life of an illegal immigrant to the United States of America and the lives of those she left behind in Brazil. It stars Deborah Secco and Murilo BenÃÂcio.
In the United States, Telemundo aired a Spanish-dubbed version of América in 2009.
Sol and Tião are born to different social backgroundsâÂÂshe to a poor suburban family in Rio, and him to an even poorer family who raised cattle in West São Paulo State. They eventually meet, due to unlikely circumstances, but part again, as she has set as her ultimate priority to reach the United States or bust. While she comes to the U.S. to live as an illegal immigrant, he remains in Brazil and, despite many trials and tribulations, he becomes a successful rodeo cowboy.
América has several secondary plots about a variety of compelling characters. These, for the most part, take place in four locales: Vila Isabel, a middle-class neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro; Boiadeiros, a fictional town in West São Paulo State; the home of a rich family in Rio; and Miami. Various characters from each subplots often meet each other due to character linkages within the story.
The main subplots were:
Originally, Glória Perez wanted Cláudia Abreu as the protagonist Sol, repeating their collaboration from Barriga de Aluguel. The actress initially showed a lot of interest in playing Sol, but she set a condition: to film only three or four days a week. However, the director stated that this would not be possible, as it was a main role and the filming would be intense, requiring her constant presence. Since the condition was not accepted, Cláudia declined the role.
Next, Giovanna Antonelli was invited, but she also did not accept the offer, as she was pregnant with her first child and could not take on such an intensive role due to the pregnancy. Since none of the actresses considered the authorâÂÂs main choices accepted the role, auditions for the role of Sol were opened.
Mariana Ximenes was the third actress invited, but since she did not want to play another âÂÂmocinhaâ immediately after Chocolate com Pimenta, she requested to be assigned a different role and was cast as the rebellious funk singer RaÃÂssa. Danielle Winits, Regiane Alves, Deborah Secco, and Camila Morgado auditioned for the role, but the first two did not fit the profile.
The decision between Deborah and Camila caused tension between the author and director Jayme Monjardim, as Gloria wanted Deborah while he wanted Camila. Gloria argued that Camila had a naturally strong and determined profile, suitable to play a character who would suffer a lot, assigning her as the main antagonist, while the protagonist role went to Deborah.
Alinne Moraes was invited to play Lurdinha but chose instead to take the lead role in Como uma Onda. Singer Wanessa Camargo auditioned for the same role but was not selected. The part eventually went to Cleo, marking her debut in a telenovela at that time.
Bianca Rinaldi was invited to play Helô, but she opted to sign with Record to star in A Escrava Isaura, and was replaced by Simone Spoladore.
Preta Gil was initially confirmed in the cast as RaÃÂssa's best friend, who would introduce her to the funk world. She even left a show she was hosting on Band mid-contract for the role. However, her character was cut and never appeared in the show.
American actor Lucas Babin was approved to play a Texan cowboy because he already spoke Portuguese.
Unlike most Brazilian soap operas, América featured different styles of music for each milieu. Vila Isabel had only traditional samba, other parts of Rio de Janeiro included Brazilian pop and funk, São Paulo was scored with Brazilian country music and Miami, with a mix of American pop and Latin music.
The songs used in América are:
01. "Soy Loco por Ti América" - Ivete Sangalo
02. "Até Pensei" - Nana Caymmi
03. "A Volta" - Roberto Carlos
04. "Pra Rua Me Levar" - Ana Carolina
05. "Feitiço da Vila" - Martinho da Vila
06. "Nervos de Aço" - Leonardo
07. "Mágoa de Boiadeiro" - Lourenço & Lourival
08. "Os Amantes" - Daniel
09. "Girassóis Azuis II" - George Israel
10. "Vida de Viajante" - Lenine
11. "She's a Carioca (Ela é Carioca)" - Celso Fonseca
12. "Você" - Marina Elali
13. "Um Matuto em New York" - Roberto Trevisan
14. "Sinfonia dos Sonhos" - Marcus Viana
15. "ÃÂrfãos do ParaÃÂso" - Milton Nascimento
16. "Eu Sei que Vou te Amar" - Caetano Veloso
1. "Regresa a mi" - Il Divo
2. "Don't" - Shania Twain
3. "Home" - Michael Bublé
4. "Abrazame AsÃÂ" - Tamara
5. "Amore e Música" - Russell Watson
6. "The Look of Love" - Diana Krall
7. "Summertime" - Michael Bolton
8. "A Horse with no Name" - America
9. "Redneck Woman" - Gretchen Wilson
10. "Pieces of Me" - Ashlee Simpson
11. "Por un Beso" - Gloria Estefan
12. "Cancion Mixteca" - Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan
13. "Besame Mucho" - Maysa
14. "Wind Shaking the Trees" - Darwing James Band
15. "Long Long Away" - Jesse Johnson
17. "Can't Get Over" - Kasino
18. "Breath" - O2
19. "Little Girl" - Lucas Babin
20. "Take Me Home, Country Roads" - Happening
While being cited as a pop culture phenomenon previously, the soap opera received greater exposure in the media after a long-running (2005) storyline between two gay characters included a scene in which they share a kiss. The scene was scheduled to be air in the final episode, which created much anticipation from the gay community in Brazil. However, Rede Globo, the soap opera's production company, elected not to run the scene, much to the surprise of the writers, fans and actors involved. The event led to a number of protests for equal rights, condemning Globo for their actions.
Brazilian animal rights organizations criticized the telenovela because rodeo was favorably exposed in the story. Several non-large-scale protests happened in several cities and activists tried to exhort a nationwide boycott campaign against the series. Coincidentally, the series faced a decline of its audience, though that was not attributed to a boycott eventually.