
Acting
Dec 31, 1969
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
João Miguel
Acting
Biography
João Miguel Serrano Leonelli, better known simply as João Miguel (Salvador, January 1, 1970), is a Brazilian actor, screenwriter and director, son of politician Domingos Leonelli and artist Magali Serrano. Known for his performances in film, television and theater, he has received numerous awards including three Grande Otelos, one Kikito, one ACIE, three Guaranis, one Shell and one APCA.
Feature Films (33)

Best friends Deco and Naldinho co-own a cargo boat in Brazil's Salvador da Bahia. They give a ride to a sultry prostitute named Karinna, and soon both men fall prey to her considerable sexual charms, pushing the bounds of their friendship to the limit.
Lower City

1942, in the middle of Northeastern Brazil, two very different men meet along the road: Johan, an aspirin salesman avoiding the German draft, and Ranulpho, a rural Brazilian seeking escape from the drought.
Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures

Shortly after World War II, the city of Rio de Janeiro experiments a period of great cultural, political and economic effervescence, when all the dreams – or nearly all – seem possible. In this exciting scenery of transformation, Paulo discovers love, friendship and sex through his childhood and adolescence in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Extreme Happiness

In a dog-eat-dog world, Raimundo Nonato has found an alternative way to move ahead: he cooks. No matter what social strata this deceptively innocent young man inhabits, he hones his skills and sharpens his knives—and then he falls in love. Jorge's nimble comic fable provides a smartly constructed gastronomic allegory for ambition and survival.
Estômago: A Gastronomic Story

In northern Brazil, Hermila patiently waits for her husband. However, he has abandoned her. Sexy, restless and resolute, she raffles off "a night in paradise" with herself. This beautifully-shot portrait doesn't shy away from the burdens of a young scarred woman, but it also celebrates her courage to live according to her own rules.
Love for Sale

Three brothers embark on a journey that begins with a kinship with Brazil's indigenous tribes, to their creation of South America's largest national park.
Xingu

Veronica, a young woman, lives in Recife, one of the most violent cities in Brazil. Her life is filled with fleeting love affairs and passing romances. As her father feels his death approaching, he asks a favor: that she finds true love before he passes away.
Once Upon a Time Veronica

To escape past traumas, a truck driver João decides to leave his hometown behind and travel cross the country. Alone and lonely he drives all over Brazil until João discovers hiding in his truck a motherless boy looking for his father. Reluctantly, João agrees to take the boy to the nearest town and, during the trip, he finally finds the courage to face his past.
Along the Way

Luiz Gonzaga decides to change his destiny and leaves his childhood home for the big city to overcome a romance. When he arrives, he meets a woman he falls in love with, the Odaleia (Nanda Costa). After the birth of his son and his wife's health complications, he decides to return to the road to ensure a better future for his son. He has a friend in Rio de Janeiro and with him leaves the little one and heads to Brazil. He didn't imagine that this distance between them would develop into a complicated relationship, enhanced by the strong personalities of both. Based on conversations between father and son, this is the story of Luiz Gonzaga, a singer and accordion player known as Rei do Baião or Gonzagão.
Gonzaga: From Father to Son

Rio de Janeiro, 2012. 30 year-old Karine, 8 months pregnant, loses her husband in a senseless murder. She and her brother almost die, but are saved by Pastor Naldo, an evangelical pastor from the Church of Eden. Karine carries within her the conflict of salvation via the church or via the birth of her child.
Eden

Freely inspired by the work Catatau, by Paulo Leminski, the plot begins with the historical hypothesis imagined by the poet from Curitiba: “What if René Descartes had come to Brazil with Maurício de Nassau?” The film materializes this hypothesis and joins the father of modern philosophy in his journey through the tropics. Under the effect of hallucinatory herbs, he investigates questions revolving around geometry and optics in the face of an absolutely strange world. Known for his famous sentence “I think, therefore I am”, Descartes faces his doubt towards phenomena reason doesn’t explain. René, Renatus, Re born.
Ex-It

Edgard works as a subordinate in the company of millionaire Werneck and is in love with Ritinha, a simple woman who works as a teacher to support her mother and her three sisters. One day, Peixoto, Werneck's son-in-law, makes him a proposal to marry Maria, the boss's daughter. The reason is that Maria was abused and now is being forced to marry by her family. Edgard hesitates first but accepts the offer. From then on he enters into a great doubt: should he deposit the check and marry Maria or stay with Ritinha, his great love?
Bonitinha, Mas Ordinária
Television & Series (10)

In a future where the elite inhabit an island paradise far from the crowded slums, you get one chance to join the 3% saved from squalor.
3%

The miniseries, aired in four episodes, chronicles the life story of singer-songwriter Luiz Gonzaga—the "King of Baião"—focusing on his turbulent relationship with his son, Gonzaguinha, a major figure in Brazilian popular music (MPB). A co-production between Globo Filmes, Conspiração Filmes, and TeleImage, the film was released to commemorate the centenary of Luiz Gonzaga's birth. For its television adaptation, the story incorporated previously unseen archival footage and a new prologue.
Gonzaga: From Father to Son (TV Series)

Meet Sereia, a young and beautiful singer whose world of fame and fortune is interlaced with envy and hate. Her murder in the midst of carnival shocks the entire country and the hunt for her killer reveals a new suspect with each new day of investigation. Holding the status of a big-budget thriller, the miniseries brings about mysticism, sensuality and suspense that hooks the viewer until the astonishing end.
O Canto da Sereia

A group of women gets together on social media to expose the sexual harassment they all suffered from a renowned specialist in reproductive medicine. The saga of perseverance and courage of these women begins when one of them decides to talk and reveal what was until then confined by the doctor’s office walls.
Harassment

The Night Shepherds universe is inhabited by prostitutes, priests, rogues, saint's parents and street vendors. For a very Brazilian people who fight every day for survival and only rely on the solidarity spirit and friendship of each other. The seductive Cabo Martim, the romantic Curió, the noble Massu, the artful Foot of Wind and the Jesuit master live their adventures in four independent episodes, which are completed in their poetry and the strength of each story.





