Ana Rosa Guy Galego Corrêa (photo) was born in the city of Promissão, in São Paulo state, but has lived in Rio de Janeiro for many years. She is a very well-known actress in Brazil, where she has played in popular television soap operas, in films and in the theatre. With pride and determination, she has taken the principles of Spiritism into her

When did you become a Spiritist? 

I have been a committed Spiritist since 1976.  

What work do you do in the Spiritist Centre you are linked to in Rio?

I give healing and give a regular course on The Gospel According to Spiritism. Also in 2004 I published a book about the wonderful people I have met in the television world. 

Tell us a bit more about your work. 

I have played in many soap operas, starting in 1967. I also played in Spiritist plays and films in Brazil, including Nosso Lar – Our Home.  

How did you become a Spiritist? 

In 1961, my little son Maurício left us aged a year and a half, with leukaemia.  A little bit later, the late Spiritist director Augusto César Vanucci (from Globo TV, Brazil’s main network) gave me a copy of The Gospel According to Spiritism. That is how I came into a closer contact with the work of Allan Kardec. 

And when did you start playing parts in Spiritist films and plays? 

In 1995, my daughter Ana Luísa, who was then 18, was run over and died. The day after, someone gave me the book Violetas na Janela (Violets on the Windowsill). Less than a week later, my other daughter was given the same book by a colleague at university. And a few days later, a friend of my husband’s gave him the same book. In less than a month, the book came to us through three different pathways. The year after one of the directors of the Spiritist Centre where I was helping asked me to organise a fund-raising event. I thought the story about the three books was too much of a coincidence to be ignored. I suggested then that we worked on an adaptation of the book for the theatre. It took us a year to finish the play, which opened on May 7^th 1997 and has continued to be performed for all these years. I am now putting out a new version of the play, which should be opening in August or September. 

What have you learned from this experience? Did you feel the Spiritual World was close to you helping? 

The Spiritual Benefactors are always there, but not in an open manner. Our Spiritual friends have always helped us in the dissemination of the teachings, in taking the enlightenment and understanding of this beautiful philosophy to all of those who went to the theatre. The remarkable aspects really of this experience were all the letters I received from people whose lives were changed by the play. Many saw the play more than once. A young man told me once he went to see Violets on the Windowsill eight times. And when we played it in Chico Xavier’s adoptive city, Uberaba, the whole cast went to have lunch with him. I remember him telling us: “You are putting the violets on a windowsill of light”. It is hard to explain the joy, the pleasure, the peace and comfort you get when you know you are sending out a message of optimism, when you know you are taking comfort to the hearts of those hurt by the loss of their loved ones. We show them in a simple and rational way that life goes on, that we are eternal Spirits who do not come to an end when our body dies. Anyway, I would have to go on and on if I was to share all my memories of those 11 years when we toured with the play around the country. 

You also played the important role of Dona Laura in the Spiritist blockbuster Nosso Lar – Our Home. How was that? 

It was a very enriching experience. I had never worked with the Wagner Assis, who is a true gentleman and did a beautiful job. 

Do you see this film and the play as truly remarkable successes of Brazilian Spiritist art? 

Yes, but there are other plays and films that need to be mentioned. The play Além da Vida (Beyond Life) came many years before Violets and was equally successful. We also had the film Bezerra de Menezes, which caught everyone by surprise and attracted thousands to the cinemas for many weeks. And we need to mention Daniel Filho’s Chico Xavier – The Film, another resounding success. 

What is the difference between soap operas, films and plays with a Spiritism theme? 

The difference is in the format of each project. But with the Internet, you now have access to films and the soap operas from wherever you are. With the theatre, we need physically to go there in person. Working in those projects, I fell gratified both as an actress and as a Spiritist. I am confident that we can continue to disseminate the Spiritist message through the theatre, the TV and the cinema. 

Thank you very much. Anything else you would like to add? 

I would just like to invite all readers to see the play Violetas na Janela and the film Allan Kardec, um Olhar para a Eternidade (Allan Kardec, a Look into Eternity), which I directed. I believe my work helps me to know myself better. 

* Interview done in July 2012.