Crossing over
Thereza Falcão and Alessandro Marson, the writers behind Elas Por Elas (Crossed Paths), reveal why they wanted to remake this 1980s telenovela for modern audiences and outline how they did it.
When it first aired in 1982, Brazilian telenovela Elas Por Elas (Crossed Paths) had all the hallmarks of the genre: suspicious deaths, love triangles, wrongful arrests, scheming and betrayals.
Now more than four decades later, the Globo series has been reimagined for a new audience. Created by Thereza Falcão and Alessandro Marson, based on Cassiano Gabus Mendes’s original story, it explores the parallel lives of seven friends, played by Isabel Teixeira (Pantanal), Thalita Carauta (All the Flowers), Deborah Secco (A Second Chance), Karine Teles (Pantanal), Mariana Santos (The Big Catch), Maria Clara Spinelli (Edge of Desire) and Késia.
Produced and distributed by Globo, the show’s artistic direction comes from Amora Mautner.
Here, Falcão and Marson tell DQ about their interest in remaking Elas Por Elas, their writing partnership and the daily demands of producing a long-running telenovela.
Introduce us to the story of Crossed Paths.
Crossed Paths tells the story of a group of seven friends who haven’t met up for 25 years. One of them, Lara, invites them to a reunion and from this reunion their lives undergo radical transformations.
Who are the main characters we follow through the series?
The seven friends are Lara (Secco), Taís (Estácio), Helena (Teixeira), Adriana (Carauta), Renée (Spinelli), Natália (Santos) and Carol (Teles). Lara is a rich and refined woman, Taís is a successful model, Helena is the president of a cosmetics company, Adriana is a veterinarian, Renée owns a bakery, Natália has a small farm that grows orchids, and Carol is a neuroscientist. In addition, there is Taís’s brother, detective Mário Fofoca, plus Helena’s son Giovanni and Adriana’s daughter Isis.
What can you tell us about how the story unfolds?
After the reunion, issues that were not resolved in the past return to the surface. Helena, for example, became pregnant by Jonas, who was Adriana’s fiancé. Faced with this, Jonas abandons Adriana to marry Helena. Lara doesn’t know, but her husband Átila is having an affair with Taís. And there is also a mysterious death: Bruno, Natália’s brother, died at her friends’ last meeting and she suspects one of them is to blame for his death.
What key themes or topics did you want to explore through the drama?
It’s a plot about friendship. There’s a lot of humour, there’s suspense, there’s melodrama – it’s a complete telenovela. Mário, Taís’s brother, is a detective and is hired by Lara to find out who her husband’s lover was. What he doesn’t even realise is that it’s his own sister. It’s a plot with high doses of comedy and a lot of romance, as Lara and Mário will fall in love.
There is also the impossible love story between Giovanni and Isis. Their mothers hate each other and Helena, our villain, will do anything to separate the couple because she doesn’t want her son involved with Adriana’s daughter. The reunion between Jonas and Adriana, in fact, will also yield strong emotions, as he realises he was never able to forget her. And the death of Bruno supplies good doses of suspense. There are emotions for all tastes.
You previously worked together on two period telenovelas – Novo Mundo and Nos Tempos do Imperador, which faced criticism for some of its characters and storylines. Two years on, how do you look back on that?
Novo Mundo did not cause controversy, it was a very well-accepted telenovela, both by critics and the public. Nos Tempos do Imperador was a telenovela that covered extremely complex themes. The history of Brazil, in itself, generates heated discussion and debate. We had centuries of slavery, which is shameful for Brazil as a nation, and we were one of the last countries to abolish this aberration. We also talked about the Paraguayan War, which was a terrible war.
Dealing with these heavy topics is always very delicate, and extreme care must be taken when approaching them. But looking back, we believe that raising a discussion about such serious issues is positive and necessary to evolve as a people. We are of the opinion that it is necessary to know history so as not to repeat mistakes already made.
Why did you decide to make Elas por Elas your next project, rather than continue in the historical period?
We had a desire to try other languages, to try telling a story that takes place today, with contemporary elements. And this was in line with the wishes of the network, which wanted to make a current telenovela to air at 6pm.
Why were you interested in updating the original Elas por Elas series for a modern audience?
Because we saw the potential for a good adaptation. It is a novela that was written more than 40 years ago but, in a way, remains current. Of course, we made changes; the world is very different. But the essence of the story remains quite pertinent.
What did you want to keep from the original series, and what elements did you decide to change or update?
We kept the main characteristics of the central characters, but transformed them into women who live today. Márcia in 1982 was a woman who lived at home and took care of her family. Her 2023 correspondent, Lara, starts the telenovela like this but soon takes over the law firm of her deceased husband. The same happened to Helena. Her version from 40 years ago was a housewife. She is currently president of the family company. There are many examples of changes, but seeking to respect the essence created by Cassiano Gabus Mendes. We also inserted a trans character, who did not exist in the 1982 plot.
How would you describe your partnership – and how do you work together on the series?
We have known each other for many years and this makes working as a pair a lot easier. Before the telenovela existed, we worked a lot on the synopsis, the concept of the story, the profile of the characters, and we define all of this together. Once the synopsis is approved and the telenovela goes into production, we begin writing the chapters. We wrote the first 24 chapters without the help of collaborators, to get the characters’ embouchure and the dynamics of the story, and to be very secure regarding the narrative we will present. Twenty-four chapters are the first month of the telenovela, it’s the beginning of everything. From there, we start working with the team and go with them until the end.
How do you work with other writers on the series?
We meet in person to make the stories and then distribute them to our collaborators, who work on the scripts. After that, we oversee the final writing of all chapters. It’s an industrial scheme – we need to guarantee the production of six chapters per week, with more than 150 pages of script being delivered to production every Monday. Our team currently consists of Carol Santos, Isabel Muniz, Lalo Homrich, Letícia Mey and Wendell Bendelack, with Leusa Araújo and Denise Dweck Butter working in research. It is a very talented team, on which we can count unconditionally. From time to time we also hold meetings with all collaborators to talk about the plots and characters.
There are seven protagonists in the series. How did you ensure they all get an equal share of screentime?
There is no concern about equal time. We started very committed to multi-protagonism, to making chapters in which everyone appeared and had prominence. But as the story progressed, we felt the need to focus on some happenings/events. These happenings vary and, in some chapters, some of the protagonists appear more than others. Soon after, other stories begin and other situations and characters gain prominence. And so it goes.
The setting of the story moves from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro. What impact did that have on the story?
Moving the story to Rio brought some subtle variations in the characters. Mário and Renê (who is now called Edu), for example, were characters who were always involved in nightlife, meeting in nightclubs, always surrounded by neon lights and cigarette smoke. Now they are more seen in daytime; Edu has become a personal trainer and Mário works a lot during the day. But it is difficult to determine which changes were caused by the change of city and which were necessary to adapt to the present day.
How involved are you through production? Do you work with the directors to shape the look of the drama?
We stay in touch constantly, whether by phone calls, messaging or email. Both direction and production keep us informed of everything that is happening, and we are consulted whenever there is a need to change something. Our director Amora Mautner and our producer Isabel Ribeiro are incredible professionals, highly qualified and experienced. Without their talent and competence, this telenovela would not exist.
What challenges did you face writing and making the show?
There are daily challenges. There are many chapters, and the big question is how to keep the public interested and following the same story for so long. Viewers’ attention is increasingly dispersed; there are so many things happening at the same time, so many things to pay attention to. Telling a story with 170, 180 chapters and making it interesting is, without a doubt, the biggest challenge telenovela writers face.
What are the key ingredients needed for a successful telenovela?
In theory they are: having a good story to tell, presenting thought-provoking cliff-hangers daily and creating charming characters that bring up different feelings in the audience and the desire to follow them. In practice there is something more, a certain magic that needs to be present too. Some stories have everything to [be successful] yet aren’t. Others have structural flaws but are successful regardless. Art has these things; there is no formula for success, but we work tirelessly pursuing it.
Is there a secret to keeping audiences hooked by such a long-running series?
If it exists, it remains a secret. Joking aside, you need to take every precaution to ensure the story moves forward every day. In a series, you take the shortest route. The telenovela takes the long way around. But this longer path has to be more beautiful and offer more enchantment so that whoever is travelling it finds it worth following and remains interested in reaching the end by going that way.
Why might the series appeal to international audiences?
The theme of reunion is a recurring theme present in dozens of series and films. It is a theme that speaks directly to the hearts of all people, regardless of their culture. We talk about friendship, about overcoming, about women who support each other and who love each other. And we also talk about love in different ways. These are universal themes that are easily understood by any audience.
What would you like to do next?
After a vacation? We’re exhausted when we finish a telenovela – it’s a huge amount of work, over a long period of time. It’s seven days a week, many hours a day. But of course, after that, we will start thinking about a new story to present. It could be a new telenovela, a series, a film…
tagged in: Alessandro Marson, Crossed Paths, Elas Por Elas, Globo, Thereza Falcão