Paula Lobo Antunes: The New York–born actress who became a Portuguese icon

Paula Lobo Antunes’s recent role in the film “A Teacher’s Gift” is as memorable as the path that brought her here. Whether playing the villain in Flor do Mal or a leading protagonist in Mar de Paixão, Paula knows she made the right decision the day she quietly applied to drama school while still studying medicine.

She opens up about her career, her life, motherhood, and family. She recalls how her father, the renowned neurosurgeon João Lobo Antunes, operated on an HIV patient at a time when no one else would dare.

Throughout this conversation with Tony Gonçalves, Paula reveals a lifelong sense of not fully belonging, of working hard, and of constantly competing with herself. And the work speaks for itself.

She also brings forward a Portuguese trait that no other guest has named so clearly: the constant apologizing, the “forgive me for existing” mentality. What does that mean for the cultural identity of a small country with enormous talent?

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