‘I went into survival mode and became a zombie’

Klara spoke about how the abuse made her think her acting life could have come to an end

Klara Castanho, 23 years old, spoke about the rape she suffered and the impact on her life and career. In an interview with Glamour, the actress who grew up in front of the public eye in the corridors of the Globo studios, opened her heart about the trauma and the wave of support she received for the first time. And, among the revelations, she opened up about being forced to expose herself, “I thought I could take the pain to the coffin.”

With more excerpts from the interview released, Klara spoke about how the abuse made her think that her life as an actress could have come to an end. “I didn’t want it to be the end of my career,” she said, highlighting the importance of talking about the issue. “I knew that this interview would need to be given at some point. I feel strong enough to speak, just this once. I’m not going to let my life be summed up by this episode,” she said.

After having his experience of sexual violence exposed in 2022, Castanho described the subsequent period as a nightmare. “The entire period since what happened was a nightmare that took on new developments. I simply didn’t want to live through that,” he revealed. The actress shared how she struggled to process what happened, facing insomnia and a deep sense of vulnerability. “I didn’t sleep, my parents didn’t sleep. We cried together for two days and slept for one. I think I went into survival mode and became a zombie. It was a period of great torture for me,” she said.

The decision to move on came from the need to protect his family and continue in his profession. “I didn’t want this to be the end of my career… I wanted to have good times again”, explained Klara.

At the same time, the actress also highlighted the support she received through social media, describing it as a movement of sisterhood. “My Instagram direct and my email became a point of exchange and conversation. I received beautiful messages. I received love from people that I don’t even know how to measure.”

Exposure and solidarity

In 2022, actress Klara Castanho faced one of the most turbulent phases of her life after having her traumatic experience of rape and the subsequent adoption of her baby exposed on the internet. The revelation came through an open letter published by the actress herself on her Instagram, in which she detailed having been a victim of rape, a pregnancy that was not noticed until almost the end of the pregnancy, and the painful, but considered necessary, decision to give up the child. for adoption.

Klara explained that despite taking every possible medical precaution after the abuse, including the morning-after pill, she showed no physical or hormonal signs of pregnancy until she began to feel unwell in the last few months. “It was a shock. My world fell apart”, she described the moment of discovery. The actress highlighted the lack of empathy from the professional who attended to her and the deep pain she felt when making the adoption decision, emphasizing that it was a choice made with the good in mind -being of the child.

The exposure of the case generated a wave of rejection against Antonia Fontenelle and Leo Dias, public figures who, according to reports, contributed to the exposure of Klara’s story. Both closed the comments on their social networks after the negative repercussion. The editor-in-chief of the Metrópoles portal, where the story was initially published by Dias, removed the article from the air, admitting that the exposure was an unacceptable violation of the privacy of Klara, a victim of violence.