Isadora Cruz

2016–present: National rise

In 2016, she made her debut in the telenovela Haja Coração, playing the sweet and gentle Cris, Felipe's (Marcos Pitombo) half-sister.^[3] In 2022, she was cast as Candoca, the protagonist of the telenovela Mar do Sertão, where she gained national recognition. In 2024, she was cast in the 7pm soap opera Volta por Cima as the slut Roxelle, Chico's (Amaury Lorenzo) lover; initially a mere rival of Madalena (Jéssica Ellen), Roxelle gains prominence in the plot after her breakup with Chico, largely due to her friendship with Gigi (Rodrigo Fagundes) and Neuza (Valdinéia Soriano) and her troubled relationship with the bookmaker Gerson (Enrique Díaz).^[4] Alongside Volta Por Cima, the actress participated in a new opening of Fantástico, as part of the celebrations for Rede Globo's 60th anniversary.^[5]

In June 2025, Love Is a Knife premiered on Globoplay, where Cruz starred as Rosa Pellegrino — a fearless woman from the Brazilian sertão during the 1920s and 1930s — the main character and narrator of the work created by George Moura and Sergio Goldenberg.^[6][7] She was chosen for the role in early 2023, following her success as Candoca in Mar do Sertão (2022).^[8]

In May 2025, she accepted director Carlos Araújo's invitation to play Agrado Garcia, one of the protagonists of Coração Acelerado, a telenovela written by Maria Helena Nascimento and Izabel de Oliveira.^[9] The character has dreamed and worked since childhood to become a successful sertanejo music singer.^[10] She addresses the character's family background as a lineage of strong female musicians.^[11] Cruz needed to focus on learning the accent of the state of Goiás – which is very different from your natural accent – but the biggest challenge was the singing and guitar lessons.^[11] The references for creating the character are the female singers-songwriters of the sertanejo music scene,^[12] as Marília Mendonça^[13] and Ana Castela.^[14]

Activism and philanthropy

The actress lent her voice to the #VocêNãoEstáSozinha^[a] campaign, created by the singer Juliette. The campaign sought to give visibility to the real stories of women who were victims of femicide at the hands of their partners or ex-partners.^[15]

Endorsements

In January 2021, she portrayed the fortune teller Madame Colorama in the campaign for L'Oréal's Colorama nail polish brand.^[16] In 2025, Cruz was the face of Arezzo's Christmas campaign entitled "Presença é o Presente Perfeito" and it featured her mother and grandmother.^[17]

Film

Television