Maria Fernanda Graça Serrano, better known as Fernanda Serrano (born Lisbon, 15 November 1973), is a Portuguese actress, voice actress, model, and television presenter. A model since the age of fifteen, she made her acting debut in 1996 in the Barcelona film Muere, Mi Vida. She became known for starring in several telenovelas.

Biography and career

Maria Fernanda Graça Serrano was born in the city of Lisbon on 15 November 1973.

As a young man, he sang in a rock band and was part of a group in high school called KGB (Klube Geral da Borga). At age 15, her friends enrolled her in a fashion contest, and that's when Fernanda joined the "Perfil 35" modeling agency. In 1994, she received an invitation from the "Look Elite" agency, now "Elite Models," and it was from then on that she pursued a modeling career. She was six months into her Translators/Interpreters course at the Autonomous University of Lisbon when she decided to interrupt her studies to travel to Barcelona, where she worked as a model for six months. It was during this time that the opportunity arose to audition for the feature film "Muere Mi Vida" by Mar Tangariona, and she landed one of the main roles.

She returned to Portugal already as an actress, and it was in mid-September 1995 that she heard about auditions for a television contest, and that's when she decided to pursue a career as a presenter. She was then chosen to present the program Twelfth Night. on RTP and Olhó Vídeo, on TVI.

Despite everything, she didn't abandon acting and sent resumes to NBP, eventually landing a lead role in the soap opera A Grande Aposta (1997), by Tozé Martinho. Later, she was part of the star-studded cast of the soap opera Os Lobos and, in 1999, starred in the successful SIC series Jornalistas. That same year, she made her debut in Portuguese film production in the movie Jaime, by António Pedro Vasconcelos, where she won the lead role and also acted alongside Alexandra Lencastre in the SIC television film Passeio no Parque.

She also appeared in the TV movies Theorem of Pythagoras, by Gonçalo Galvão Telles (2000) and "A Walk in the Park", by Marie Brand (2000), as well as several series and soap operas.

After several fiction projects for RTP and SIC, she debuted in 2000 on TVI with the soap opera Jardins Proibidos. It was then in soap operas that she gained prominence, having been part of the cast of several productions on the network, right after "Jardins Proibidos," such as Filha do Mar (2001), Amanhecer (2002), Queridas Feras (2003) and Te Dei Quase Tudo (2005).

In 2002, she acted in the film A Bomba, directed by Leonel Vieira.

It was after the soap opera Tu e Eu that Fernanda Serrano began to step away from television screens, firstly due to the arrival of her second child, secondly due to breast cancer, which she eventually overcame, and thirdly due to a new pregnancy, this time a high-risk one, as she became pregnant soon after treatment. She converted to Catholicism in 2009 and was baptized at age 35.

She returned to TVI and, to celebrate her return, signed an exclusive contract with the television station, and joined the main cast of the soap opera Sedução, in 2010, in the role of "Júlia", the villain of the story. She is currently one of the most sought-after actresses on the channel, having been part of and starring in the cast of several of the channel's soap operas.

In 2012, she returned to presenting programs after eight years exclusively dedicated to acting, hosting the reality show on TVI, A Grande Aventura. In the same year, she starred in the telenovela Louco Amor, alongside Nicolau Breyner.

In May 2013, she released the book "There Are Happy Endings Too," where she surprisingly revealed that she was a victim of medical negligence. On television, she was a judge on the third season of the TVI talent show, A Tua Cara Não Me É Estranha.

In theatre, she participated in the play Partitura Inacabada by Anton Chekhov, directed by Paulo Matos, at the Teatro da Trindade. In 2005, she was part of "Confessions of Women in Their 30s" at the Teatro Armando Cortez.

In 2014, he returned to the theater with the play "40 and so what?", which talks about life after the age of 40. Ainda em 2014, além do teatro, fez também televisão e cinema, sendo uma das protagonistas de Mulheres, na TVI, and plays the character Luísa in the film by Antônio-Pedro Vasconcelos, Cats Don't Have Vertigo. and Maria da Piedade in Eclipse in Portugal.

After "Mulheres" in 2014, she joined the cast of several TVI soap operas, such as A Impostora (2016), Jogo Duplo (2017), Amar Depois de Amar (2019) or Amar Demais (2020).

In 2019, she replaced Fátima Lopes as the presenter of the afternoon program on TVI, A Tarde É Sua (television program), during the presenter's vacation. In the same year, he presented the talk show O Resto É Conversa, for the same channel. He also appears in the film by Vicente Alves do Ó, Eu Te Quero Tanto! He also wrote, Long Live Life.

She starred in the TVI soap opera, Quero É Viver, with São José Lapa, Rita Pereira, Sara Barradas, and Leonor Seixas in 2022.

In 2023, to celebrate her fiftieth birthday, the actress wrote her fourth book, There Are No Perfect Lives.

In 2024, she participated in the soap opera Cacau and returns to the role of presenter, replacing Manuel Luís Goucha in hosting the program Goucha while the presenter was on vacation in 2024.

In 2025, she will be part of the cast of A Protegida.

Personal life

Fernanda, the only daughter of Ercília Serrano (4 October 1950) and Jaime Serrano (1945), was married to presenter Pedro Miguel Ramos from 28 August 2004 to 4 June 2019. They have four children: Pedro Manuel Santiago (born 4 March 2005), Laura (born 18 December 2007), Maria Luísa (born 8 June 2009) and Caetana (born 3 July 2015).

After her divorce, she began a relationship with her personal trainer, Ricardo Pereira.

Filmography

Television

Year

Project

Role

Notes

Channel

1995

Noite de Reis

Herself

Presenter

RTP1

1997

A Noite Mais Badalada

Adolescent

Special Participation

1997–1998

A Grande Aposta

Carlota Costa

1998

Docas 2

Various roles

1999

Nós os Ricos

Cláudia

2000

Natália

Os Lobos

Marlene

Main Cast

Agora É Que São Elas

Various humor roles

Special Participation

Conde de Abranhos

Luísa Fradinho

Main Cast

Insólitos

Laura

Jornalistas

Ana

Protagonist

SIC

Alta Fidelidade

Jornalista

Special Participation

2000–2003

Olhó Vídeo

Herself

Presenter

TVI

2000–2001

Jardins Proibidos

Alexandra Alves

Main Cast

2001

Teorema de Pitágoras

Sofia Salgado

Antagonist

SIC

Querido Professor

Cristina

Main Cast

2001–2002

Filha do Mar

Sofia Moreira de Campos

TVI

2002–2003

Amanhecer

Anabela Gomes

Protagonist

2003–2004

Queridas Feras

Mónica Rodrigues

2004–2005

Inspector Max

Lúcia Sousa

Special Participation

Cristina "Tina" Picão

2005–2006

Dei-te Quase Tudo

Ana Maria Capelo

Co-Protagonist

2006–2007

Tu e Eu

Débora Duarte

Antagonist

2008

Casos da Vida

Laura

Special Participation

2010–2011

Sedução

Júlia Alves Soares

Antagonist

2012

A Grande Aventura

Herself

Presenter

A Casa das Mulheres

Filipa

Protagonist

Não Desistas de Mim

Catarina

2012–2013

Louco Amor

Violeta Martins

2013

A Tua Cara Não Me É Estranha (3th edition)

Herself

Juror

Mundo ao Contrário

Cândida

Special Participation

2014–2015

Mulheres

Marlene Canelas

Protagonist

Camila Andrade

2016–2017

A Impostora

Diana Martins Varela

Protagonist Antagonist

Paula

2017–2018

Jogo Duplo

Maria João Barbosa

Protagonist

2019

Amar Depois de Amar

Laura Meireles

Co-Protagonist

A Tarde É Sua

Herself

Substitute presenter, in Fátima Lopes' absences.

O Resto É Conversa

Presenter

2020–2021

Amar Demais

Vanda Gonçalves Rodrigues

Antagonist

2022–2023

Quero é Viver

Natália Rosa Lobo Andrade

Protagonist

2023–2024

Morangos com Açúcar

Dalila Castro

Main Cast

2024

Cacau

Júlia Saavedra

2024–2025

Em Família

Herself

Substitute presenter

2024

Goucha

Substitute presenter, in the absence of Manuel Luís Goucha.

2025

A Protegida

Clarice Azevedo

Main Cast

Mulheres, às Armas

Virgínia

Specials / Others

Year

Title

Notes

Channel

1996

Desafios

Presenter, alongside Maria João Bastos

TVI

1999

Elite Model Look

Presenter, alongside Pedro Miguel Ramos

2014

Giras & Falidas

Herself (special appearance)

2020

Nunca Desistir

Presenter

Portugal na TVI

2021

All Together Now

Guest Judge

2023

Toda a Gente Me Diz Isso

Special Participation

Há Festa no Hospital

Presenter

2024

Arraial TVI

2025

Há Festa no Hospital

Cinema

Ano

Título

Papel

1996

Mor, Vida Meva

Cristina

1999

Jaime

Marta

2000

Um passeio no Parque

Rita

2001

O Canalizador

Teorema de Pitágoras

2002

A Bomba

Andreia

2007

Julgamento

2014

Cats Don't Have Vertigo

Luísa

Eclipse em Portugal

Maria da Fé

2019

Quero-te Tanto!

Delfina

Voice actress

Year

Title

Character

2002

Treasure Planet

Mother of Jim

2007

Happily N'Ever After

Cinderela (Ella)

2008

Kung Fu Panda

Tigresa

2010

Marmaduke

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

2011

Kung Fu Panda 2

Tigresa

2016

Kung Fu Panda 3

Tigresa

The BFG

Mary

Awards

In 2026, Five Stars Consulting awarded Fernanda Serrano the Five Star Award in the Series and Soap Operas category.