If anyone has seen the movie “Selena”, you will understand completely how this project was my own Selena moment. In the movie Jennifer Lopez transforms into the Mexican music legend Selena Quintanilla. At this point you’re probably thinking I dressed up in drag and sang Latin top 40 hits, but oh no… What I mean is that I transformed into the amazing and controversial Brazilian icon Renato Russo. I studied Renato for weeks and learned the exact nuances and quality of his movements. I somehow learned 3 Portuguese songs and got a full makeover with prosthetics and even teeth to age me 25 years. Ten days later together with the brilliant minds at Holition and V-Squared Labs, we put together a 20 minute set of Renato’s greatest hits and created a live hologram that would go on and perform in the opening ceremony of the Mané Garrincha stadium in Brazil which would soon host the world cup later that year. My pop star dreams come true!
This was one of my most interesting jobs to date to say the least. What made it even more special was the clients that hired us were the late Renato Russo’s son and manager. I remember their faces when they saw me rehearse for the first time. After the first ten minutes his manager told me “stop performing, I’ve seen enough.” I was so worried they hated my performance, but all he persisted to say was ” Thank you, my friend. We have seen enough because it hurts us too much to watch how real your performance is. We miss Renato and now we will go. Good luck, my son.”