Coincidentally, the artist faced a battle against the disease in real life and also in the soap opera.
Actor Leonardo Machado had a sad coincidence between his personal life and his professional career: the fight against cancer.
In the 2009 soap opera Viver a Vida, Leonardo played Léo, who spent part of Manoel Carlos’ plot suffering because of his wife Marta’s (Gisela Reimann) illness. Years later, he himself would fight a battle against cancer.
Successful career at TV Globo
Despite leaving us at just 42 years old, Leonardo Machado left several contributions to TV Globo’s television drama. Born in Porto Alegre, the actor debuted on the country’s main network in 2001, playing the young Guilherme in the hit O Clone.
Years later, in 2004, Leonardo Machado starred in Senhora do Destino, another prime-time soap opera on Globo. These two roles, plus his participation in the 2006 season of Malhação, gave him the right to play Léo in Viver a Vida. The character, who followed his wife’s struggle, ended up in a big dilemma, as he fell in love with Ariane (Christine Fernandes), a doctor who treated his partner.
After finding success with Léo, actor Leonardo Machado starred in the series Na Forma da Lei, in 2010, and accumulated work on the small screen, such as in O Brado Retumbante and Salve Jorge, both from 2012, and Se Eu Fechar os Olhos Agora, from 2018.
Fighting terminal cancer
In If I Close My Eyes Now, Leonardo Machado was already fighting liver cancer. The actor was diagnosed with the disease in 2016 and ended up not surviving. He passed away in his hometown in September 2018.