Terra e Paixão

Development

In December 2021, it was announced that Walcyr Carrasco was developing a new telenovela for TV Globo.^[11] The telenovela would have the title Terra Vermelha (Red Earth), however, because the name already belongs to a book with the same name by writer Domingos Pellegrini, the title was discarded.^[12] In addition, the network feared that the previous title had a political connotation, since the color red in the provisional name of the novel could be associated with the Workers' Party, the party of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.^[13] In the meantime, some other titles for the telenovela were considered, such as Eu Sou a Terra (I Am the Earth), Terra Mãe (Motherland) and Terra Dourada (Golden Earth). Later, it was titled Terra Bruta (Raw Land), but in February 2023, Globo confirmed Terra e Paixão (Land and Passion) as the new title of the telenovela.^[14][15]

Originally Amora Mautner was announced as director of the telenovela, but exited the project because of her disagreements with Walcyr Carrasco in the second season of Verdades Secretas.^[16] Mautner was replaced by Luiz Henrique Rios.^[17] Between October and December 2022 during pre-production, Carrasco and Rios visited some locations in Mato Grosso do Sul to define the beginning of the plot's filming location.^[18] To advise Walcyr Carrasco on the themes involving native peoples, Globo hired the indigenous writer Daniel Munduruku.^[19] After a few months of preparations, workshops and cast meetings at Globo Studios, filming began at the end of January 2023, in the cities of Dourados and Deodápolis, in Mato Grosso do Sul. Part of the cast filmed scenes on farms in the region.^[20][21][22]

Casting

Because of her performances in the Walcyr Carrasco's previous works, Agatha Moreira was announced in the lead role, but due to a racial representation issue enforced by the network to include black characters in main roles, the actress ended up being reallocated to portray an antagonist in the plot.^[23] With the main character's ethnicity defined, Erika Januza and Larissa Nunes were names considered for the role, but Bárbara Reis was cast after Carrasco and director Luiz Henrique Rios saw her performance in Todas as Flores.^[24]