Gabriela Loran (born May 18, 1993) is a Brazilian actress. She is best known for her roles as Priscila in Malhação - Vidas Brasileiras and as Viviane in Três Graças, both on TV Globo. In 2023, she received a nomination for Best Actress at the Los Angeles Brazilian Film Festival for her role as Paulinha in O Último Animal, a film by Leonel Vieira.
Biography Gabriela Loran was born in São Gonçalo, a city in the Greater Rio de Janeiro. She studied performing arts at (CAL), an arts school located in the Laranjeiras neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, where she came to identify as transgender and began her transition at age 23. During that time, she worked as a pharmacy clerk and a waitress, and did unpaid work as an actress.
Career In 2018, she joined the cast of Malhação, where she played the role of Priscila, a transgender drag queen and dance teacher. As she herself acknowledges, “Malhação opened many doors for me because I was the first trans actress to appear on the show.” However, she emphasizes that despite the title of “Malhação’s first trans actress,” “being trans does not define Gabriela. Gabriela is multifaceted.”
In 2019, she played the role of Paulinha, the daughter of a criminal, in the Portuguese-Brazilian film O Último Animal, directed by Leonel Vieira. The film premiered at the 50th Gramado Film Festival in 2022, and reached international markets the following year. Gabriela celebrated her role in the film for marking several “firsts” in her career: “It was my first leading role, my first nomination, my first international film.” O Último Animal premiered in Portuguese theaters in November 2023, the same month the actress was nominated for Best Actress at the Los Angeles Brazilian Film Festival. The winner was Vera Holtz for the movie Aunt Virginia. In Brazil, the film did not reach theaters until March 2024.
After appearing in several productions on Canal Brasil, in 2021 she was cast in a leading role in the Globoplay series Arcanjo Renegado, where she played Giovanna, the chief of staff to the president of the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj). Following the first season, she joined the series’ regular cast. In 2022, she played the role of Luana, the friend and confidante of the protagonist Clarice, in the Rede Globo soap opera Cara e Coragem. That same year, she joined the cast of the Netflix film . The actress was also part of the cast of the comedy series , a co-production between the comedy group Porta dos Fundos and Amazon Prime Video, in which she stars alongside Monica Iozzi and Miguel Falabella.
In 2024, she plays Maitê, a friend of Isabela/Buba (), in the TV Globo remake of the soap opera Renascer.. In the original 1993 version of the soap opera, the character did not exist. In 2025, she was cast in Três Graças, by Aguinaldo Silva, returning to the 9 p.m. time slot as the pharmacist Viviane. The character gained popularity with both audiences and critics, becoming one of the show’s main characters. In 2026, she participated in the , featured on the show Domingão com Huck hosted by Luciano Huck, where she faced off against Mell Muzzillo. During her performance, the actress sang “” by Brazilian singer Gal Costa and “RockStar” by Lisa.
Filmography
Television YearTitleRoleNotesRef.2018Malhação: Vidas BrasileirasPriscilaEpisodes: "March 7–15"2020–2021PerdidoInayara Birigüi2022–presentArcanjo RenegadoGiovanna Santana2022–2023Cara e CoragemLuana Novaes2023Lucrécia2024RenascerMaitêEpisodes: "March 9 – May 4"Cíntia Braga2025 (from )Branca / PaquitaTrês GraçasViviane Fonseca2026Contestant
Film YearTitleRoleNotesRef.2019Marcella Eliza2022O Último AnimalPaulinhaAdriana Franzão2025Gambiarra: Uga Uga ShowStella
Personal life Since November 2024, Gabriela has been dating the circus performer, who was the runner-up on the sixth season of No Limite, which aired on TV Globo in 2022 and was hosted by Fernando Fernandes and Ana Clara.
Transsexuality Gabriela Loran is an activist advocating for trans visibility in the Brazilian media, but she emphasizes that simply gaining that space is not enough:
The actress says she never hid her gender identity, but that before studying performing arts, "she didn't know how to put a name to who she was. “Theater was a turning point in my life and helped me bring out who I’ve always been.” She reports that early in her career, she faced prejudice in various forms, ranging from being kicked out of (women’s) restrooms to having to play caricatured transvestites. Even though this burden of transphobia has lessened with her media exposure, it is still present, she emphasizes.
On January 30, 2024, the actress underwent gender reassignment surgery in Thailand, which cost 115,000 reais. In an interview, for newspaper Extra, she stated that she “had always wanted to be a woman since she was a child,” but due to a lack of information, she only realized this was possible after seeing the model Roberta Close on television and on Big Brother Brasil 11. She received full support from her family for the procedure, but also faced attacks on social media after posting a video of herself in the hospital, urinating for the first time following her gender reassignment. She says she had already expected this kind of reaction:
Prizes YearAwardCategoryNomineeResultRef.2023Los Angeles Brazilian Film FestivalBest ActressO Último AnimalPetrópolis Film FestivalBest Actress2025Citizenship, Rights and Diversity AwardHonorary AwardCombating Discrimination and Advancing EqualityF5 PrizeBest Supporting PerformanceTrês GraçasDomingão Awards
References