Edgar Morais

Edgar Morais
Morais at the 2016 AFI Fest
Born	Edgar Miguel Diogo de Morais (1989-06-25) 25 June 1989 (age 32) Coimbra, Portugal
Occupation	Actor, Writer, Director
Years active	2003–present

Edgar Morais (born June 25, 1989) is an actor, writer and filmmaker. He studied theater in Lisbon and began his film acting career with Catarina Ruivo's drama From Now On. Morais wrote and directed the award-winning short film We Won't Forget which had its premiere at 2021's Palm Springs International ShortFest. He has worked with such directors as Larry Clark, Victoria Mahoney, Tiago Guedes, Lucas Elliot Eberl, Miguel Nunes and Teresa Sutherland.

Personal life[]

Morais was born in Portugal, to an antique restorer mother and a contractor father. He was raised in Lisbon and attended EPTC, one of Portugal's oldest and most prestigious acting schools. Morais speaks fluent English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish.

Edgar Morais divides his time between Portugal and the USA.

Theater career[]

Morais made his stage debut in William Shakespeare's Macbeth at the Mirita Casimiro Theater in Lisbon in 2006. He has appeared in many theater productions since including Moliere's A Rehearsal at Versailles, Brian Friel's Lovers, Jean Genet's Deathwatch and Arnold Wesker's The Kitchen.

Morais is also known for his role as Lucius in the Portuguese Golden Globe winning adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, directed by Luís Miguel Cintra, at the São Luiz Municipal Theater in Lisbon.

Film career[]

In 2007, while still in theater school, Morais made his acting film debut in From Now On (winner of the Audience Award at Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival), directed by Locarno Film Festival's alumna Catarina Ruivo.

While in Los Angeles, Edgar was cast in the hit NBC TV show CTRL, directed by Robert Kirbyson starring Steve Howey and Tony Hale, and in Q'orianka Kilcher's (Terrence Malick's The New World) directional debut film, Saudade. Morais also appeared in Chasing Eagle Rock directed by Erick Avari, alongside Beth Behrs and Michael Welch, in The Monogamy Experiment directed by Amy Rider alongside Shailene Woodley and Renee Olstead and in Oh Gallow Lay directed by Julian Wayser which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2015 in the Horizons section.

Morais can also be seen in Rome Film Festival's Best Picture Winner Marfa Girl's 2018 sequel Marfa Girl 2, directed by Larry Clark, and in the forthcoming Chalk directed by Victoria Mahoney alongside Shiloh Fernandez and Mirrah Folks.

Heatstroke starring Leah Pipes, Michael Welch and Paul James Jordan marks Morais' narrative directorial debut. The short film had its world premiere in the official selection at IndieLisboa International Film Festival on May 4th 2019, where it competed for the Short Film Grand Prize.^[1] Heatstroke went on to screen in competition at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival, Beverly Hills Film Festival, FEST New Directors New Films Festival and Method Fest Independent Film Festival among others. The film won a CinEuphoria Award for "Best Screenplay" and "Top Short Film of the Year" and was subsequently broadcast nationally on RTP.

In 2019, Edgar was as one of only 10 actors selected to take part in "Passaporte", an initiative created by the Portuguese Academy of Cinema (Academia Portuguesa de Cinema) to present and promote Portuguese cinema talents to some of the most influential casting directors in the world.^[2]

Edgar Morais can be next seen in the upcoming films A Cup of Coffee and New Shoes On directed by Gentian Koçi, Restos directed by Tiago Guedes, Lovely, Dark and Deep directed by Teresa Sutherland and the Lucas Elliot Eberl-directed drama, Fault Line alongside Caitlyn Folley, Zoë Kravitz, Kris Lemche, Jon Foster, Dov Tiefenbach, Michael Welch, Chris Marquette, Leah Pipes, Lou Taylor Pucci and Angela Sarafyan.

On June 25th 2021, We Won't Forget, the short film directed by Edgar Morais and Lucas Elliot Eberl, had its world premiere in competition at Palm Springs International ShortFest.^[3] The film was co-written by the directors and Whitney Able, who stars in the film as a woman whose frustrations boil to the surface while hosting a party for her friends, culminating in a public freakout that turns into collective hysteria. Edgar Morais also stars in the film alongside John Patrick Amedori, Paul James, Davida Williams and Caitlyn Folley, among others. The film screened in competition at the Hamptons International Film Festival,^[4] Tirana International Film Festival,^[5] Woodstock Film Festival, Rooftop Films^[6] and IndieLisboa International Film Festival, among others. We Won't Forget won the Grand Jury Prize, as well as the award for Best Editing at Castrovillari Film Festival and the jury's Honorable Mention at FEST New Directors New Films Festival.^[7]

Edgar is currently in production on his feature film directorial debut, the multi-year spanning You Above All, which he also wrote and stars in, co-directing with Lucas Elliot Eberl, with a cast that includes Olivia Thirlby, Steven Weber, Anabela Moreira, Richard Riehle, Rita Blanco and John Robinson. The USA/Portugal co-production is expected to be released in 2023.

Filmography[]

References[]

External links[]

• Edgar Morais at IMDb