Sara Barros Leitão

Sara Barros Leitão (born Porto, July 31, 1990) is a Portuguese actress and theatre director. In 2020, she won the inaugural edition of the Ageas/Teatro Nacional D. Maria II Breakthrough Award.

Career She graduated in Acting from the Academia Contemporânea do Espectáculo. She began her career in the series Morangos com Açúcar, playing the role of Jennifer Brown. She was subsequently invited to join the cast of Olhos nos Olhos, a TVI soap opera, and later appeared in the soap opera Sentimentos, starring as Rute Dias. Notable theater credits include Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (directed by Eduardo Alonso, produced by Teatro do Bolhão); Punk Rock by Simon Stephens (directed by Victor Hugo Pontes, produced by Teatro do Bolhão); and Flores para Mim by Abel Neves (directed by Natália Luíza, produced by Teatro Meridional). In film, she has appeared in over a dozen short films, including *Weakest Part* by Bernardo Gomes de Almeida—winner of an Honorable Mention at the 2011 Faro Short Film Festival—and Manifesto dos Danados by João Niza Ribeiro. She regularly performs voice-over work for youth series and animation for Canal Panda, Biggs, and RTP2 through the production company SomNorte. She recently appeared in the TVI series I Love It as Cristina Moás and in the RTP series Água de Mar as Constança Assis. She can also be seen playing Inês Mendonça in the SIC soap opera Poderosas.

A highlight of 2015 was her participation in the production of Neva, directed by João Reis and staged at the Teatro Carlos Alberto (Porto) and the Teatro São Luiz (Lisbon).

Although she believes that theater is about more than just words, literature plays a fundamental role in her life. She took on the artistic direction of Carruagem – Tráfego de Ideias and began a degree in Classical Studies at the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon , as well as a master's degree in Women's Studies – Gender, Citizenship, and Development at the Universidade Aberta, which she did not complete.

She currently works as an actress, director, and playwright. Notable among her works are the concert-plays Trilogia das Barcas (2018)—based on Gil Vicente’s Auto da Barca do Inferno—and William Shakespeare’s King Lear (2019); she adapted and directed both productions, which were co-produced by the CCB (Centro Cultural de Belém) and Toy Ensemble. In 2018, she was the creative force behind Teoria das Três Idades—co-produced by Teatro Experimental do Porto (TEP) and Teatro Municipal do Porto and based on a study of the TEP archive—and Todos Os Dias Me Sujo De Coisas Eternas (2019), a piece based on research into Porto’s place names, presented as part of the *Cultura em Expansão* project.

In 2020, she founded the artistic organization Cassandra to develop her projects. Over the following year, she directed several works across various disciplines: a monthly feminist book club called Heróides; the performance piece Monólogo de uma mulher chamada Maria com a sua patroa (Monologue of a woman named Maria with her employer), which addresses the condition of domestic workers; and the accompanying exhibition Mulheres todos os dias (Women Every Day), among others. In 2022, Sara Barros Leitão took over the artistic direction of Teatro Oficina, proposing a variety of multimedia projects for the year. In 2023, she created the show Guião para um país possível (Script for a Possible Country), drawing on records from the Portuguese parliament to recount the last fifty years of Portuguese democracy.

Awards and Nominations She was part of the cast of the short film Weakest Part by Bernardo Almeida, which received an Honorable Mention at the 2011 Faro Short Film Festival.

For her role in the film, Sara received the Best Actress Award at the 2012 CLAP Festival.

In 2014, she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress award at the Áquila Awards and the Fantastic Television Awards for her performance in the series Mulheres de Abril.

For her role in the feature film Pecado Fatal, directed by Luís Diogo, she was nominated for and won several awards, notably:

2015 - Best Actress Award at the São Paulo Independent Film Festival 2015 - FESTICINI - International Independent Film Festival 2015: won the Best Supporting Actress award 2015 - CinEuphoria Awards: Nominated for Best Actress – National Competition 2015 - Golden Globes (Portugal): nominated for Best Actress 2015 - Sophia Awards: nominated for Best Actress

In 2016, she received the Best Performance award at the Arouca International Film Festival for her role in the short film *Marta* by Bernardo Almeida.

In 2020, she won the inaugural edition of the Ageas / Teatro Nacional D. Maria II Breakthrough Award. In 2025, she won the Prémio Autores (Authors' Award) in the film category for Best Actress for her role in O melhor dos mundos.

Filmography Television

Film Source: 2009 - Éden, short film 2011 - Weakest Part, short film 2011 - Aristides de Sousa Mendes - O Cônsul de Bordéus 2012 - Sara, short film 2012 - Ruge Medo, short film 2012 - O Homem da Gabardine, short film 2012 - Manifesto dos Danados, short film 2012 - Auguste, short film 2012 - Eroticon, short film 2013 - Para Veres, short film 2013 - O Tesouro 2013 - Pecado Fatal 2013 - Interferência, short film 2014 - Éden, short film 2014 - Os Gatos Não Têm Vertigens 2015 - Marta, short film 2016 - Kuru, short film 2016 - Offline 2017 - Ico, short film 2018 - Descobrindo a Variável Perfeita, short film 2022 - Das Duas Uma, short film 2024 - O Melhor dos Mundos