What happened to Elena Ranaldi? Find out what the actress has been up to

Helena Ranaldi made a mark on audiences watching Globo TV soap operas, especially in the early 2000s with her surprising characters, but she has been away from soap operas since ending her contract with Globo in 2014.

The actress was one of the first actresses to have her famous exclusive contract with the network terminated: “They were starting the politics of employment contracts. I think I was one of the first to be cut.”

Since then Helena has dedicated herself to theater and audiovisual. He also moved from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo.

In 2025, he stages the show “Três Mulheres Altas”, by Edward Albee, directed by Fernando Philbert, alongside Ana Rosa and Fernanda Nobre. The Pulitzer-winning work reflects on time and inspires the actress to revisit her own trajectory.

Regarding comments about his career, he said: “Many people think he’s not working and have no idea that an actor’s life isn’t just about doing television. There are wonderful actors, including stage actors, who have never done TV. It’s a completely different reality.”

“I worked a lot, for 10 years I only did theatre. I also did cinema, and I produced two shows and a feature film “Cordel do Amor Sem Fim”, directed by her husband, Daniel Alvim.”, she added.

The film participated in international festivals, winning best actress in three different awards. It also won the Best Feature Film award at the 2024 Brazil New Visions International Film Festival.

Helena Ranaldi Nogueira was born on May 24, 1966 in São Paulo and demonstrated an interest in the arts and the artistic world from a young age.

As a teenager, Helena began working as a model and participated in television commercials including, in 1989, she gained fame by ranking among the five finalists of the Supermodel of the World competition promoted by Class Modelos and Ford Models and, with the prize obtained, she invested in theater courses to improve her education.

At the age of 23 he left Sao Paulo and moved to Rio de Janeiro with the aim of dedicating himself completely to acting.

Helena’s first work on television came in 1990, when she played Stefânia in the soap opera “A História de Ana Raio e Zé Trovão”, on the now extinct TV Manchete. Shortly after, he starred in the soap opera “Amazônia” before moving to TV Globo.

Her first telenovela on TV Globo was in the telenovela “Despedia de Solteiro” as Nina in 1992. The following year she participated in “Olho no Olho”, where she met director Ricardo Waddington, with whom she later had a relationship.

Other notable roles in the 1990s include the villain Suzana in the soap opera “Quatro por Quatro” and the model Larissa in “Explode Coração”.

In 1996, Helena presented the program Fantástico with Pedro Bial.

In the early 2000s, he formed a frequent collaboration with author Manoel Carlos and starred in “Laços de Família”, “Presença de Anita” and “Mulheres Apaixonadas”.

In “Women in Love,” Helena Ranaldi played Raquel, who suffered domestic violence from her husband, played by Dan Stulbach, using a tennis racket. This role is considered the most memorable of his career.

“It was very surprising because of the theme it lived. People recognize me a lot on the street, especially in rural towns. They love to see the artists they have followed for many years on television,” he said.

He played his first and only protagonist in the soap opera “Coração de Estudante”.

Over the years he has also participated in soap operas such as “A Favorita”, “Fina Estampa” and “Em Família”, his latest soap opera on TV Globo.

As for her personal life, Helena was married to Ricardo Waddington between 1994 and 2004, and together they had a son, Pedro, born in 1999.

His son, Pedro Waddington, pursued an artistic career and became known for his role as Tiago Roitman in the remake of “Vale Tudo”. Pedro is also the nephew of well-known people such as Andrucha Waddington and Fernanda Torres.

Since 2015 she has been in a relationship with actor Daniel Alvim.