Carmelita Hughes

Carmelita was born in a small town (Ituiutaba, MG) in Brazil, as the only child of Josepha Grace, a mixed-race Brazilian of Portuguese, Spanish and African descent, and Otavio de Souza who was an Indigenous Brazilian from the Amazon Tapayúna tribe who was adopted when he was an infant (Died in January 1st 2019). Her parents were married for three years before her mother & Carmelita fled, penniless, in the middle of the night because of her father's physical abuse. Settling into a new city and State (Brasilia, DF), Carmelita's mother set out to work hard to build a better future for both of them and often couldn't afford to pay babysitter, leaving her no choice but to leave Carmelita home alone. That's when Carmelita first started getting lost in the world of pretending. Growing up, Carmelita was shunned by her peers for not fitting in to any race (white or black) and was rarely accepted, which triggered her deep desire to be an actress in order to disappear into the life of different people. Later when her mother could afford a television, Carmelita was mesmerized with how people acted in TV and Films. She was shy as a child but when it came to performing at school or in church plays, she would light up and shine. Carmelita had no shortage of determination to pursue her passion of acting. Her mother, a gifted cook, was hired to cater parties for local government officials, and eventually for the President of Brazil Joao Batista de Oliveira Figueiredo where she met and later married Walper Rodriguez Pereira, a member of the Brazil Federal Senate, who took on the responsibility to raise Carmelita as his own child and provided both Carmelita and her mother with a better social life, and emotional support. For the first time, Carmelita was able to dream of endless possibilities, one of which was to travel to the United States to see Disney World. After her stepfather passed away in 1991, Carmelita and her mother moved to United States. Obsessed with American culture, Carmelita learned English by watching soap operas. Carmelita was scouted to be a model at Boca Talent in Boca Raton, Florida for her exotic sex appeal. This experience led to her love for Theater and the Film industry. Carmelita Attended Florida Atlantic University as a theater major and was especially fascinated studying Shakespeare. Her love for acting grew and caught the attention of her professor who candidly advised her to move to Hollywood to pursue her passion. Carmelita graduated top of her class with The Meisner Center's intensive master's program while being cast in a variety of roles in commercials, theater, TV, and Film. She appeared in "Yes, Dear" (2005), General Hospital (2006), and American Mobster (2010) before taking a sabbatical to raise her family with her husband. Carmelita is a producer, has written and been involved in several projects which led her to form her own Production Company, Tribal Films (www.tribalfilms.com). She and her husband also founded PlushBeds (www.plushbeds.com), one of the largest luxury mattress manufacturers in the USA, specializing in organic and natural mattresses made from organic latex, a byproduct of the Hevea brasiliensis tree of Brazil. Carmelita and Michael have two children. She has always been a great advocate of helping under-privileged children all over the world. She is an active sponsor to several non-profit organizations, including edasnerfamilycenter.org, EveryKidCounts.org, Samaritanspurse.org, and myworldvision.org. She believes that youth should be nurtured, inspired and encouraged to build a better world for themselves and others.