1994–01: Fascinação, Uga-Uga and A Padroeira When she was seventeen, in 1998, Mariana debuted on television in the telenovela
Fascinação of
SBT in 1998, where she played the character Emília, her first major television role. In the same year, she joined
Rede Globo and began working in her (Rede Globo) productions. She appeared in the episode "Dupla Traição" in the series
Você Decide and in the film
Caminho dos Sonhos portraying the character Ruth Stern. She also participated in the pilot of the series
Sandy & Junior portraying the character Vicky. She also made a cameo appearance in the telenovela
Força de um Desejo playing Ângela, in 2000. Mariana played the character Bionda, which yielded great success for her career. In 2001, she appeared in
Brava Gente in the episode, "A Sonata", playing the character Luciana. She first performed in the Portuguese voice over translation for the character
Sharon Spitz in the Canadian/Chinese animated series
Braceface. She later did some ads for
Fox Kids Brazil and she also played Izabel de Avelar in
A Padroeira. That same year, she also starred in her second film,
Dias de Nietzsche em Turim, playing Júlia Fino.
2002–06: A Casa das Sete Mulheres, Chocolate com Pimenta and Cobras & Lagartos In 2002, Mariana Ximenes made a guest appearance in the comedy series
Os Normais, in "A Turma do Didi" as Glorinha and
Brava Gente in episode "Arioswaldo e o Lobisomem" as Branca Luz, alongside Suzana Vieira and Ângelo Antônio. Earlier that year, she had starred in her third film
O Invasor, which earned her the award for Best Supporting Actress at the
Festival do Recife,
Passista Trophy,
Grande Prêmio BR do Cinema Brasileiro and
Cinema Brazil Grand Prize. The following year, she played the character Rosário in
A Casa das Sete Mulheres. She won the award for Best romantic couple along with
Thiago Fragoso earning her a Contigo Award for her character that became popular among viewers, although her character died at the end of the miniseries. During this period, Mariana made a special participation in the program
Zorra Total and
A Grande Família. Her next role was in a telenovela perhaps one of her most prominent in her entire career. She played Ana, the main protagonist, also known as Aninha, in
Chocolate com Pimenta that earned her media attention due to its success thanks to her portrayal in the telenovela. Mariana also starred in films such as
O Homem do Ano and
Uma Estrela Pra Ioiô (2003). In 2004, she also participated in the special
Histórias de Cama & Mesa. This year, she also starred in one more film
Gaijin - Ama-me Como Sou portraying Weronika Muller. She participated in her second Portuguese voice over translation in the movie
Chicken Little, where he voiced the character Hebe Marreca, known as Pata Ugly. Also in 2005, she made a cameo in
Casseta & Planeta playing the character Raíssa. In 2006, Mariana was cast as Lílian Gonçalves in the miniseries
JK. In
Cobras & Lagartos, she portrayed the character Bel, that was initially for
Giovanna Antonelli. In the plot, her character is a violinist who inherits 49% of her deceased uncle, Omar (
Francisco Cuoco), who owns a fictitious company called Luxus.
2007–10: A Favorita and Passione After
Cobras & Lagartos, she made a cameo appearance in
Paraíso Tropical as Sônia, a journalist who becomes the new girlfriend of the character Mateus, played by Gustavo Leão. Originally, Gilberto Braga had cast her to play the character Bebel, but she later turned down the offer thus
Camila Pitanga taking over the role. The following year, Mariana played the heroine, Lara Fontini, in
A Favorita, one of the main characters of the plot. The look of her character became a hit among Brazilians. She was invited to be the presenter of the program
Superbonita channel
GNT, where she spoke about pin-ups. She also made a cameo as herself in the documentary
Episódio Especial and as herself in the documentary
Despertar das Amazonas. In 2010, Mariana Ximenes was cast to play Clara Medeiros in the telenovela
Passione, her first villain role in her acting career. It is based on
Bette Davis' characters. In order to compose the character as well as some other villains in Brazilian telenovelas, such as Nazaré of
Renata Sorrah and Maria de Fátima of
Glória Pires, some changes were also made on her visual appearance to liven the character, making her hair longer and dressing in bolder outfits. The actress Mariana Ximenes topped the poll site in Caras magazine as the greatest villain in telenovela history. The critical Flávio Ricco said "Mariana Ximenes as Clara did one of her best work in television". She won in Troféu Imprensa Awards for Best Alctress for her portrayal of the character, and was also nominated in some other awards. The journalist Fabíola Reipert said, "Mariana Ximenes can show her talent, because she is in the main cast of the telenovela, even with only 29 years". The character Clara was also compared to Bia Falcão,
Fernanda Montenegro's character in
Belíssima. Furthermore, Mariana returned to theater, starring in the play
Os Altruístas, directed by
Guilherme Weber, after nine years of not performing on stage.
2011–present: As Brasileiras, Guerra dos Sexos and movies In 2011, Due to the success of her character in
Passione, Rede Globo decided to keep her away from the small screen for some time. She produced the film
Um Homem Só by herself in addition to starring in the film. In May 2012, she was part of the cast of the series
As Brasileiras in the episode "A Adormecida de Foz do Iguaçu", playing the seductive character Liliane. She made her comeback in the Portuguese voice over translation for
31 minutos, la película, for the voice of Cachirula's character. She was also confirmed to star in the
Guerra dos Sexos as Juliana. Shortly afterwards she was part of the film
Os Penetras with Eduardo Sterblitch and
Marcelo Adnet. She also starred in the film
O Gorila by the filmmaker José Eduardo Belmonte, as a seductive character. Mariana performed a vedette cabaret in
Joia Rara. In 2016, she starred the successor of
Totalmente Demais,
Haja Coração, together with
Malvino Salvador. == Personal life ==