Brazilian actress Thaís Pacholek will be a keynote speaker at RootsTech 2022, FamilySearch announced in a blog post Wednesday, Feb. 16.
Pacholek was elected Miss Curitiba in 2005 and has starred in 15 live theater productions, three films, five television shows and eight telenovelas (soap operas). She is married to Bruno Belucci Pereira, who sings in the well known Brazilian sertanejo (country) duo Marcos & Belutti.
“Family is everything to me,” Pacholek told the Church News in an interview in Portuguese last week. “I would be nothing without my family.”
She will share more about her family on the RootsTech main stage March 3-5. The three-day global family history celebration is being held entirely online for the second consecutive year and is free to the public.
Pacholek is the seventh and final speaker to be announced from RootsTech’s diverse lineup. The other six speakers are:
- Palestinian comedian Maysoon Zayid
- Food Network’s Molly Yeh
- African boxing champion Azumah Nelson
- Argentine singer Diego Torres
- Actor Matthew Modine
- French baker Apollonia Poilâne
Born in Curitiba, Brazil, Pacholek said she started acting at age 9 in hopes to become more outgoing and lose some of her shyness. When she was 18, she left home to act in a theater production in Rio de Janeiro. That production led to an opportunity to begin acting in telenovelas.
“My parents always gave me total support,” she said.
Being an actress has taught Pacholek much about life and working with people. She identified three specific lessons she has learned. First, “people always cross our path for a reason. There’s always a story you can learn,” she said.
Second, “good always wins. If you follow your heart, your principles that are important to you, your path will always be good.”
And third, “it’s not worth it to worry about something you don’t have control over. Fight and battle for things you think you can change, but recognize that there are things that are outside of your control.”
Pacholek has a degree in performing arts and journalism and is an advocate for childhood education. She credits her family with helping her become an honest, hard-working, open and loving person. She hopes the same for her 5-year-old son, Luis Miguel.
“This upbringing I create for my child I hope he passes on to his family, and it will be a chain of good that all my ancestors — my entire family tree — brought me,” she said.
Pacholek said she hopes those who listen to her message at RootsTech feel that all are valued and all are needed.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re from Brazil, the United States or Japan, human beings are human beings. It doesn’t matter what language you speak, human beings are human beings,” she said. “If we treat people like human beings … the world would be so much better.”
“And always value your family,” she added. After all is said and done, “family will always be there.”
RootsTech 2022 will follow the same virtual model as the 2021 event, with internationally diverse keynote speakers and a mix of on-demand, livestream and interactive sessions where participants can connect with each other, ask questions and learn from experts.
Register for RootsTech 2022 at rootstech.org.
