Rodrigo Santoro
Actor and producer
Rodrigo Santoro is one of Brazil's most talented and famous actors, and has made a name for himself in the United States quickly becoming one of Hollywood’s leading men. Santoro voiced one of the lead roles in Fox's 2011 blockbuster animated feature film “Rio” starring opposite Anne Hathaway and George Lopez. He also starred opposite Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor in “I Love You Phillip Morris” which he played “Jimmy,” Carey’s first love. Film credits include Fox Searchlights' “The Post Grad Survival Guide” alongside Alexis Bledel and Michael Keaton; Steven Soderbergh's “Che” and Pablo Trapero’s “Lion's Den.” “Che” and “Lion’s
Den” each had multiple nominations at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2008, Santoro was featured in writer/director David Mamet's “Redbelt,” the story of Mike Terry, a Jiu-jitsu master who has avoided the prize fighting circuit, instead choosing to pursue a life by operating a self-defense studio in Los Angeles. Santoro is already known for his performance in Warner Bros. “300,” based on the Frank Miller's graphic novel, which broke box office records throughout the world. Santoro starred as Xerxes, the Persian King who sent his massive army to conquer Greece in 480 B.C. He was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. He has also gained attention for his role of Paulo in ABC's hit series “Lost.”
Additionally, Santoro was honored to receive the Ischia award for International Contribution at the 2008 Ischia Global Film Festival in Italy. In 2007, he won Best Actor at the Cancun Film Festival for his portrayal of an obsessive photographer in the Brazilian film "Nao por acaso" (Not By Chance).
In 2004 Santoro starred in the Brazilian film, “Carandiru,” directed by Hector Babenco, which broke all Brazilian box office records for Brazil's entry in the Foreign Film category for the Academy Awards®. “Carandiru” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival where he received the Chopard Award for Male Revelation of the year. For his role in “Carandiru” he was also nominated for the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize of Best Actor and won for Best Supporting Actor at the Cartagena Film Festival. The movie was distributed in the US by Sony Pictures Classics and was a groundbreaking portrayal of the largest penitentiary in Latin America, the Sao Paulo House of Detention, and the lives of the people in it. Dr. Dráuzio Varella based the movie on the best-selling book "Carandiru Station."
Santoro has won a total of eight Best Actor awards, including the first ever award for Best Actor from the Brazilian Academy of Arts and Film, for his portrayal of a young man forced into a mental institution by his parents in “Brainstorm,” the critically acclaimed film by director Lais Bodansky.
For his role in “Bicho de Sete Cabecas” (2001), Santoro won five of his eight Best Actor awards including, Best Actor for the Brazilia Festival of Brazilian Cinema, Best Actor for the Cartagena Film Festival, Best Actor for Cinema Brazil Grand Prize, Best Actor for Recife Cinema Festival, and Best Actor for the Sao Paulo Association of Art Critics Awards.
He has also been celebrated for his performance in the Miramax film “Behind the Sun” directed by Walter Salles (Central Station), in which he played 'Tonio,' the middle son of a Brazilian family caught in the middle of an age-old family feud in 1910. He is forced by tradition and honor to kill a member of the neighboring family, positioning him next in line to be killed. The heart of the movie finds Tonio and his little brother discovering a world outside their family and home. “Behind the Sun” was nominated for a Golden Globe® in 2002 for Best Foreign Language Film.
Santoro appeared opposite Helen Mirren, Olivier Martinez and Anne Bancroft in “The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone,” directed by Robert Allan Ackerman, for Showtime. Based on the novella by Tennessee Williams, “The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone” was nominated for five Emmy® Awards in 2003.
Santoro co-starred in Universal's romantic comedy “Love Actually,” alongside Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth and Liam Neeson. He played ‘Karl,’ Laura Linney’s co-worker grappling with the dicey protocol of an office romance. Prior to this film, Santoro made his American debut in the highly sought after role of ‘Randy Emmers’ in “Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle,” directed by McG, starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu.
Rodrigo has been seen for the past two years starring as the "mystery man" opposite Nicole Kidman in the Baz Luhrmann directed commercial for Chanel.
Rodrigo is set to return to his iconic role of ‘Xerxes’ in “300: Battle of Artemisia,” opposite Eva Green and Sullivan Stapleton. He recently wrapped “The Last Stand,” opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Forrest Whitaker for producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura at Lionsgate. He will also star in “Hemingway and Gelhorn,” opposite Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen, that will premiere on HBO this year. “Heleno,” the fascinating true life story of Brazilian soccer star Heleno de Frietas in which he stars and also produced, recently sold to ScreenMedia for U.S. distribution after its premiere at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival. He was awarded the Best Actor award last year for this film at the 2011 Havana Film Festival. The movie had its US premiere at the Miami Film Festival this past March.
Santoro appeared on the December 2011 cover of “Vogue,” the first male in the history of the magazine to do so.
The actor splits his time in Brazil and Los Angeles.
Filmography Rodrigo Santoro
The Blind Bastard Club by Sacha Baron-Cohen (2012)
300: Battle of Artemisia (2013)
The Last Stand by Noam Murro (2013)
What to Expect When You're Expecting by Kirk Jones (2012)
Reise Ratos by Mauro Lima (2012)
Meu País by Andre Ristum (2011)
Heleno de José Henrique Fonseca (2011)
There Be Dragons by Roland Joffé (2011)
Rio by Carlos Saldanha (2011)
Manual Para se Defender de Alienigenas, Zumbis e Ninjas by André Moraes (2010)
Post Grad by Vicky Jenson (2009)
I Love You Phillip Morris by Glenn Ficarra, John Requa (2009)
Che: Part One by Steven Soderbergh
(2008)
Che: Part Two by Steven Soderbergh (2008)
Leonera by Pablo Trapero (2008)
Redbelt by David Mamet (2008)
Os Desafinados by Walter Lima Jr (2008)
Live, Love, Laugh, But by Virginia Llera (2008)
Não Por Acaso by Philippe Barcinski (2007)
300 by Zack Snyder (2006)
Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006)
A Dona da História by Daniel Filho (2004)
Love Actually by Richard Curtis (2003)
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle by McG (2003)
Carandiru by Hector Babenco (2003)
Abril Despedaçado by Walter Salles (2001)
Bicho de Sete Cabeças by Laís Bodanzky (2001)
Depois do Escuro by Dirceu Lustosa (1996)
