Rodrigo Santoro


Rodrigo Junqueira dos Reis Santoro is a Brazilian actor and voice actor. He has appeared in many successful movies, including Brainstorm, Carandiru, Love Actually, Che, I Love You Phillip Morris, and Rio. He is perhaps most famous for his portrayal of Persian King Xerxes in the movie 300 and its sequel . He was a series regular on the television series Lost portraying the character Paulo, and played Hector Escaton in HBO's Westworld.

Early life

Santoro was born in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro state, to Francesco Santoro, an Italian engineer with roots in Paola, Province of Cosenza, Calabria, and Maria José Junqueira dos Reis, a Brazilian artist of Portuguese ancestry.

Career

In 1993, as Santoro was studying Journalism at PUC-Rio, he entered the Actor's Workshop of Rede Globo.
Santoro went on to play parts in many of Globo's telenovelas, such as Olho no Olho, Pátria Minha, Explode Coração, O Amor Está no Ar, Suave Veneno and Mulheres Apaixonadas, as well as the miniseries Hilda Furacão, in the role of a priest. Santoro was also the voice actor of the titular character in Stuart Little and its sequel in the Brazilian dubbed copies.
His first major role in a cinema production came in 2001, with Bicho de Sete Cabeças by Brazilian director Laís Bodansky. By the end of the film, he received a standing ovation from the audience. He also went on to win the festival's best actor trophy. After Bicho, his reputation as an actor had been solidified and he was cast as the male lead in Abril Despedaçado, one of the nominees for best foreign film in the 2002 Golden Globe Awards. He had another performance in the 2003 Hector Babenco film Carandiru, where he played a transsexual prisoner known as "Lady Di".
Canadian director Robert Allan Ackerman signed Santoro for his TV production The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone after being mesmerised by his performance in Bicho de Sete Cabeças. Since Santoro did not have an agent in North America, Ackerman contacted Santoro's father. He spent two months filming in Rome, alongside renowned actors such as Helen Mirren and Anne Bancroft. Soon after he finished shooting for Mrs. Stone, he received an offer from Columbia Pictures for a part in the blockbuster . His performance in Charlie's Angels kick-started his career in Hollywood. After Charlie's Angels, he played the character of Karl, the enigmatic chief designer and love interest of Laura Linney's character, in the romantic comedy Love Actually, which also features Colin Firth, Lucia Moniz, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley, and Rowan Atkinson.
He also started getting work in the advertising business as he appeared in a commercial campaign with Gisele Bündchen in 2002. He played the male lead in No. 5 The Film, the 3-minute-long commercial for Chanel, directed by Baz Luhrmann alongside Nicole Kidman in 2004.
In 2006, Santoro joined the cast of Lost as survivor of Oceanic Flight 815, Paulo. His first appearance was in episode titled, "Further Instructions". His character was killed off in the episode "Exposé". He also voices his character Paulo in the Portuguese dub for Brazil.
Santoro was cast as Persian emperor Xerxes in the film 300, based on the Frank Miller comic of the same name, in 2006. The role had many special requirements, such as intensive workout for the physicality of the role, extensive CG work to portray the 6'2" Santoro as the 7-foot God-King, a four-and-a-half-hour makeup application process and the complete removal of Santoro's body hair first by waxing and then by shaving when that proved too painful. His eyebrows were kept intact, however, covered over with prosthetics and drawn in rather than being shaved. Santoro read the works of Herodotus, an Ancient Greek historian, in order to prepare for his part. Regarding Xerxes, he has stated:
For his role on 300, Santoro became the first Brazilian actor nominated to the MTV Movie Awards in the category of Best Villain. He did not win however, and the award went to Jack Nicholson for The Departed.
He plays the late footballer Heleno de Freitas in the 2012 film Heleno. Santoro co-starred alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2013 film The Last Stand. Santoro played Garriga in the Will Smith drama film Focus.
Santoro plays Jesus in the 2016 historical action film Ben-Hur and received personal blessings from Pope Francis for this role.

Personal life

Santoro has been in a relationship with Brazilian actress Mel Fronckowiak since 2013. On 22 May 2017, they welcomed their first child, a daughter named Nina.

Filmography

YearFilmRoleNotes
1996 Depois do EscuroRoberto
1998Como Ser SolteiroHimself
1999O Trapalhão e a Luz AzulMusketeer
1999Stuart LittleStuart LittleVoice
2001Bicho de Sete CabeçasWilson Souza Neto
2001Abril DespedaçadoTonho
2002Stuart Little 2Stuart LittleVoice
2003The Roman Spring of Mrs. StoneYoung Man
2003CarandiruLady Di
2003'Randy Emmers
2003Love ActuallyKarl
2004A Dona da HistóriaLuiz Cláudio
2006300Xerxes I
2007Não por AcasoPedro
2008Live, Love, Laugh, But...BellboyShort film
2008Os DesafinadosJoaquim
2008RedbeltBruno Silva
2008LeoneraRamiro
2008CheRaul Castro
2009I Love You Phillip MorrisJimmy Kemple
2009Post GradDavid Santiago
2010Manual Para Se Defender de Alienígenas, Zumbis e NinjasNinjaShort film
2010There Be DragonsOriol
2011Meu PaísMarcos
2011RioTúlio / Soccer AnnouncerVoice
2012Hemingway & GellhornPaco Zarra
2012HelenoHeleno de Freitas
2012What To Expect When You're ExpectingAlex Castillo
2012Reis e RatosRoni Rato
2013The Last StandFrank Martinez
2013'Piatã / Júnior
2014'Xerxes I
2014Rio 2TúlioVoice
2014Rio, I Love YouEle
2015FocusGarriga
2015The 33Laurence Golborne
2016Jane Got a GunFitchum
2016Ben-HurJesus Christ
2016DominionCarlos
2016'Brazilian announcer
2018A Translator Malin
2019Nutty NedLive action of Monica's Gang
2019KlausJesper JohanssonVoice
2020Project PowerBiggiePost-production

YearTV showRoleNote
1993–94Olho no OlhoPedroMain role
1994–95Pátria MinhaFernandoMain role
1995–96Explode CoraçãoSérgioMain role
1996Sai de BaixoGama"O Sexo Nosso de Cada Dia"
1996Comédia da Vida PrivadaDiogo"Mulheres"
1998Hilda FuracãoFrei MalthusMain role
1997O Amor Está no ArLéoMain role
1999Belo e as FerasHenrique"Só o Amor Destrói"
1999Suave VenenoEliseu VieiraMain role
2001Os NormaisJúlio"Grilar é Normal"
2001Estrela-GuiaCarlos Charles PimentaMain role
2002Pastores da NoitePadre GomesMain role
2003Mulheres ApaixonadasDiogo Ribeiro AlvesMain role
2005Hoje É Dia de MariaAmadoMain role
2005Hoje é Dia de Maria: Segunda JornadaDom Chico ChicoteMain role
2006LostPauloMain role
2009Som & FúriaSanjayMain role
2010Afinal, o Que Querem as Mulheres?Rodrigo Santoro "Elas?"
2010Papai Noel ExisteRobson LuizTelevision special
2012As BrasileirasCarioca"A Indomável do Ceará"
2016Velho ChicoAfrânio de Sá RibeiroMain role
2016–2020WestworldHector EscatonMain role
Guest role
2018Solteira e Boa RaparigaTBAGuest role
2019ReprisalJoel KellyMain role

Music Video

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryResult
2000Festival de BrasíliaBest Actor for Bicho de Sete Cabeças
2001Recife Film FestivalBest Actor for Bicho de Sete Cabeças
2001Brazil Quality AwardBest Actor for Bicho de Sete Cabeças
2001Santo Domingo Film FestivalBest Actor for Bicho de Sete Cabeças
2001SESC Best Film FestivalBest Actor for Bicho de Sete Cabeças
2002Cinema Brazilian Grand PrixBest Actor for Bicho de Sete Cabeças
2002APCA TrophyBest Actor for Bicho de Sete Cabeças
2002Cartagena Film FestivalBest Actor for Bicho de Sete Cabeças
2002Cero Latitud Film FestivalBest Actor for Bicho de Sete Cabeças
2003Festival de BrasíliaBest Actor for Carandiru
2004Cannes Film FestivalChopard Trophy of Male Revelation
2007MTV Movie AwardsBest Villain for 300
2011Festival de BrasíliaBest Actor for Meu País
2011Havana Film FestivalBest Actor for Heleno
2012Lima Film FestivalBest Actor for Heleno
2012ALMA AwardsBest Actor for What to Expect When You're Expecting
2013Grande Prêmio do Cinema BrasileiroBest Actor for Heleno
2016Troféu APCABest Actor for Velho Chico
2016Prêmio Extra de TelevisãoBest Actor for Velho Chico
2018Filming Italy Sardegna Festivalmovie highlights and series in the year
2018:pt:Cine PE|Cinema PE - Audiovisual Festivalwork set

Other nominations and honors