Rodrigo Santoro

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Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo Santoro 2, 2013.jpg
Santoro at the premiere of The Last Stand, Los Angeles, January 14, 2013
Born Rodrigo Junqueira dos Reis Santoro
(1975-08-22) 22 August 1975 (age 37)
Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Nationality Brazilian
Occupation Actor
Years active 1992–present
Website
www.rodrigosantoro.com.br

Rodrigo Junqueira dos Reis Santoro (born 22 August 1975) is a Brazilian actor. He has appeared in many successful movies, including Brainstorm (2001), Carandiru (2003), 300 (2007), Che (2008), I Love You Phillip Morris (2009) and Rio (2011). He was also a series regular on the Television series Lost portraying the character Paulo.

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Life and career [edit]

Santoro was born in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, the son of Maria José Junqueira dos Reis, an artist, and Francesco Santoro, an engineer.[1][2] His father is Italian.[3][4] 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 (1993), Pátria Minha (1994), Explode Coração (1995), O Amor Está no Ar (1997), Suave Veneno (1999) and Mulheres Apaixonadas (2003), as well as the miniseries Hilda Furacão (1998), 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 would come in 2001, with Bicho de Sete Cabeças (Brainstorm) by Brazilian director Laís Bodansky. By the end of the film, he received a standing ovation from the audience.[5][6] 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 (Behind the Sun), 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 transexual prisoner known as "Lady Di".

Santoro in Stuyvesant High School, New York City, in 2004.

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 Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. 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, alongside Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley and Rowan Atkinson.

Santoro holding the statue he won at the 44th Festival de Brasília for the movie Meu País, in 2011.

He also started getting work in the advertising business as he appeared in a commercial campaign with Gisele Bündchen in 2002. He also 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 movie 300, based on the Frank Miller comic of the same name, in 2007. The role had many special requirements, such as intensive workout for the physicality of the role (Santoro had lost 24 pounds to work in a Brazilian miniseries), 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.[7] His eyebrows were kept intact, however, covered over with prosthetics and drawn in rather than being shaved.[8] Santoro read the works of Herodotus, an Ancient Greek historian, in order to prepare for his part. Regarding Xerxes, he says:

He's rich, he's arrogant, he's a very unstable megalomaniac. He just wants to conquer the world. His ambition is unlimited. He wants glory; he wants victory; he wants eternal fame. Underneath all that wanting, though, he's ultimately weak and very insecure."[7]

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.[9] Santoro also co-starred also Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2013 film The Last Stand.

Filmography [edit]

Santoro at the premiere of What to Expect When You're Expecting, May 9, 2012, New York
Films & TV
Year Film Role Notes
1993 Olho no Olho Pedro Brazilian Telenovela
1994 Pátria Minha Fernando Brazilian Telenovela
1995 Explode Coração Sérgio Brazilian Telenovela
1996 Depois do Escuro Julio short
A Comédia da Vida Privada Brazilian Miniseries
Sai de Baixo Gama Episode: O Sexo Nosso de Cada Dia
1997 O Amor Está no Ar Léo Brazilian Telenovela
1998 Como Ser Solteiro Himself
Hilda Furacão Frei Malthus Brazilian Miniseries
1999 O Trapalhão e a Luz Azul Musketeer Film
Suave Veneno Eliseu Vieira Brazilian Telenovela
2001 Bicho de Sete Cabeças Wilson Souza Neto Film
Abril Despedaçado Tonho Film
Estrela-Guia Carlos Charles Brazilian Telenovela
Os Normais Júlio Episode: Grilar É Normal
2002 Pastores da Noite Padre Gomes Brazilian Miniseries
2003 Carandiru Lady Di Film
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Randy Emmers Cameo
Love Actually Karl
The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone Young Man TV Movie
Mulheres Apaixonadas Diogo Ribeiro Brazilian Telenovela
2004 A Dona da História Luiz Cláudio/Young
2005 Hoje é Dia de Maria Amado/Dom Chico Chicote Brazilian Miniseries
2006–2007 Lost Paulo Regular; Season 3; 14 episodes
2007 300 King Xerxes Nominated - MTV Movie Awards for Best Villain
Não Por Acaso Pedro
2008 Live, Love, Laugh, But... Bellboy Short
Redbelt Bruno Silva
Leonera Ramiro
Che Raúl Castro
Os Desafinados Joaquim (young)/ Antonio Goldfaber Film
2009 Post Grad David Santiago
I Love You Phillip Morris Jimmy
Som & Fúria Sanjay Brazilian Miniseries
2010 Afinal, o Que Querem as Mulheres? Rodrigo Santoro Brazilian Miniseries
Manual para se defender de alienigenas, zumbis e ninjas Ninja Short
Papai Noel Existe Robson Luiz Brazilian Series
2011 There Be Dragons Oriol
Rio Túlio / Soccer Announcer Voice only
Meu País Marcos Film
Homens de Bem Ciba TV Movie
2012 Reis e Ratos Roni Rato
Hemingway & Gellhorn Zarra TV Movie
As Brasileiras Carioca Episode: A Indomável do Ceará
Heleno Heleno de Freitas Film
What to Expect When You´re Expecting Alex Nominated - ALMA Awards for Favorite Movie Actor
2013 Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury Voice only
The Last Stand Frank Martinez Film
2014 300: Rise of an Empire King Xerxes Post-production
Rio 2 Túlio Filming
Jane Got a Gun Filming
TBA The Blind Bastard Club Pre-production

Awards and nominations [edit]

Other nominations and honors [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ http://movies.yahoo.com/person/rodrigo-santoro/biography.html
  2. ^ http://ofuxico.terra.com.br/noticias-sobre-famosos/familia-nao-se-deslumbra-com-fama-internacional-de-rodrigo-santoro/2006/10/22-49570.html
  3. ^ https://secure.mynuvotv.com/blog/rodrigo-santoro-interview
  4. ^ Wieselman, Jarett (15 April 2011). "Rodrigo Santoro: I'm half Italian and half Brazilian – I breathe passion". New York Post. 
  5. ^ BastaClicar – A Web em suas Maos (6 April 2011). "BastaClicar Cinema: Rodrigo Santoro". Bastaclicar.com.br. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 
  6. ^ Olá,   (2011-08-22). "Rodrigo Santoro faz 36 anos como galã do cinema e da TV; o que você sabe sobre ele? - Famosos e TV - R7". Entretenimento.r7.com. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 
  7. ^ a b Brevet, Brad (6 March 2007). "INTERVIEW: Rodrigo Santoro for '300' , Celebrity Interviews , RopeofSilicon.com Entertainment News". Ropeofsilicon.com. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 
  8. ^ "Rodrigo Santoro Becomes Xerxes of Legend in "300"". Rotten Tomatoes. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 
  9. ^ Honeycutt, Kirk (16 September 2011). "Heleno: Toronto Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 January 2012. 

External links [edit]