# Rodrigo Santoro

Rodrigo Junqueira Reis Santoro (Portuguese pronunciation:; born 22 August 1975) is a Brazilian actor. He is known in Brazil for his appearance on local telenovelas and internationally for his portrayal of Persian King Xerxes in the film 300 (2006) and its sequel 300: Rise of an Empire (2014). Other credits include Brainstorm (2001), Carandiru (2003), Love Actually (2003), Che (2008), I Love You Phillip Morris (2009), and Rio (2011). He also appeared on the television series Lost in 2006, portraying the character Paulo, and on HBO's Westworld (2016–2020).

## Biography

Rodrigo Santoro was born in Petrópolis, the son of Francesco Santoro, an Italian engineer with origins in Paola, province of Cosenza, in Calabria and Maria José Junqueira dos Reis, a Brazilian artist of Portuguese ancestry.

## Career

In 1993, while studying Journalism at PUC-Rio, Santoro entered the Actor's Workshop of Rede Globo. He 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 also voiced the titular character in Stuart Little and its sequel Stuart Little 2 in the Brazilian-dubbed versions.
His first major role in a film production came in 2001, with Bicho de Sete Cabeças (Brainstorm) from 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 (Behind the Sun), one of the nominees for best foreign film in the 2002 Golden Globe Awards. In the 2003 Hector Babenco film Carandiru, he played Lady Di, a transgender prisoner.
Canadian director Robert Allan Ackerman signed Santoro for his TV production The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone after being mesmerized 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 such actors 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. This role kick-started his career in Hollywood. After Charlie's Angels, he played Karl, an enigmatic chief designer and the love interest of Laura Linney's character, in the romantic comedy Love Actually.
Santoro began obtaining 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, a three-minute-long commercial for Chanel, directed by Baz Luhrmann alongside Nicole Kidman in 2004.
In 2006, Santoro joined the season three cast of the ABC television series Lost as Paulo, a survivor of the Oceanic Flight 815 crash. His first appearance was in the episode "Further Instructions", and his character was killed off in the episode "Exposé". He also voiced the character in the Brazilian-dubbed version of the series.
Santoro was cast as Persian emperor Xerxes in Zack Snyder's film 300 (2006), based on the Frank Miller comic of the same name. The job had many special requirements, which included intensive workout for the physicality of the role (Santoro had previously lost 24 pounds (11 kg) to star in a Brazilian miniseries), extensive CGI work to portray the 6'2" Santoro as the seven-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 waxing 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:
   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.
After playing the footballer Heleno de Freitas in the 2012 film Heleno, Santoro co-starred alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2013 film The Last Stand before playing Garriga in the Will Smith drama film Focus (2015).
Santoro played Jesus in the 2016 historical action film Ben-Hur and received personal blessings from Pope Francis for the role.
In October of the same year, it was confirmed that the actor would return to soap operas after twelve years in Velho Chico, written by Benedito Ruy Barbosa, playing the role of protagonist Afrânio in the first phase, alongside Carol Castro.

## Personal life

He dated actress Luana Piovani for three years, from 1997 to 2000, until it was discovered that she was cheating on him with businessman Cristiano Rangel. He was in Ribeirão Preto for the premiere of the film Meu País, directed by André Ristum. As the character Marcos, in the award-winning feature film, he emphasized his strong relationship with the city and the reasons that led him to select it as one of the locations for an avant-première: "My mother's entire family, Junqueira Reis, is from Ribeirão Preto. I've been coming here since I was little. I have a strong relationship with the city.
He dated model Ellen Jabour from 2004 to 2008.
He has been married to actress and presenter Mel Fronckowiak since 2016. The two would have been introduced by an assistant director of the soap opera Rebelde, on RecordTV, in which Mel was one of the protagonists. After the soap opera, Mel was left without the flat provided by the broadcaster and, at Santoro's invitation, she started living in his apartment, in Leblon. The couple started dating in mid-July 2012 and kept their relationship discreet for 1 year. Santoro proposed to admit the relationship in public, at the launch of Mel's book, at Shopping do Leblon, in Rio de Janeiro, where the actor joined thousands of the actress's fans to receive his personal dedication in the book, on August 25 of 2013.
In January 2017, Santoro and Mel announced that they would become parents for the first time. The couple's daughter, Nina, was born on May 22, 2017.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1996 | Depois do Escuro | Roberto | |
| 1998 | Como Ser Solteiro | Himself | |
| 1999 | O Trapalhão e a Luz Azul | Musketeer | |
| 1999 | Stuart Little | Stuart Little | Voice (Brazilian Portuguese dub) |
| 2001 | Bicho de Sete Cabeças | Wilson Souza Neto | |
| 2001 | Abril Despedaçado | Tonho | |
| 2002 | Stuart Little 2 | Stuart Little | Voice (Brazilian Portuguese dub) |
| 2003 | The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone | Young Man | |
| 2003 | Carandiru | Lady Di | |
| 2003 | Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle | Randy Emmers | |
| 2003 | Love Actually | Karl | |
| 2004 | A Dona da História | Luiz Cláudio | |
| 2006 | 300 | Xerxes I | |
| 2007 | Não por Acaso | Pedro | |
| 2008 | Live, Love, Laugh, But... | Bellboy | Short film |
| 2008 | Os Desafinados | Joaquim | |
| 2008 | Redbelt | Bruno Silva | |
| 2008 | Leonera | Ramiro | |
| 2008 | Che | Raúl Castro | |
| 2009 | I Love You Phillip Morris | Jimmy Kemple | |
| 2009 | Post Grad | David Santiago | |
| 2010 | Manual Para Se Defender de Alienígenas, Zumbis e Ninjas | Ninja | Short film |
| 2010 | There Be Dragons | Oriol | |
| 2011 | Meu País | Marcos | |
| 2011 | Rio | Túlio / Soccer Announcer | Voice (also in the Brazilian Portuguese dub) |
| 2012 | Hemingway & Gellhorn | Paco Zarra | |
| 2012 | Heleno | Heleno de Freitas | |
| 2012 | What To Expect When You're Expecting | Alex Castillo | |
| 2012 | Reis e Ratos | Roni Rato | |
| 2013 | The Last Stand | Frank Martinez | |
| 2013 | Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury | Piatã / Júnior | |
| 2014 | 300: Rise of an Empire | Xerxes I | |
| 2014 | Rio 2 | Túlio | Voice (also in the Brazilian Portuguese dub) |
| 2014 | Rio, I Love You | Ele | |
| 2015 | Focus | Garriga | |
| 2015 | The 33 | Laurence Golborne | |
| 2016 | Jane Got a Gun | Fitchum | |
| 2016 | Ben-Hur | Jesus Christ | |
| 2016 | Dominion | Carlos | |
| 2016 | Pelé: Birth of a Legend | Brazilian announcer | |
| 2018 | A Translator (Un Traductor) | Malin | |
| 2019 | Monica and Friends: Bonds | Nutty Ned | |
| 2019 | Klaus | Jesper Johansson | Voice (Brazilian Portuguese dub) |
| 2020 | Project Power | Biggie | |
| 2021 | Save Ralph | Rabbit | Voice; short film |
| 2021 | 7 Prisoners | Luca | |
| 2024 | Noah's Ark | Vini | Voice |
| 2025 | The Blue Trail (O Último Azul) | Cadu | It will have its world premiere in February 2025, as part of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, in Competition. |

### Television

| Year | TV show | Role | Note |
| 1993–1994 | Olho no Olho | Pedro | Main role |
| 1994–1995 | Pátria Minha | Fernando | Main role |
| 1995–1996 | Explode Coração | Sérgio | Main role |
| 1996 | Sai de Baixo | Gama | Episode: "Sexo Nosso de Cada Dia" |
| 1996 | Comédia da Vida Privada | Diogo | Episode: "Mulheres" |
| 1997 | O Amor Está no Ar | Léo | |
| 1998 | Hilda Furacão | Frei Malthus | Main role |
| 1999 | Belo e as Feras | Henrique | Episode: "Só o Amor Destrói" |
| 1999 | Suave Veneno | Eliseu Vieira | Main role |
| 2001 | Os Normais | Júlio | Episode: "Grilar é Normal" |
| 2001 | Estrela-Guia | Carlos Charles Pimenta | Main role |
| 2002 | Pastores da Noite | Padre Gomes | Television film |
| 2003 | Mulheres Apaixonadas | Diogo Ribeiro Alves | Main role |
| 2005 | Hoje É Dia de Maria | Amado | Main role |
| 2005 | Hoje é Dia de Maria: Segunda Jornada | Dom Chico Chicote | Main role |
| 2006 | Lost | Paulo | Main role (season 3) |
| 2009 | Som & Fúria | Sanjay | Main role |
| 2010 | Afinal, o Que Querem as Mulheres? | Rodrigo Santoro (fictional version) | Episode: "Elas?" |
| 2010 | Papai Noel Existe | Robson Luiz | Television film |
| 2012 | As Brasileiras | Carioca | Episode: "A Indomável do Ceará" |
| 2016 | Velho Chico | Afrânio de Sá Ribeiro | Guest role, 24 episodes |
| 2016–2022 | Westworld | Hector Escaton / Ettore | Main role (seasons 1–2) Guest role (seasons 3–4) |
| 2019 | Solteira e Boa Rapariga | David | Main role |
| 2019 | Reprisal | Joel Kelly | Main role |
| 2021 | Sessão de Terapia | Dr. Davi Greco | Main role (season 5) |
| 2022 | Sin límites | Ferdinand Magellan | Main role |
| 2023 | Wolf Pack | Garrett Briggs | Main role |
| 2024 | Good Morning, Verônica | Jerônimo | Main role (season 3) |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 2018 | "Ocean" | Alok, Zeeba and IRO |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2000 | Festival de Brasília | Best Actor | Bicho de Sete Cabeças | Won |
| 2001 | Recife Film Festival | Best Actor | Bicho de Sete Cabeças | Won |
| 2001 | Brazil Quality Award | Best Actor | Bicho de Sete Cabeças | Won |
| 2001 | Santo Domingo Film Festival | Best Actor | Bicho de Sete Cabeças | Won |
| 2001 | SESC Best Film Festival | Best Actor | Bicho de Sete Cabeças | Won |
| 2002 | Cinema Brazilian Grand Prix | Best Actor | Bicho de Sete Cabeças | Won |
| 2002 | APCA Trophy | Best Actor | Bicho de Sete Cabeças | Won |
| 2002 | Cartagena Film Festival | Best Actor | Bicho de Sete Cabeças | Won |
| 2002 | Cero Latitud Film Festival | Best Actor | Bicho de Sete Cabeças | Won |
| 2003 | Festival de Brasília | Best Actor | Carandiru | Won |
| 2004 | Cannes Film Festival | Chopard Trophy of Male Revelation | — | Won |
| 2007 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Villain | 300 | Nominated |
| 2011 | Festival de Brasília | Best Actor | Meu País | Won |
| 2011 | Havana Film Festival | Best Actor | Heleno | Won |
| 2012 | Lima Film Festival | Best Actor | Heleno | Won |
| 2012 | ALMA Awards | Best Actor | What to Expect When You're Expecting | Nominated |
| 2013 | Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro | Best Actor | Heleno | Nominated |
| 2016 | Troféu APCA | Best Actor | Velho Chico | Nominated |
| 2016 | Prêmio Extra de Televisão | Best Actor | Velho Chico | Nominated |
| 2018 | Filming Italy Sardegna Festival | movie highlights and series in the year | — | Won |
| 2018 | Cinema PE - Audiovisual Festival | work set | — | Won |

### Other nominations and honors

* 2004: On People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful list 2004
* 2006: 12th position on People Magazine's 2006 Sexiest Man Alive
* 2008: 16th position on E!'s 2008 Sexiest man of the world