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Rodrigo Santoro Profile |
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Birth Date: August 22, 1975
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Birth Place: Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Birth
Name:
Rodrigo Junqueira Reis dos Santos
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Height: 6'2¾"
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Biography |
From the Prince Charming, Rodrigo Santoro has more than the
pretty face. The life of Globo’s actor is worthy of fairy
tales. Poor boy tries luck in Rio de Janeiro, works on TV,
gets famous and becomes first great Brazilian star since
Sônia Braga to have a possibility of success in Hollywood.
Invited to star blockbusters like Charlie's Angels 2: Full
Throttle or artistic movies like Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
and comedies like Love Actually, soon Santoro it will stop
to impress only the Brazilian public to also conquer the
American, the French, the English, the Canadian...
It is obvious that, nowadays, the world can seem vast and
inviting. But around ten years ago, Santoro’s world was
resumed to the historical streets and the mountain climate
of Petrópolis, in Rio de Janeiro state, where he was born
and spent most of childhood. Of his Italian father, he
inherited the hot blood, the ability to prepare pasta and
the stunning almond-shaped eyes. Of his mother, painter and
sculptor, came other characteristics that would help him in
the future career: sensitivity and passion for the arts.
Santoro showed interest for the stage since his childhood.
At home, he organized puppet theater for the family on
holidays, like Christmas and Easter. In Colégio Aplicação,
where he studied, with help of a Portuguese professor, he
adapted TV movies to what they used to call “litero-musical
session (to have an idea, Rodrigo, today all serious, at
that time amused himself staging teen-trash as Private
Resort). In stage, he had an incredible magnetism and it’s
from this time his first girlfriend, at 14 years old.
Santoro usually says that, after her, he had only two others
serious passions despite gossip magazines always placing him
aside to some beauty.
As it usually happens to suburban young people, by the time
of his 17th birthday, Santoro started to notice that the
axle of its life if had dislocated to Rio De Janeiro. His
journeys down the mountain were every time more frequent: to
surf with friends, to study for the “vestibular” (Brazilian
equivalent of SATs) or to practise his dramatical verve in
the Globo School of Actors. Working with these three
activities the body, mind and spirit, it was only matter of
time until Santoro was noticed by some network watcher.
Santoro started college studying Publicity/Advertising in
the Pontifical University Catholic and soon obtained its
first role on TV, a small part in the supernatural soap
opera Olho no Olho. At this time, he still lived in a
students dorm - from where he had run away after almost
being shot by a lost bullet in its first apartment, in front
for a “favela” in Copacabana. Things started to get better
in 1994, when he got his first part in Prime Time, with the
Pátria Minha soap opera. The show, however, was rejected by
the public and shortened after scandals with the
protagonist, the actress Vera Fischer. With the money he got
from Pátria Minha, he rented his own apartment, in Leblon,
where he can still be seen training daily in the beach.
In 1996, its magnificent body of 1m90 and 87kg already
attracted the eyes of little girls, what ended up
guaranteeing the main male role on the six o’clock soap O
Amor Está no Ar. The project, involving a loving triangle
intergeneration and extra-terrestrials, only brought him
trouble: due to the filming schedule, he had to leave
college and the final result of the story was not good at
all. To compensate the loss of artistic ambition of O Amor
está no Ar, Santoro participated, in the same year and for
free, of praised short Depois do Escuro.
Two years later, Santoro hit the screens, the media that
would give him more prizes and homages. He had a small part
in Como Ser Solteiro, that ended up being overcasted by his
better and very more excellent performance, in Globo’s
miniseries Hilda Furacão. It was there that Santoro, in the
part of the tormented Friar Malthus, showed for the first
time that he could be a serious actor, instead of only a
pretty face.Rodrigo still thinks that this was one of the
most difficult experiences of its life, due to the
dramatical load of the character. He went through this phase
with an actress that also had to prove herself more than a
beautiful face in the business: Ana Paula Arósio.
Some said that the two were dating, but Santoro was already
spending much more time with the beautiful Luana Piovani,
that he met in the play Os Três Mosqueteiros, also played by
his friends Thierry Figueira, Pedro Vasconcelos and Marcelo
Faria. Their relationship lasted more than two years.
In 1999, the actor started flirting with Hollywood when
invited to be the voice of the little mouse protagonist of
Stuart Little, huge success that had a sequel in 2002 (also
voiced by Santoro). Still in 1999, Santoro had a role in the
soap Suave Veneno, another public failure, and a small part
in O Trapalhão e a Luz Azul, well-succeeded comedy by Renato
Aragão, Brazilian comedian.
The first big role in the movies would come with Bicho de
Sete Cabeças (Brainstorm), of Laís Bodasnky, in 2001. The
first public exhibition ending up to be symptomatic for
Santoro: when he and the director went to present the movie
in the Brasilia Festival, he was booed due to his role in
the idiotic soap Estrela-Guia, with the singer Sandy as the
leading actress. Nobody took him seriously. But, to the end
of the session, the public was mesmerized with his
interpretation as a young man kept unjustly in a cruel
psychiatric clinic, and gave him a standing ovation. It was
considered by critics one of the best movies of the year and
was worth to Santoro the invitation to work in another movie
that would equally be praised: Abril Despedaçado (Behind The
Sun), by Walter Salles, which was nomitaded for Best Foreign
Film in 2002 Golden Globes.
A national consensus was formed on his talent and
persistence (that would be proved in another project of a
great director: Carandiru, by Hector Babenco, where he would
live a travesty), and Santoro started to expand his horizon.
A Canadian director, who saw him in a special exhibition of
Bicho de Sete Cabeças went crazy trying to contact the actor
to have Rodrigo in his new film, Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone.
The director finally obtained Rodrigo’s father personal
telephone and, when the actor knew about it, he accepted the
invitation in the hour. He filmed in Rome for two months
aside of names as Helen Mirren (of Gosford Park), Anne
Bancroft (of The Graduate) and Maggie Smith (of Harry Potter
series).
Almost simultaneously, Santoro received another proposal he
could not reject. While divulging Abril Despedaçado in Los
Angeles, he was contacted by Columbia Pictures executives
who wanted to offer to a special participation in
blockbuster Charlie's to it Angels 2: Full Throttle.
The dream of a Brazilian in Hollywood had become truth.
There was a true national commotion, all applauding the
actor and even creations of rumors, like his caliente
relationship with colleague Cameron Diaz. Some even said
that he had stolen the model Gisele Bündchen from Leonardo
DiCaprio. Both rumors, however, were not true. It is fact,
however, that the colleagues melt themselves in compliments
to the beautiful Brazilian hunk. The director of Charlie's
Angels 2, McG, called him hottie, brave and very exciting.
His presence in a gigantic project as Charlie's Angels 2
helped to open other doors for Santoro, in Hollywood. He was
already casted for another movie, the romantic comedy Love
Actually, with Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson, Alan
Rickman and Rowan Atkinson. Once more, only stars.
In the middle of this fame, success and money tempest,
Rodrigo Santoro tries to remain calm and humble. He still
practices meditation and sports when it’s possible and had
refused to move to Los Angeles. His home is really at Rio de
Janeiro – a shelter where he can listen to The Doors, read
William Shakespeare and watch all movies of his favorite
actors, like Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. The way things
are moving to Santoro, soon he’ll enjoy his favorites side
by side, on a filming set in Hollywood. It’s only a matter
of time.
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Filmography |
1. Não Por Acaso (2006) (announced)
2. Penetras, Os (2006) (pre-production) .... Marcos
3. Desafinados, Os (2006) (post-production) .... Joaquim
4. 300 (2006) (post-production) .... Xerxes
5. A Dona da História (2004) .... Luiz Cláudio/Young
6. Love Actually (2003) .... Karl
7. Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) .... Randy Emmers
8. Carandiru (2003) .... Lady Di
9. Abril Despedaçado (2001) .... Tonho
10. Bicho de Sete Cabeças (2001) .... Wilson Souza Neto
11. Trapalhão e a Luz Azul, O (1999)
12. Depois do Escuro (1996) |
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Other
Information |
When he was 4, his grandfather gave him his favorite present
of all times: a horse.
On People (USA) magazine's '50 Most Beautiful' list [2004].
Studied Communications at the University.
Dubbed the main character of 'Stuart Little'(2000) and
'Stuart Little 2'(2002) in the Brazilian versions. |
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Brazil bet on you MAN!!!!!