Brazilian Actor born in Rio de Janeiro in 1975. He studied journalism at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. His career began to gain attention in the soap operas of his country, we can highlight "Explode Coraçao" in 1995, "Hilda Furacao" in 1998 and "Hoje é dia de Maria" in 2005.
He's most known internationally for his portrayal of Persian King Xerxes in the movie 300 (2006) and its sequel 300: Rise of an Empire (2014). Other famous movies include Brainstorm (2001), Crandiru (2003), Love Actually (2003), Che (2008), I Love You Phillip Morris (2009), and Rio (2011). He also appeared on the television series Lost, portraying the character Paulo, and on HBO's Westworld (2016–2020) as Hector Escaton.
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. Thanks to his attractive profile he has starred covers in international fashion magazines such as Vogue, GQ or Rolling Stone.
Soon, Rodrigo Santoro will play Fernando de Magallanes in the series “Sin Limites”, prepared by Amazon Prime Video and Televisión Española, coinciding with the fifth centenary of the first round the world by boat.
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.