Wagner Moura

In Brazil, he was already a star by the time most Americans heard his name. Elite Squad (2007) made him the face of Brazilian cinema, playing a BOPE captain whose moral compromises were supposed to horrify audiences but ended up inspiring the wrong kind of fan base. The international pivot came with Narcos. He didn't speak Spanish before getting the part. He moved to Medellin for six months, took classes, gained 40 pounds, and built Pablo Escobar from the ground up. Netflix had its villain.

The Cannes Best Actor prize in 2025 for The Secret Agent made him the first South American actor to win that award, which is either a landmark or a reminder of how long it took. He's been busy since Escobar: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Alex Garland's Civil War, his own directorial debut Marighella (2019), a biopic about a Brazilian Marxist guerrilla fighter that faced distribution problems in Brazil. His career doesn't follow a single lane. That's either a strength or why he hasn't become a household name outside Brazil.

His father was an Air Force sergeant, which gives his breakout role in Elite Squad a certain biographical irony. He played a BOPE captain whose brutal methods were supposed to read as a critique of state violence, but the film became a cult hit among the Brazilian far right, including soldiers who identified with the character. He has said the misreading unsettled him. Vocal about left-wing causes throughout his career, his directorial debut Marighella (2019) celebrated a Marxist guerrilla as a hero. Not the usual actor-with-opinions circuit.