Wagner Moura

Wagner Maniçoba de Moura (born 27 June 1976) is a Brazilian actor, director and filmmaker.

Wagner started his career doing theater in Salvador, where he worked with renowned directors, and soon scored some appearances in films.

Moura took acting classes in his teens, and started working in professional theater in 1996.

Later, he graduated in journalism at the Federal University of Bahia.

He had a small PR company that worked for other local actors and theatre companies but the business soon went bankrupt.

In the early 2000s, he was a reporter for an interview program on TV Bahia – an affiliate of Rede Globo – and covered high society parties talking to businessmen and celebrities.

During this time Moura continued going to auditions because he aspired to become an actor.

He found some success with the play A Máquina.

Receiving critical and public acclaim, the show left Bahia and went on the road to Pernambuco, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro where it continued to succeed.

The hit boosted the careers of Moura and his colleagues, now-successful Brazilian actors Lázaro Ramos and Vladimir Brichta.

In cinema, he started with the shorts Pop Killer, by Victor Mascarenhas, and Rádio Gogó, by José Araripe Jr. His first feature was Woman on Top, by the Venezuelan director Fina Torres, in which he had a small participation with Ramos, whom he helped with the tests in English, since Ramos did not speak the language.

With the resumption of Brazilian cinema opening up to new faces, he got roles in several productions with important names, such as Behind the Sun, by Walter Salles; The Three Marias, by Aluizio Abranches; God Is Brazilian, by Cacá Diegues; Nina, by Heitor Dhalia; The Man of the Year, by José Henrique Fonseca; The Middle of the World, by Vicente Amorim.

In Recife, during the filming of God Is Brazilian, Moura was reading the book Carandiru Station by Drauzio Varella when he found out about the auditions for the film Carandiru.

Because he was busy with the recordings and unable to appear in the face-to-face auditions in another state, he asked the person in charge of the making of to help him record a tape that would be sent to the production.

The material was very dark, and it was only possible to hear the actor reading excerpts from the book.

Some time later Héctor Babenco would call him for a meeting in São Paulo, curious to meet the owner of the voice.

The actor ended up joining the cast as the prisoner, dealer and drug addict Zico.

He debuted on television after famous Brazilian actor and Mouras's costar in God Is Brazilian, Antônio Fagundes invited him for a small role in the popular series Carga Pesada on Rede Globo.

Then came the series Sexo Frágil, which entered the network's Friday night schedule after its success as a sketch on the TV show Fantástico.

The play Dilúvio em Tempos de Seca was shown in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and ended its season at the Curitiba Theater Festival at Teatro Guaíra for an audience of more than four thousand people in the two days it was presented.

With the end of the work, the actor would turn to television and cinema.

He debuted in telenovelas at A Lua Me Disse by Miguel Falabella, starring heartthrob Gustavo, a contrast to the other characters he had played before.

He then amended the telenovela with the limited series JK, the biography of the Brazil's former president Juscelino Kubitschek, playing the title character in his youth.

In 2003, he got his first leading roles in movies, in addition to having a prominent role in Carandiru, which propelled him to the main scene of Brazilian cinema.

He continued starring in national feature films, including the box office hits Elite Squad and Elite Squad 2, playing the famous character Captain Nascimento.

The first film received the Golden Bear award and both productions reverberated outside Brazil, which boosted the actor's international recognition.

In 2007, he was the antagonist of the telenovela Paraíso Tropical, being praised for his performance by both the public and the critics.

In 2013, he was cast in the American science fiction feature film Elysium, opposite Matt Damon and Jodie Foster.

The film marked the international debut of the Brazilian actor, who received praise from critics for this work.

In 2015, he went on to star in the series Narcos, playing drug trafficker Pablo Escobar, a role for which he was nominated for several awards, including the Golden Globe.

Later, Moura returned as director for two episodes of Narcos: Mexico.

Besides being a well-established and acclaimed actor in Brazil, Moura achieved a consolidated international career and it is part of the movement that seeks positive representation for Latin Americans in Hollywood.

In 2021, he made his debut as a movie director and screenwriter with Marighella, a biopic about Carlos Marighella, which hit cinemas after a well-received debut at the Berlin Film Festival in 2019.

The movie won several awards, including best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay for Moura in different ceremonies.

Moura was born in Salvador and raised in Rodelas, 540 km from the capital.

José Moura, his father, was in the military, so the family, still consisting of his mother, Alderiva, and his younger sister Lediane - who works as a pediatrician - became used to moving around.

His relationship with acting started thanks to a schoolmate that, just like him, was passionate for the arts.

His colleague did theater and Wagner wanted to follow the same steps to try to find a class where he would fit in.

He became best friends with Emmy nominee actor Lazaro Ramos during their teenage years in Bahia.

Ramos reported that his friend was a great supporter of his career since youth.