Wagner Moura

Moura was born in Salvador, Bahia, in the Northeast Region of Brazil, but grew up in the city of Rodelas. His mother, Alderiva, was a housewife, and his father, Jose Moura, was a sergeant in the Brazilian Air Force. As a teenager, he joined the group of performing arts in his school, where he performed on his first plays. Even though Moura was interested in acting, he decided to become a journalist as it offers more "secure" financial stability.

He graduated in journalism at Federal University of Bahia but after a short career as a reporter in Bahia TV, Moura decided to pursue his dream of becoming an actor.

His first major play was A Máquina ("The Machine"), in 2000. In this time, he became really good friends with two others upcoming actors, Lázaro Ramos and Vladimir Brichta. It was also because of this play that Wagner travelled for the first time to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. In the same year, after a few short movies, Moura had a small participation on the movie Woman on Top, starring Penélope Cruz.[1]

After small roles in movies like Abril Despedaçado ("Behind the Sun", 2001),[2] As Três Marias ("The Three Marias", 2002),[3] 2003 launched Moura's career to a whole other level. He played a major role in the drama Carandiru, where he portrayed Zico,[4] and the leading role of the comedy Deus e Brasileiro ("God Is Brazilian"), where he played a funny fisherman who became friends with God.[5]

Even though at this point of his career Moura was a well-established movie actor he wanted more. In the following years, he worked on series and soap operas such as Sexo Frágil ("Weak Gender", 2003),[6] JK (2006),[7] and Paraíso Tropical ("Tropical Paradise", 2007).[8]

In 2007, Moura played Captain Nascimento on the acclaimed Tropa de Elite ("Elite Squad"), directed by José Padilha.[9] The movie was a big hit launching Moura's career internationally after receiving the Golden Bear for Best Film at the Berlin Festival.[10] The sequel Tropa de Elite 2 – O Inimigo agora é outro ("Elite Squad – The Enemy Within", 2010)[11] received an even better reception by critics and broke the record for bringing more than 11 million Brazilians to the big screens.

After receiving a few offers Moura decide to focus on his international career. His first big role was in the Hollywood science fiction Elysium (2013), where he played Spider and worked with Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and Brazilian actress Alice Braga.[12]

In April 2015, Moura was confirmed for the movie The Magnificent Seven, a remake of the 1960 movie to star with names like Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Haley Bennett and Luke Grimes. However, due to a scheduling conflict with the Netflix series Narcos, Moura had to leave the project.

Moura's biggest international project so far is the original series created by Netflix, Narcos, where he played the protagonist Pablo Escobar for the first two seasons.[13] His acclaimed portrayal of the well-known Colombian drug dealer led to a Golden Globe award nomination in 2016.[14]

In 2017, Moura debuted as director on the movie Marighella. A biography film about Carlos Marighella, a Marxist Brazilian writer, politician and soldier who was murdered by the Brazilian dictators in 1969.  

Besides acting and directing Moura also is the main vocalist and guitar player of the band Sua Mãe ("Your Mother"). The group has one album entitled, The Very Best of the Greatest Hits of Sua Mãe.

Since 2001, Moura has been married to journalist and photographer Sandra Delgado, with whom he has three sons: Bem, Salvador, and José.

Moura's native language is Portuguese, but he also fluently speaks English and Spanish. For his portrayal of Pablo Escobar in Narcos, Moura went back to college to take Spanish for foreigners, to perfect his pronunciation as someone who speaks Spanish as a first language. Moura had to gain over 18 kilograms (40 pounds) to play the role of Pablo Escobar; after production of the second season of Narcos, Moura decided to lose the weight through an all-vegan diet.[15]

Moura practices Transcendental Meditation.

• Wagner Moura on IMDb