Background and career
Wagner Maniçoba de Moura ( VAHG-nər MOR-ə, MOHR-ə; Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈvaɡneʁ mɐ̃niˈsɔbɐ dʒi ˈmowɾɐ]; born June 27, 1976) is a Brazilian and American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include a Golden Globe, a Cannes Film Festival Award, and five Brazilian Academy Film Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, an Annie Award, and two Critics' Choice Award. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2026. After establishing himself in Brazil with a leading role as Captain Nascimento in the crime film Elite Squad (2007) and its 2010 sequel, Moura expanded into American cinema with a supporting role in the science fiction film Elysium (2013), finding himself part of the movement that seeks positive representation for South Americans in Hollywood. In 2015, he received international attention and critical acclaim for his portrayal of drug trafficker Pablo Escobar in the Netflix crime series Narcos, resulting in his first Golden Globe Award nomination. Moura gained further recognition for his performances in the drama Sergio (2020), the animated film Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022), the action thriller Civil War (2024), and the miniseries Dope Thief (2025). For his performance as a former professor in the political thriller film The Secret Agent (2025), Moura became the first South American actor to win the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, the first Brazilian actor to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, and the first Brazilian to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Moura has also expanded into directing, making his feature directorial debut with the political thriller Marighella (2019).
Wagner Moura was born in Salvador and raised in Rodelas, 540 kilometres (340 mi) from the capital. His father was in the military so the family, including his mother and his younger sister Lediane (who now works as a pediatrician), became used to moving around. His relationship with acting started thanks to a schoolmate who had a passion for the arts. He became best friends with Emmy-nominated actor Lázaro Ramos during their teenage years in Bahia. Ramos reported that his friend was a great supporter of his career since their youth.
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 theater 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 interviewing 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 show 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 role 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 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 his 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 and São Paulo, and ended its season at the Curitiba Theater Festival at Teatro Guaíra before 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. In 2005, he debuted in telenovelas with A Lua Me Disse as Gustavo Bogari Prado, the comic role was a contrast to the other characters he had played before. He also portrayed a young version of Brazil's former president Juscelino Kubitschek in the limited series JK (2006).
In 2007, Moura starred as police officer Captain Nascimento in José Padilha's Elite Squad. The film won the Golden Bear at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival and was a box office hit in Brazil, but generated controversy for its portrayal of police brutality and urban violence in Rio de Janeiro. He also had lead roles in Ó Paí, Ó, Saneamento Básico, A Máquina and Romance. He also portrayed the corrupt businessman Olavo Novaes in TV Globo's Paraíso Tropical. For his cinema and television roles, he was named "Man of the Year" in 2007 by Vogue Brazil. In 2008, he returned to theater with Hamlet by William Shakespeare. The theatrical process was recorded by his wife, Sandra, and became a documentary. He also starred in three short films: Desejo, Ópera do Mallandro and Blackout, which premiered at the Festival de Gramado. He also resumed concert performances with his band Sua Mãe. In 2010, he portrayed Nascimento once again in Elite Squad: The Enemy Within. Like its predecessor, the film was met with critical acclaim and became the largest box office ticket seller and highest-grossing film of all time in Brazil. In 2011, he was honored at the Braskem Theater Award. In 2012, he was a guest vocalist for the "MTV Live: Tribute to Legião Urbana" held in São Paulo and broadcast by MTV Brasil. Moura was a big fan of the band, which disbanded in 1996. In 2013, he was elected Man of the Year by GQ Brazil in the cinema category and honored at the Gramado Film Festival.
The film Elysium (2013) marked his Hollywood debut, portraying Spider. Moura got the role after his agents showed his work in Elite Squad 2 to the producers.
In 2014, he starred in Karim Aïnouz's Futuro Beach as a gay lifeguard from Recife who travels to Germany after falling in love with a tourist. He also starred in the anthology film Rio, I Love You, in the segment directed by José Padilha. As a director, he worked on the music video for the song "Te Amo" from the album Bicicletas, Bolos e Outras Alegrias by Brazilian singer Vanessa da Mata. In 2015, Moura starred as Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in Narcos. Moura learned to speak Spanish while preparing for his role. He also had to gain over 18 kilograms (40 pounds). After the second season, he decided to lose the weight through an all-vegan diet. His performance was praised by critics. For the role, Moura was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. In 2019, he starred as Juan Pablo Roque in Wasp Network, directed by Olivier Assayas. Wagner Moura's feature directing debut, Marighella, had its world premiere at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival, and a delayed theatrical release in Brazil in 2021. The film is a biopic of Carlos Marighella, a politician and guerrilla fighter facing the heinous crimes torture and censorship during the military dictatorship in Brazil. Moura says he is sure the film was censored by right-wing former president Jair Bolsonaro, though the official reason for the delay was the COVID-19 pandemic. At the 2022 Brazilian Film Grand Prix, Marighella won eight awards, including Best Film, Best First Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Moura. In 2020, he signed with WME. He was a part of the official international fiction jury of the Sundance Film Festival. He also produced and starred as the title character in the Netflix drama Sergio, about Brazilian diplomat Sérgio Vieira de Mello. In 2021, he joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood. He also directed two episodes of Narcos: Mexico's third season. In 2022, he starred in the Apple TV+ series Shining Girls, in the role of journalist Dan Velásquez. He starred in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, voicing the Wolf. He also starred in Netflix's The Gray Man, directed by the Russo Brothers, as Laszlo Sosa, for which he lost twenty kilos. In 2024, he played a recurring role as John Smith's agent in the Prime Video series Mr. & Mrs. Smith. In 2025, he starred as Marcelo in Kleber Mendonça Filho's The Secret Agent. For the role he became the first South American actor to ever win the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, the first Latin-American actor to win the NYFCC for Best Actor, and received his first Golden Globe, as well as becoming the first Brazilian actor to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor, but did not win in any category. In 2026, Moura voiced Brander Lawson in the Disney animated series Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord. That August, he played Thomas Stockmann in A Trial: After an Enemy of the People, a reworking of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People conceived and directed by Christiane Jatahy, which he co-wrote with Jatahy and Lucas Paraizo. The production was staged at the Lyceum Theatre as part of the Edinburgh International Festival. Critics praised Moura's stage presence: Arifa Akbar of The Guardian described him as a charismatic force, and Vanessa Thorpe of The Observer considered his performance the production's strongest element, although both reviewers found the play's moral debate lacking in force.
