Rodrigo Santoro was born on August 22, 1975 in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and is a successful actor. In 1993, as Rodrigo was studying Journalism at PUC-Rio, he entered the Actor's Workshop of Rede Globo. Rodrigo went on to play parts in many of Globo's telenovelas, as well as the miniseries Hilda Furacão, in the role of a priest. Rodrigo also did the Brazilian version of the titular character in Stuart Little and its sequel. is first major role in a cinema production would come in 2001, with Bicho de Sete Cabeças by Brazilian director Laís Bodansky. He had another critically acclaimed performance in the 2003 Hector Babenco film Carandiru, where he played a transexual prisoner known as Lady Di. In 2006, Rodrigo joined the cast of Lost as survivor of Oceanic Flight 815, Paulo. Rodrigo was cast as Persian emperor Xerxes I in the movie 300, based on the Frank Miller comic of the same name, in 2007.