Wagner Moura facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Wagner Moura
Moura at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Wagner Maniçoba de Moura (1976-06-27) 27 June 1976 (age 49) Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Alma mater	Federal University of Bahia
Occupation	Actor filmmaker
Years active	1996–present
Partner(s)	Sandra Delgado (2001–present)
Children	3

Wagner Maniçoba de Moura, born on June 27, 1976, is a talented actor and filmmaker from Brazil. He has won many important awards, including a Golden Globe and a Cannes Film Festival Award. He has also received five Brazilian Academy Film Awards.

Moura first became well-known in Brazil for his main role as Captain Nascimento in the action film Elite Squad (2007) and its sequel in 2010. Later, he started working in American movies, appearing in the science fiction film Elysium (2013). He is part of a group of actors who help show positive images of South Americans in Hollywood. In 2015, he gained worldwide fame for playing the historical figure Pablo Escobar in the Netflix series Narcos. This role earned him his first Golden Globe Award nomination.

Moura continued to impress audiences with his performances in the drama Sergio (2020), the animated movie Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022), and the action thriller Civil War (2024). In 2025, for his role in the political thriller The Secret Agent, Moura made history. He became the first South American actor to win the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. He was also 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. Wagner Moura has also started directing films, with his first movie as a director being the political thriller Marighella (2019).

Early Life and Education

Wagner Moura was born in Salvador, Brazil. He grew up in Rodelas, a town about 540 kilometers from the capital city. Because his father was in the military, his family, including his mother and younger sister, moved often. His interest in acting began when a school friend shared their love for the arts.

During his teenage years in Bahia, Moura became best friends with the Emmy-nominated actor Lázaro Ramos. Ramos has said that Moura was a great supporter of his acting career from a young age.

Career Highlights

Starting Out in Acting (1996–2005)

Moura began taking acting classes when he was a teenager. He started working in professional theater in 1996. He later studied journalism at the Federal University of Bahia. For a short time, he had a small company that helped other local actors, but it didn't last. In the early 2000s, he also worked as a reporter for a TV show, interviewing people at social events.

While working, Moura kept trying out for acting roles. He found success with a play called A Máquina. This show was very popular and traveled to many cities in Brazil, helping Moura and his co-stars, Lázaro Ramos and Vladimir Brichta, become well-known actors.

He started in movies with short films like Pop Killer. His first full-length movie was Woman on Top, where he had a small role. As Brazilian cinema grew, he got parts in many important films. These included Behind the Sun and Carandiru. For Carandiru, he recorded an audition tape that impressed the director, even though it was very dark. He played the role of Zico, a prisoner in the film.

Moura also began working in television. He appeared in the popular series Carga Pesada and later in Sexo Frágil. In 2005, he acted in the telenovela A Lua Me Disse, playing a funny character. The next year, he played a younger version of Brazil's former president Juscelino Kubitschek in the series JK.

Becoming a Star in Brazil (2007–2012)

In 2007, Moura starred as Captain Nascimento in the film Elite Squad. The movie won a top award at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival. It was very popular in Brazil but also caused some discussion because it showed tough situations involving police in Rio de Janeiro. He also had leading roles in other films like Ó Paí, Ó and Romance. On TV, he played the character Olavo Novaes in the telenovela Paraíso Tropical. Because of his success in movies and TV, Vogue Brazil named him "Man of the Year" in 2007.

In 2008, he returned to theater, playing the main role in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. He also acted in short films and performed concerts with his band, Sua Mãe. In 2010, he played Captain Nascimento again in Elite Squad: The Enemy Within. This sequel was also very successful and became one of the highest-grossing films in Brazil's history.

In 2012, Moura was a special singer for an MTV Brasil tribute concert to the band Legião Urbana, a band he greatly admired. In 2013, GQ Brazil named him Man of the Year in the cinema category. He was also honored at the Gramado Film Festival.

Hollywood and Directing (2013–Present)

Wagner Moura made his Hollywood debut in the 2013 film Elysium, playing the character Spider. He got this role after producers saw his work in Elite Squad 2.

In 2014, he starred in Futuro Beach and the film Rio, I Love You. He also directed a music video for the Brazilian singer Vanessa da Mata.

Moura in 2015

In 2015, Moura took on the role of the historical figure Pablo Escobar in the Netflix series Narcos. To prepare, he learned to speak Spanish and gained over 18 kilograms (40 pounds). After the second season, he chose a vegan diet to lose the weight. Critics praised his performance, and he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama.

In 2019, he appeared in Wasp Network. That same year, Moura made his debut as a feature film director with Marighella. The film is about Carlos Marighella, a Brazilian politician and fighter who lived during a time of strict government control and faced many challenges. The film premiered at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival but faced delays in its release in Brazil, which some believed were due to political reasons. In 2022, Marighella won eight awards at the Brazilian Film Grand Prix, including Best Film and Best First Director for Moura.

In 2020, he joined the jury for the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. He also produced and starred in the Netflix drama Sergio, playing the Brazilian diplomat Sérgio Vieira de Mello.

In 2021, he became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood. He also directed two episodes of Narcos: Mexico's third season.

In 2022, Moura starred in the Apple TV+ series Shining Girls as journalist Dan Velásquez. He also lent his voice to the character of the Wolf in the animated film Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Additionally, he appeared in the Netflix movie The Gray Man, directed by the Russo Brothers, where he played Laszlo Sosa and lost twenty kilos for the role.

In 2024, he had a recurring role in the Prime Video series Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

In 2025, Moura starred as Marcelo in Kleber Mendonça Filho's The Secret Agent. For this role, he became the first South American actor to win the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. He also won the NYFCC for Best Actor and his first Golden Globe. He was also the first Brazilian actor to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Personal Life

Wagner Moura's first language is Portuguese, and he also speaks English and Spanish very well. He learned Spanish specifically for his role as Pablo Escobar in Narcos, spending several weeks in Medellín, Colombia, to practice. He enjoys practicing meditation and martial arts like Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In December 2023, he earned a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

He has three sons with journalist and photographer Sandra Delgado. Moura and Delgado met in college and later started a family together. They have homes in Salvador, Los Angeles, and Rio de Janeiro.

Views on Social Issues

Wagner Moura cares deeply about social issues. He has spoken about the importance of fair treatment for immigrants and has shared his concerns about strict government policies, drawing on his experiences from Brazil.

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Pop Killer		Short film
1999	Rádio Gogó	Replay
2000	Woman on Top	Rafi
2001	Behind the Sun	Matheus
2002	The Three Marias	Jesuíno Cruz
2003	God Is Brazilian	Taoca
	The Man of the Year	Suel
	Carandiru	Zico
	The Middle of the World	Romão
2004	Nina	Blind Man
2005	Lower City	Naldinho
	A Máquina	TV Host
2007	Ó Paí, Ó	Boca
	Saneamento Básico	Joaquim
	Elite Squad	Captain Roberto Nascimento
2008	Romance	Pedro
	Blackout	Marcelo
2009	They Killed Sister Dorothy	Narrator	Brazilian version
2010	Elite Squad: The Enemy Within	Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Nascimento
	VIPs	Marcelo Nascimento da Rocha
2011	The Man from the Future	João (Zero)
2012	Father's Chair	Theo
2013	Elysium	Spider
	Bald Mountain	Lindo Rico
	Futuro Beach	Donato
2014	Rio, I Love You	Gui	Segment "Inútil Paisagem"
	Trash	José Angelo
2017	Vidas Cinzas	Wagner	Short film
2019	Marighella	Interrogator (voice)	Also director, writer, and producer
	Wasp Network	Juan Pablo Roque
2020	Sergio	Sérgio Vieira de Mello	Also producer
2021	Meu Tio José	José (voice)
2022	The Gray Man	Laszlo Sosa
	Puss in Boots: The Last Wish	Death (voice)
2024	Civil War	Joel
2025	The Secret Agent	Armando "Marcelo" Solimões / Adult Fernando
2026	11817	TBA	Post-production
TBA	The Last Day	Peter

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Carga Pesada	Pedrinho	Episode: "Carga Perecível"
2003–2004	Sexo Frágil	Edu / Magali	20 episodes
2004	Programa Novo	Magali	1 episode
2005	A Lua Me Disse	Gustavo Bogari	Telenovela
2006	JK	Juscelino Kubitschek (ages 18–43)
2007	Paraíso Tropical	Olavo Novaes	Telenovela
2013	A Menina Sem Qualidades	Alex's Father	Mini-series
2015–16	Narcos	Pablo Escobar	20 episodes
2018, 2021	Narcos: Mexico		Cameo; 1 episode Director; 2 episodes
2022	Shining Girls	Dan Velasquez	Main role
2024	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Second Other John	2 episodes
2025	... Thief	Manny Carvalho	Main role
2026	Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord	Brander Lawson (voice)

Documentary Appearances

Theater Credits

Awards and Nominations

Film

Television

Theater

See Also

In Spanish: Wagner Moura para niños

• List of Brazilian Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of actors nominated for Academy Awards for non-English performances
• List of actors with Academy Award nominations
• List of Golden Globe winners