Harrison Ford and Alice Braga in Crossing Over

I'm amazed at how many roles Alice Braga is landing in Hollywood lately. At 25 years old, she's only starred in one Brazilian movie (Cidade Baixa), and she's foregone the traditional path to celebrity here by acting in soap operas on TV Globo (though her aunt, Sônia Braga, is a famous soap actress who once tried to make a career for herself abroad but it is probably best known to mainstream audiences as Samantha's lesbian lover on Sex and the City).

Alice's agent must be doing something right. She's currently showing in U.S. theaters in David Mamet's Redbelt, plays "the girl with dark glasses" in the Cannes-opener Blindness (reuniting with Meirelles after a bit part in City of God), and has roles alongside stars like Harrison Ford and Jude Law in two upcoming films. All of this after starring last year in the Will Smith blockbuster I Am Legend.

The only other Brazilian actor I can think of getting this level of exposure is Rodrigo Santoro, who also has a role in Redbelt. Rodrigo is actually much more famous in Brazil, due to his career in soap operas and well-regarded films like Bicho de Sete Cabeças and Abril Despedaçado ("Behind the Sun"), but I feel like he's been trying to break out internationally much longer than Alice. Ironically, Alice said in an interview last year that she wishes she could do a Brazilian soap opera but hasn't been able to find the time. I guess the grass really is greener on the other side.

More Brazilian actors starring in international productions:
- Fernanda Montenegro (House of Sand, Central Station, countless other films) will star in Love In the Time of Cholera as the mother of the protagonist played by Javier Bardem, along with one of my other favorites Catalina Sandino Moreno. Another Brazilian, Rubria Negrão, will join the production but I'm not sure her character will be very prominent. The film is currently shooting in Colombia and it is directed by Mike Newell.
- Alice Braga (Lower City, Only God Knows) will star in I Am Legend with Will Smith.

It was announced a month or two ago that Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro would be starring in the upcoming season of the American TV series Lost. (What's funny is that Lost producers are hyping Santoro as the "Brazilian Tom Cruise" -- considering recent events, is Tom Cruise an actor whose career they really want to evoke?) After a non-speaking cameo in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and a role in Love Actually, Santoro is clearly trying to carve out a career for himself in the lucrative Hollywood market.

The unfortunate Tom Cruise analogy aside, Santoro really is as popular as Lost producers claim he is in Brazil. He starred in Walter Salles' scorcher Abril Despedaçado (Behind the Sun), the box-office smash Carandiru, and the award-winning Bicho de Sete Cabeças (Brainstorm), among other films and several novelas on television. More than just a heartthrob, he's gained respect as one of Brazil's most talented young actors.

So it will be interesting to see how Santoro fares in foreign waters, because it seems like he is willing to trade in his credibility with the critics for some mainstream international appeal. I hope for Santoro's sake that he speaks English well (I've only seen him speak Portuguese) - an accent can be a crippler. And just like any other minority in Hollywood, getting past the ethnic clichés and cultural stereotypes (Latin Lover?) to meatier characters takes not only talent, but also luck. The most recent role model for Latin American actors making a name in the U.S. is Gael García Bernal. Given that Santoro's name is virtually unknown outside of Brazil, though, Santoro will probably have to rely on his good looks to get him roles in the short term.

I'm not the only one interested in seeing if Santoro can make it abroad -- in a newspaper column entitled "Nossos" atores vencerão nos EUA? (Will "Our" Actors Win in the US?), Bia Abramo wondered about Santoro and Brazilians cheering for their actors abroad as a way to compensate for the country's "almost pathetic" hopes that a Brazilian film will win (or even be nominated for) an Academy Award. Interestingly, she noted that many Almodóvar actors managed to open the door into Hollywood, and Brazilian actors seem to be approaching the American market through television (Santoro on Lost; Bruno Campos on Nick/Tuck; Sonia Braga on Sex and the City). Santoro's advantage is that Lost isn't a niche show on cable, it's a huge success worldwide. That's as good as exposure as any Brazilian actor can ask for.