RODRIGO SANTORO
AN INTERVIEW WITH PHILLIP MORRIS
GETTING BEHIND THE TRUTH IN I LOVE YOU
by bill biss
Rodrigo Santoro has already achieved mainstream
success in Brazil for his role in Bicho de Sete Cabecas. The actor then went on to do the leading male role in 2002’s Despedacado [Behind the Sun]. With stardom already in his pocket, the actor made the transition to American cinema with roles in such films as Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Love Actually and 300, for which he was nomi- nated as Best Villain of 2007 at the MTV Movie Awards. Fast forward to 2010 and Rodrigo Santoro is starring opposite Jim Carrey in I Love You, Phillip Morris. The film is living proof that “truth is stranger than fic-
tion” as Carrey plays a real-life con man named Steven Russell. Russell is a gay man who, after losing his first lover, Jimmy [played by Rodrigo] finds himself in jail for a con gone wrong…one of many, and meets Phillip Morris [Ewan McGregor]. This love story is filled with surprising twists, genuine romance and shockingly comedic mo- ments. From his longtime home in Rio, Rodrigo Santoro spoke recently with The Rage Monthly. His passion for finding truth in acting and his experience of making I Love You, Phillip Morris was genuinely discovered in our conversation together. Rodrigo Santoro’s initial involvement in the film
production began as he says, “The project was brought to me by one of the producers, Andrew Lazar. I read the book [I Love You, Phillip Morris] about it and then I read the script. I just thought it was a great story. It was really, really interesting and the fact that Jim and Ewan were at- tached to it was very appealing to me. The directors had done the film, Bad Santa, which I really loved. So, that’s how I got connected to it.” With over 20 film roles under his belt, this is Rodrigo
Santoro’s first film role portraying a gay character. Spe- cifically one who is dealing with the stigma of AIDS in the early 1980s, the time period of his involvement with Steven Russell portrayed by Jim Carrey. “Yeah. I’ve played a transsexual before. Let me think man. Yes, it’s the first one.” Santoro explains his research in getting into his character of Jimmy in the film, “I had some information from the book. It’s pretty descriptive. Basically, what I ac- tually did, while I was here in Brazil before I left, I went to see an HIV-positive person with a friend of a friend. I just hung with him for a little while and I got to understand and get closer to it. It’s one of those characters where you have to be very, very careful and not to go into the stereotype. I like to get really close to it and try and un- derstand and suspend any kind of judgment and try to create a human being there. To portray what he is going through at that moment.” The transformation of Rodrigo Santoro’s character of Jimmy is striking during his scenes in the film. From the hot-looking and loving man early in the film to the bed-stricken lover on his deathbed is hard to watch. Yet, Santoro brings a realistic look at the ravages of the dis- ease. He elaborates on this, “Thank you, man. The things I did…I also went on a very, very strict diet. I lost more
DECEMBER 2010 | RAGE monthly 55
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