SHORT SYNOPSIS
Set in the west-side of Los Angeles fight world, a world inhabited by bouncers, cagefighters,
cops and special forces types, Redbelt, is the story of Mike Terry (Chiwetel
Ejiofor), a Jiu-Jitsu teacher who has avoided the prize fighting circuit, choosing instead to
pursue an honorable life by operating a self-defense studio with a samurai's code.
Terry and his wife Sondra (Alice Braga), struggle to keep the business running to make
ends meet. An accident on a dark, rainy night at the Academy between an off duty
officer (Max Martini) and a distraught lawyer (Emily Mortimer) puts in motion a series
of events that will change Terry's life dramatically introducing him to a world of
promoters (Ricky Jay, Joe Mantegna) and movie star Chet Frank (Tim Allen). Faced
with this, in order to pay off his debts and regain his honor, Terry must step into the ring
for the first time in his life.
Rodrigo Santoro (Bruno Silva)
Rodrigo Santoro, one of Brazil's most talented and famous young actors, was most
recently seen in Warner Bros. 300, based on the Frank Miller's graphic novel, which
broke box office records throughout the world. Rodrigo stars as Xerxes, the Persian King
who sends his massive army to conquer Greece in 480 B.C. He was nominated for an
MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. Rodrigo was most recently seen on ABC's hit series
"Lost," in which he played Paulo.
Rodrigo was part of the star-studded ensemble cast of Universal's romantic comedy Love
Actually, starring alongside Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth and Liam
Neeson. In the role of Karl, he stars opposite Laura Linney as co-workers grappling with
the dicey protocol of an office romance. Prior to this film, Rodrigo made his American
debut in the highly sought after role of Randy Emmers in "Charlie's Angels: Full
Throttle, directed by McG, starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu.
He has been seen for the past two years starring as the "mystery man" opposite Nicole
Kidman in the Baz Luhrmann directed commercial for Chanel.
Rodrigo's most recent Brazilian film, Carandiru, directed by Hector Babenco, was
recently released and broke all Brazilian box office records. It is Brazil's entry in the
Foreign Film category for the Academy Awards. Carandiru premiered at the Cannes
Film Festival and will be distributed in the US by Sony Pictures Classics in February
2004. The film is a groundbreaking portrayal of the largest penitentiary in Latin
America, the Sao Paulo House of Detention, and the lives of the people in it. Dr. Dráuzio
Varella bases the movie on the best-selling book "Carandiru Station".
Rodrigo has won eight Best Actor awards, including the first ever award for Best Actor
from the Brazilian Academy of Arts and Film, for his portrayal of a young man forced
into a mental institution by his parents in "Brainstorm," the critically acclaimed film by
director Lais Bodansky.
He has also been celebrated for his performance in the Miramax film Behind the Sun
directed by Walter Salles (Central Station), in which he plays Tonio, the middle son of a
Brazilian family caught in the middle of an age-old family feud in 1910. He is forced by
tradition and honor to kill a member of the neighboring family, positioning him next in
line to be killed. The heart of the movie finds Tonio and his little brother discovering a
world outside their family and home. Behind the Sun was nominated for a Golden Globe
in 2002 for Best Foreign Language Film.
Last year Rodrigo appeared opposite Helen Mirren, Olivier Martinez and Anne Bancroft
in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, directed by Robert Allan Ackerman, for Showtime.
Based on the novella by Tennessee Williams, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone was
nominated for five Emmy Awards in 2003.
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